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General insurance

This Month

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

October

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
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September

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

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
Just one in five foreign tradies who express an interest in working in Australia are invited to apply.

IAG blames construction costs for higher premiums

The cost of subcontractors in Victoria rose by 18pc in the past year, putting pressure on housing insurance premiums across the country.

  • James Eyers

Why your fancy fridge is pushing up insurance bills

The cost inflation that’s sent insurance premiums surging is starting to moderate. But Suncorp boss Steve Johnston says there is stickiness in strange places.

  • James Thomson

Suncorp says insurance premiums will continue to rise

The Queensland insurer said water damage from busted pipes is putting pressure on home insurance premiums even as global reinsurance rates stabilise.

  • James Eyers
Groote Eylandt is home to one of the largest manganese mines in the world.

Cyclone damage bill at South32’s Groote manganese mine hits $171m

The lucrative operation is owned jointly with Anglo American. New filings show the two diversified miners are injecting more money to resume exports next year.

  • Peter Ker
NRMA CEO Julie Batch.

The one question NRMA boss Julie Batch uses to progress her career

She comes from a long line of insurance executives. Earlier in her career she worked in Monaco in the reinsurance industry.

  • Sally Patten
QBE chief executive Andrew Horton says higher premiums and the opportunities to increase profits in the Australian market have driven a wave of competition from new entrants.

QBE punished as price rises peak

UBS analyst Scott Russell says there is a “clear slowdown” in QBE’s pricing power.

  • Lucas Baird

July

Suncorp’s Steve Johnston and ANZ’s Shayne Elliott agreed a $4.9 billion deal way back in July 2022.

743 days later, ANZ has little to cheer as Suncorp deal closes

After more than two years, ANZ’s $4.9 billion acquisition of Suncorp is finally complete. But the mood inside the two companies is wildly different. 

  • James Thomson
A blue screen of death.

CrowdStrike failure raises billion-dollar compensation question

Insurers could bear the brunt of costly fallout from the global IT outage on Friday, as techies at companies worked over the weekend to get services back up and running.

  • Paul Smith and Ronald Mizen
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The money’s come out of reinsurance markets, but that’s been good for those left behind.

This super fund is cashing in on climate risk

Insurers love telling us how hard and expensive it is to get reinsurance, so it is good to see an Australian super fund - MLC super - making money from it.

  • Anthony Macdonald
Reinsurance industry stabilising: Suncorp’s Steve Johnston.

Suncorp dumps Warren Buffett insurance-protection deal

The decade-long arrangement had split the risks and rewards of the insurer’s exposure to weather in Queensland, covering 30 per cent of its home policies.

  • Liam Walsh
Sue Houghton is happy to make calls on her way to work, but the drive home is her time.

Why the local CEO of this $26b company likes her commute

When QBE Australia chief Sue Houghton rises at 6am, the self-described introvert relishes a walk on her own.

  • Sally Patten
The government says it wants to protect aged care residents.

Aged care insurance fees jump on threat of fines and jail

Premiums have doubled for some aged care providers and directors, due to potential big fines and jail time for breaching proposed tougher laws.

  • John Kehoe

June

The market’s focus will turn to deal integration, but Shayne Elliott says the task is one of customer migration.

ANZ boss says Suncorp ‘migration’ can avoid Westpac’s St George pain

Shayne Elliott insists he’s learnt from Westpac’s failure to integrate St George, while Suncorp’s Steve Johnston says he can now focus fully on insurance.

  • James Eyers, Liam Walsh and Tom Richardson

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