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General insurance

This Month

Firefighters tackle the Hughes Fire along a roadside in Castaic in California.

Thousands evacuate as new major wildfire erupts near LA

Fire crews are making progress on blunting the threat from an enormous new blaze north of Los Angeles that forced more than 50,000 under evacuation orders.

  • Christopher Weber and Marcio Jose Sanchez
Health Minister Mark Butler wants private health insurers to do better on this year’s premium increases.

Butler rejects health insurers’ second bid to lift prices

Health Minister Mark Butler has rejected a second round of requests from private health insurers to increase customer premiums, saying they need to help more during the cost-of-living crisis.

  • Updated
  • Ronald Mizen
A fire crew in the Pacific Palisades as they move on to their next assignment. The fire has caused significant damage and will push up the cost of insurance policies around the world.

Californian fires to push premiums higher, worsening poor policy cover

The rising cost of insurance policies has already meant a third of about $60 billion in natural disaster damage over the past decade was left uninsured.

  • Lucas Baird
A picture of devastation in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood.

Why so many were uninsured before the LA fires

The spiralling costs of extreme weather and natural disaster only partly explain insurers’ withdrawal from the too-hard markets. Others blame excessive regulation.

  • Updated
  • Matthew Cranston
Fire crews battle the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California

LA fires stoke insurer unease as claims bill mounts

Barrenjoey’s Andrew Adams says the wildfires highlight the growing unpredictability of weather patterns and the increasing severity of events.

  • Emma Rapaport
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Yao-Chung Chang and Jason Coates with their pug Valentino who cost $20,000 to bring to Australia when they moved here from Japan.

It cost $20k to bring a dog to Australia, but that was just the start

If there was a pet under your tree this Christmas, buckle up for a lifetime of expense (along with the love, of course).

  • Updated
  • Michelle Bowes

December 2024

Steadfast was the target of an ABC Four Corners investigation which alleged it had been part of undisclosed kickbacks to strata managers.

Steadfast employees under investigation for potential insider trading

Two employees of ASX-listed insurance broker Steadfast Group are being investigated by the corporate regulator for potential insider trading.

  • Max Mason
People walking past a row of ATMs belonging to the four big banks.

Banks, insurers told to work harder to prevent financial abuse

A committee chaired by Labor senator Deborah O’Neill has tabled 61 recommendations to reduce the insidious practice.

  • James Eyers
ASIC raised major concerns about how insurance companies handle complaints.

ASIC slams insurers for gaping holes in complaints systems

“We are extremely disappointed with what we found here,” ASIC commissioner Alan Kirkland said, putting IAG, QBE and Suncorp on notice.

  • James Eyers
The Royal Automobile Club of WA has been serving Western Australians for over 115 years.

Royal Automobile Club of WA calls in Barrenjoey for strategic review

Royal automobile clubs are hot property as three major brands across Australia hit the auction block.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

November 2024

IAG CEO Nick Hawkins is defending $7 billion in insurance claims but still making acquisitions

IAG didn’t register Greensill Capital insurer with ASIC: court claim

Greensill Capital’s key insurance agency did not have approval from regulators to act as an insurer when it was half-owned by $20 billion group IAG, new court documents allege.

  • Jenny Wiggins
IAG CEO Nick Hawkins, left, with RACQ CEO David Carter on Thursday.

IAG in big Queensland push with $855m RACQ insurance deal

The major insurer already owns NRMA and CGU, and has a joint venture with RACV. This deal gives it access to RACQ’s 1.7 million members.

  • Updated
  • James Eyers
Medibank initially said no customer data was compromised, but then it received a ransom and proof.

Pressure points hackers use to get bigger payments than ever

Hackers are targeting HR, health, finance and legal data as a way of exerting maximum pressure and leveraging ever-larger ransom payments out of companies.

  • Max Mason
Homeowners in flood-prone areas of NSW and Queensland can have difficulty getting insurance coverage.

Capital flight from climate risk fuels ‘ghost town’ fears

A plan that unlocks investment from super funds in improving resilience to climate change is vital to prevent whole regions of Australia becoming uninsurable, major investors say.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith

Household sensors help keep insurance premiums down

Up-and-coming insurance tech firm Honey Insurance uses technology in novel ways to help its customers.

  • Alexandra Cain
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October 2024

ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said insurers “must have robust systems and controls in place to make sure their customers receive the discounts they were promised”.

ASIC sues QBE for misleading half a million customers on price

ASIC’s action against QBE on Wednesday follows similar cases against NRMA and RACQ, who paid big fines last year.

  • James Eyers
A Lismore street in March 2022.

How insurers failed when flooded customers needed them the most

A parliamentary report has made 86 recommendations to improve claims handling, calling for government intervention to stop new developments on flood plains.

  • James Eyers
Daniel Delgado, top, is comforted by his son, right, as he mourns the loss of his wife, Monica Hernandez, who died at Impact Plastics during flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.

Insurers’ Hurricane Helene loss estimates leap to more than $20b

Private market insured loss estimates from Helene have climbed higher as insurers prepare for more devastation from Hurricane Milton.

  • Alexandre Rajbhandari

September 2024

Munich-based Allianz Group has sold its Hunter Premium Funding business in Australia.

Pemba in exclusive talks to buy Allianz’s Hunter Premium Funding

Sources said Pemba came back to the table once it was certain it could finance the hefty warehouse component, which had been a sticking point for several suitors.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

August 2024

Bill Fone’s home in Surrey Hills, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, was built in 2014 and flooded in December after a flexible pipe burst.

How a plumbing time bomb is costing insurers and pushing up premiums

Insurers have warned that a rising number of claims stemming from flexible pipes bursting will lead to a rise in general insurance premiums.

  • Gus McCubbing

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/general-insurance-1np7