General insurance and financial services news from Australia and around the worldhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/en-auhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/study-flags-consistent-confronting-fears-of-flood-prone-victorianshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/study-flags-consistent-confronting-fears-of-flood-prone-victorians<p>ARC Justice has urged insurers and governments to act on 20 recommendations to address insurance affordability in north central Victoria, after it sought feedback from community members following severe floods in the region in 2022...</p>Mon, 11 May 2026 04:35:30 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/elevation-checks-massively-change-flood-ratingshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/elevation-checks-massively-change-flood-ratings<p>New technology that can identify building elevation could lead to premium reductions and more accessible cover for properties in flood-prone areas...</p>Mon, 11 May 2026 04:18:30 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/family-on-hook-for-excess-after-son-s-police-car-crashhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/family-on-hook-for-excess-after-son-s-police-car-crash<p>A couple have failed to prove their son was not at fault for a collision with a police car that went through a red light at speed...</p>Mon, 11 May 2026 04:13:49 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/property-owner-can-t-add-insurers-to-plumber-lawsuithttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/property-owner-can-t-add-insurers-to-plumber-lawsuit<p>The Victorian Court of Appeal has thrown out a case in which a property owner sought to claim directly against insurers while suing their plumber clients...</p>Mon, 11 May 2026 04:13:25 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/tasmanians-want-to-be-part-of-solution-on-mitigationhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/tasmanians-want-to-be-part-of-solution-on-mitigation<p>About 76% of RACT members believe more must be done to prepare for natural disasters, including 48% who feel it is extremely important, according to a survey by the Tasmanian motoring club...</p>Mon, 11 May 2026 04:13:09 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/industry-supports-nz-climate-agency-s-resilience-pushhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/industry-supports-nz-climate-agency-s-resilience-push<p>New Zealand insurers have backed a government climate adviser&rsquo;s call for action to increase resilience against storms, floods and other natural perils...</p>Mon, 11 May 2026 04:12:55 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/councils-more-resolved-to-pursue-regional-mutualhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/councils-more-resolved-to-pursue-regional-mutual<p>A group of regional councils are continuing to explore a mutual insurance option after a roundtable last week highlighted frustrations at a lack of affordable cover...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 05:32:36 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/move-to-evs-drives-up-claim-costshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/move-to-evs-drives-up-claim-costs<p>Insurance consequences from the shift towards electric vehicles include a higher claims cost severity, according to Taylor Fry...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 05:32:30 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/in-office-mandates-during-fuel-crisis-beggar-beliefhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/in-office-mandates-during-fuel-crisis-beggar-belief<p>Not every insurer has heeded employees&rsquo; requests to work from home amid the fuel price crisis, the Finance Sector Union says...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 05:32:20 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/el-nino-possible-within-months-as-ocean-warmshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/el-nino-possible-within-months-as-ocean-warms<p>An El Nino may form this winter as tropical Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures continue to climb, the Bureau of Meteorology says...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 04:26:42 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/judge-rejects-church-sexual-misconduct-policy-changehttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/judge-rejects-church-sexual-misconduct-policy-change<p>The Federal Court has dismissed an application by Allianz to reduce the limit for sexual misconduct claims on a professional indemnity policy...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 04:26:32 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/star-casino-ruling-puts-focus-on-d-and-ohttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/star-casino-ruling-puts-focus-on-d-and-o<p>A court decision on whether senior executives and directors at The Star Entertainment Group breached their duties of care and diligence has implications for understanding how directors and officers cover responds, a law firm says...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 04:26:21 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/perils-raises-spring-storms-loss-estimate-to-1-5-billionhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/perils-raises-spring-storms-loss-estimate-to-1-5-billion<p>Insured losses from storms in Australia&rsquo;s east in October will reach $1.5 billion, with Queensland making up 94% of the total, Swiss catastrophe data company Perils estimates...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 04:26:07 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/silent-alarm-insurers-moving-to-shut-down-ai-exposureshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/silent-alarm-insurers-moving-to-shut-down-ai-exposures<p>Underwriters are quickly adding exclusions as courts start to hold companies responsible for harm from AI tools...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:32:28 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/bureau-flags-dry-spell-for-eastern-australiahttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/bureau-flags-dry-spell-for-eastern-australia<p>Eastern Australia and parts of the southwest are likely to receive below-average rainfall from May to July, the Bureau of Meteorology says in its latest long-range forecast...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:32:07 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/ship-collision-case-heads-to-chinahttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/ship-collision-case-heads-to-china<p>The Federal Court has refused to allow legal action in Australia over two ships that collided in Chinese territorial waters...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:03:36 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/ombudsman-cannot-make-insurers-fund-climate-upgradeshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/ombudsman-cannot-make-insurers-fund-climate-upgrades<p>New Zealand&rsquo;s financial services ombudsman has warned policyholders to be aware of coverage limitations after ruling against a family who wanted their floor level raising in a rebuild after flood damage...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:03:26 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/shareholder-win-sparks-warning-on-d-and-o-adequacyhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/shareholder-win-sparks-warning-on-d-and-o-adequacy<p>A successful shareholder class action against logistics giant Brambles has raised the risk of more lawsuits and potential losses against directors and officers cover, experts say...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:03:12 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/cyclone-storms-add-to-surge-in-weather-claims-iag-nzhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/cyclone-storms-add-to-surge-in-weather-claims-iag-nz<p>IAG New Zealand has received 1000 claims arising from Cyclone Vaianu earlier this month, across home, contents, commercial, motor and boat policies...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:02:58 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/row-over-strata-premium-best-settled-in-courthttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/row-over-strata-premium-best-settled-in-court<p>A dispute over how strata insurance premiums are apportioned between a backpacker hostel and apartment owners is headed for court, after an adjudicator ruled it needed settling in another jurisdiction...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:02:41 GMT