Suncorp CEO turns up heat on bushfire reform, mitigation
09 March 2020
Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston has demanded that “science and reality” guide post-bushfire reform, rather than ideology or "partisanship"…
Local
Climate change 'worsens bushfire risk by 30%'
09 March 2020
Bushfire risk in Australia has increased by at least 30% because of climate change, a group of scientists has concluded in a new study after analysing this season’s fire catastrophe…
Industry scores poorly on social risk management survey
09 March 2020
An overwhelming 83% of insurance executives believe the industry falls “well short” in the area of social capital risk management, a survey by actuarial firm Finity has found…
Premium funder launches broker support campaign
09 March 2020
Brokers have welcomed a support campaign launched by a leading premium funder to highlight the value provided by intermediaries…
Insurers can’t be translators, AFCA says
09 March 2020
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has determined it is not the responsibility of an insurance provider to ensure customers with little fluency in English understand the wording of policies…
Aon calls for innovative D&O answers
09 March 2020
Aon says non-traditional and alternative solutions may need to be increasingly explored as conditions in the directors’ and officers’ insurance market remain challenging in Australia and overseas…
Cladding class actions expand claims against manufacturers
09 March 2020
Property owners involved in two class actions against cladding product makers will now also seek damages for false or misleading representations, litigation funder IMF Bentham says…
NZ’s public insurance scheme under threat from climate risk
09 March 2020
The viability of New Zealand’s public insurer, the Earthquake Commission, is at risk from climate change, new research shows…
Feeling the burn: insurers' earnings take a big hit
02 March 2020
The general insurance industry suffered a 34.9% decline in underwriting profit to $2.3 billion last year, squeezed by claims losses from the bushfires and Townsville flood catastrophes...
Travel policies 'face watershed moment' amid virus
02 March 2020
Travel insurance products could attract criticism that they are little more than “junk insurance” if vague exclusions are used to decline claims from events such as the coronavirus outbreak, barristers at Edmund Barton Chambers say...
Victorian brokerage loses negligence dispute
02 March 2020
A Victorian brokerage has been ordered to pay a client $250,000 for the losses it suffered after the brokerage failed to advise about a copyright infringement risk...
More Uber driver claim appeals denied for non-disclosure
02 March 2020
Two more Uber drivers have had complaints over denied claims knocked back because they failed to disclose to their insurer that they were using their vehicles for commercial ridesharing services...
Westpac, ANZ face class action over 'junk' insurance sales
02 March 2020
Plaintiff law firm Slater and Gordon has filed separate class actions against ANZ and Westpac, accusing the two banks of ripping off vulnerable consumers who were sold “junk” consumer credit insurance products...
Warm autumn tipped as climate drivers reset
02 March 2020
Autumn temperatures are likely to be above average for most of the country following a summer which ranked among the three hottest on record, the Bureau of Meteorology says...
Seasonal catastrophe losses top $3 billion
02 March 2020
Updates last week to claims totals from the summer bushfires and hailstorms shows insured losses have now passed $3 billion...
The biggest: bushfires set a sorry global record
02 March 2020
The season’s bushfires have burned more than 20% of Australia’s forests – an unprecedented percentage to burn on any continent in a single season, an academic study has found...
Woman sues Allianz over yoga course injury
02 March 2020
Allianz is facing court action after a woman fractured her spine during a “trust task” at a yoga teacher training course...
NZ regulator lists insurers' cyber claim losses
02 March 2020
Cyber incidents are likely to knock $NZ38 million a year from insurance sector profits, or 3% of annual profit for the industry, modelling from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand shows...
NZ hailstorm pushes weather losses to $113 million
02 March 2020
Insured losses from New Zealand’s severe weather events totalled more than $NZ118 million last year...
Bushfire royal commission targets mitigation
24 February 2020
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has launched a royal commission into this summer’s bushfire catastrophe, which is estimated to involve insured losses of at least $1.91 billion...