General insurance and financial services news from Australia and around the worldhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/en-auhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/regulatory-government/insurers-applaud-asic-probe-into-claimant-advocateshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/regulatory-government/insurers-applaud-asic-probe-into-claimant-advocates<p>Insurers have welcomed an Australian Securities and Investments Commission review into claims management firms after concerns were raised over the sector&rsquo;s business practices...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:29:09 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-professional/non-compete-ban-could-hit-industry-hardhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-professional/non-compete-ban-could-hit-industry-hard<p>Insurers and brokers could be significantly impacted by the federal government&rsquo;s "non-compete" legislation, expected to come into force early next year, employment lawyers have warned...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:29:04 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/corporate/criterion-appoints-new-ceohttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/corporate/criterion-appoints-new-ceo<p>Criterion Underwriting, which specialises in complex and hard-to-place risks, has appointed Ian Mundy as CEO as the business expands its capabilities for brokers and their clients...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:28:56 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-professional/premium-funders-join-finance-code-of-practicehttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-professional/premium-funders-join-finance-code-of-practice<p>A new finance industry code of practice has come into force that brings premium funders and other non-bank and specialist lenders under a single framework...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:19:28 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/daily/supercharged-jaguar-not-covered-for-teen-driver-smashhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/daily/supercharged-jaguar-not-covered-for-teen-driver-smash<p>A motor insurer was right to reject a claim for a damaged Jaguar being driven by an 18-year-old, because the policyholder had been repeatedly warned that under-25 drivers were excluded, the industry ombudsman found...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 03:32:04 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/inside-information/epsilon-25-and-going-stronghttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/inside-information/epsilon-25-and-going-strong<p>This year Epsilon Underwriting will celebrate a quarter of a century of providing specialist risk solutions &ndash; and it&rsquo;s busy laying the groundwork to position itself for more success in years to come...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 02:53:01 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/market-conditions-not-seen-for-more-than-a-decadehttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/market-conditions-not-seen-for-more-than-a-decade<p>Australian market conditions have seen clients in many classes benefiting from competitive pricing, expanded capacity and stronger insurer appetite, Marsh says in a report...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 02:27:59 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/ausure-details-rapid-growth-following-acquisitionshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/ausure-details-rapid-growth-following-acquisitions<p>The Ausure authorised representative network has grown by 138 in recent months, taking its total number of ARs to 251...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 02:21:43 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/commercial-lines-weakness-set-to-persisthttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/commercial-lines-weakness-set-to-persist<p>The commercial insurance market may remain soft for another two years driven by factors including competition levels, Taylor Fry&rsquo;s annual Radar report says...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 02:05:27 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/gin-distillery-loses-cyclone-disruption-disputehttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/gin-distillery-loses-cyclone-disruption-dispute<p>A gin school and distillery operator who argued Cyclone Alfred public warnings and alerts effectively kept customers away has lost a dispute over trading losses...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 01:45:31 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/hutch-launches-construction-enhancementshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/hutch-launches-construction-enhancements<p>Hutch Underwriting has launched a single project construction product and significantly enhanced its annual construction offering, expanding options for brokers placing risks across residential and commercial sectors...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 01:44:10 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/willis-tool-puts-information-at-fingertips-for-risk-managershttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/willis-tool-puts-information-at-fingertips-for-risk-managers<p>Broker Willis says its new intelligence tool gathers risk and insurance data in one place, enabling clients to access important information easily...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 01:29:10 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/steadfast-appoints-duncan-ramsay-company-secretaryhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/steadfast-appoints-duncan-ramsay-company-secretary<p>Steadfast has appointed Duncan Ramsay as company secretary effective from yesterday...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 01:27:27 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/angel-flying-high-at-decade-milestonehttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-broker/angel-flying-high-at-decade-milestone<p>Victoria-based Angel Insurance Brokers is celebrating its tenth anniversary...</p>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:52:23 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/breaking-news/suncorp-says-not-in-takeover-discussionshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/breaking-news/suncorp-says-not-in-takeover-discussions<p>Suncorp has said in response to an Australian Securities Exchange price query that it is not in discussions regarding a takeover and that it has not received an offer...</p>Wed, 30 Sep 2026 23:38:25 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/industry-profits-strong-as-challenges-loomhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/industry-profits-strong-as-challenges-loom<p>The general insurance industry remains in a strong financial position but softer commercial lines, inflation pressures and fewer reserve releases will test margins looking ahead, the annual Taylor Fry Radar report says...</p>Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:01:24 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/life-insurance/industry-addresses-mental-health-challenge-in-code-review-responsehttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/life-insurance/industry-addresses-mental-health-challenge-in-code-review-response<p>Life insurers have stressed the need for &ldquo;appropriate product design flexibility&rdquo; to keep mental health cover affordable and accessible as the industry takes its overhaul of its code of practice to the next phase following a review...</p>Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:00:00 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/daily/insurer-should-have-carried-out-make-safe-even-though-claim-excluded-afcahttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/daily/insurer-should-have-carried-out-make-safe-even-though-claim-excluded-afca<p>An insurer has been ordered to cover secondary roof damage to a beachside home after the industry ombudsman found it should have carried out temporary make-safe works &ndash; even though it was entitled to reject the original claim for problems caused by nesting birds...</p>Wed, 30 Sep 2026 03:38:26 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-professional/insight-podcast-whats-the-deal-with-accc-iag-and-rachttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/the-professional/insight-podcast-whats-the-deal-with-accc-iag-and-rac<p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's decision to block IAG's proposed acquisition of RAC Insurance is one of the main topics discussed on the Insurance News podcast...</p>Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:40:22 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/zurich-publishes-first-local-risk-indexhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/zurich-publishes-first-local-risk-index<p>More than one in five Australians is facing significant vulnerability, with financial security the strongest factor affecting overall resilience, according to a new index launched by Zurich...</p>Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:51:26 GMT