The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) proposes to ban unsolicited telephone sales of direct life insurance and consumer credit insurance (CCI).
On average, customers renewing their insurance policy with the same insurer paid 27% more than new customers, according to research carried out last year by the New South Wales's Insurance Monitor. More recent data indicates the gap has risen to 34%. This translates to hundreds of dollars for the average home and contents insurance policy.
The government could eventually be faced with the question of whether pumping in more subsidies is the answer to sustaining private health insurance (PHI), with the sector fearing a death spiral, a think tank has highlighted.
Wealth management company AMP yesterday advised that the proposed sale of AMP Life (the Australian and New Zealand wealth protection and mature businesses) to UK-based Resolution Life is highly unlikely to proceed on the current terms due to the challenges in meeting a condition laid down by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ).
The first quarter of 2019 saw a 17% increase in cyber criminals using impersonation in phishing attacks primarily by imitating well-known brands, revealed new research from cyber security company FireEye which analysed 1.3bn phishing emails. This has stressed the need for organisations to engage in better training and education as well as insurance as a last line of defence.
A moratorium allowing Australians to get up to A$500,000 ($351,000) of life cover without disclosing an adverse genetic test result has come into effect since 1 July.
A review by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) of the sale of consumer credit insurance (CCI) by 11 major banks and other lenders has found that the design and sale of such products has consistently failed consumers.
A new insurer is moving into north Queensland, which is prone to cyclones and floods and where insurance premiums and losses are high.
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has called out Australia Post - the country's government-owned postal service - as not being 'cyber resilient'. In a report by the auditor general titled Cyber Resilience of Government Business Enterprise and Corporate Commonwealth Entities, the Post was noted to have weaknesses in its implementation of its risk management framework.
The Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF), the national body representing the interests of Australian healthcare consumers, has called for a review by the government into the handling of pre-existing condition disputes, following a newspaper report that health insurance funds have failed to meet regulated requirements concerning their coverage obligations.