Australian Life Insurance News

Ten-year ban for insurance representative - Mar 08, 2010
A Victorian insurance representative has been banned from providing financial services as a result of action pursued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)...

Prudential buys AIA - Mar 03, 2010
American International Group (AIG) has sold its Asia Pacific life insurance business, AIA, to UK-based insurer Prudential for US$35...

Taxpayers to foot $1b bill for under-insured families - Mar 03, 2010
A new report reveals the Federal Government will spend more than $1 billion supporting under-insured working families over the next 10 years...

Suncorp life business takes a hit - Feb 26, 2010
Suncorp’s life insurance business took a hit in the half year to December 31, 2009, with the Queensland-based bank reporting a 23 per cent fall in net profit for that business arm...

IAG posts profit surge - Feb 26, 2010
Australia's top home and car insurer, Insurance Australia Group, has enjoyed a massive surge in its first-half profit to $329 million...

Convenience at a high price - Feb 23, 2010
Direct life insurance can cost up to 8.5 per cent more and offer less.

Insurance companies are taking advantage of the more cautious mood of consumers and their underinsurance to crank up the marketing of direct life insurance ??? but the explosion of choice makes it difficult to work out if that special offer you receive in the mail or see on television provides value for money...

NIB steps up asset hunt - Feb 23, 2010
PRIVATE health insurer NIB is to make an effort over the rest of this calendar year to secure a highly prized acquisition, otherwise it will hand back its ''war chest'' of cash to shareholders in 2011...

Profitable AMP restates interest in AXA - Feb 19, 2010
AMP has declared its continuing interest in acquiring AXA Asia Pacific at the same time as reporting a 27 per cent increase in net profit attributable to shareholders to $739 million...

Genetic test offer raises discrimination fears - Feb 16, 2010
Australian insurance provider NIB plans to write to 5,000 of its customers offering half-price genetic testing...

Zurich cracks down on insurance fraud - Feb 15, 2010
Zurich Financial Services is upping the ante in the fight against insurance fraud with the announcement it is expanding its fraud fighting practices to help protect those making valid claims and to keep insurance premiums to minimum levels...

Big banks dominate life - Feb 10, 2010
Industry consolidation has had a fundamental impact on the Australian life insurance sector, according to new analysis published by Credit Suisse...

NAB sets deadline on AXA deal - Feb 10, 2010
NATIONAL Australia Bank has set a six-week deadline to seal an agreement with AXA SA of France for the takeover of Australian fund manager AXA Asia Pacific...

AMP hopes regulator will frustrate bank in AXA battle - Feb 09, 2010
AMP is pinning its hopes of securing AXA Asia Pacific on the regulatory process governing its battle with National Australia Bank, which it believes will frustrate the bank's proposed partnership with the French group AXA SA...

AMP in no hurry to up bid, says analyst - Feb 08, 2010
AMP is in no rush to up its bid for AXA Asia Pacific, according to a Credit Suisse analyst.

Arjan van Veen said not only has AMP’s internal growth remained strong, but much hinged on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC's) decision with regards to NAB’s bid on March 18...

Consolidation earns Suncorp insurance unit a re-rating - Feb 03, 2010
THE changes being wrought at Suncorp-Metway under the recently appointed chief executive, Patrick Snowball, have received a significant boost from one of the main ratings agencies, which is expecting the bancassurance group to report improved profits later this month...

NAB completes due diligence on AXA - Jan 25, 2010
One of the earliest hurdles to National Australia Bank’s (NAB’s) acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific (AXA APH) has been cleared, with NAB and AXA announcing the completion of confirmatory due diligence...

AMP board comes up with defence strategy - Jan 21, 2010
A MEETING of the AMP board this month mapped out options for the wealth manager if, as is widely expected, National Australia Bank buys AXA Asia Pacific...

.Consumers ignoring life insurance - Jan 20, 2010
Consumers are increasingly ignoring life insurance in the face of high costs and the belief that superannuation benefits will be enough to deal with future financial obligations, according to an IBISWorld report...

Tower Australia expands group insurance presence - Jan 19, 2010
Tower Australia has appointed Paul Rohan as the head of the AustralianSuper Insurance Account as the company looks to establish a group insurance presence in Melbourne...

Suncorp wants AAMI as top brand - Dec 16, 2009
SUNCORP METWAY is looking to position AAMI as its dominant national car and home insurance brand and will use pricing as a lever to tackle its key rival, Insurance Australia Group...

AIG rebranding itself as Chartis - Nov 30, 2009
Insurance company AIG is rebranding itself throughout Australia and New Zealand, as it tries to distance itself from its troubled American parent company...

Tower Australia profit takes hit - Nov 30, 2009
Tower Australia Limited has reported a solid full-year result, but could not evade the impact of the global financial crisis, reporting a 32 per cent decline in net profit after tax of $46...

Facebook smile costs woman her benefits - Nov 24, 2009
A Canadian woman has learned that Facebook can be a double-edged sword after an insurance company cut her health benefits, claiming she was healthy after seeing pictures of her smiling in a bikini at the beach...

Life insurance churn and burn - Nov 23, 2009
Concerns about churning of life insurance policies have emerged, with increases in risk-writing by advisers coinciding with a rise in attrition rates for insurance companies across the industry...

Shakeup of home warranty insurance - Nov 09, 2009
The New South Wales Government has announced it will take over the state's home warranty insurance scheme to avoid a crisis in the $20 billion building industry...

Suncorp chief shakes up insurance ranks - Oct 22, 2009
SUNCORP-METWAY chief executive Patrick Snowball has moved to put his stamp on the financial services group with a shake-up of management ranks, at the same time as vowing to simplify its complex corporate structure...

TPD deduction extension offers little relief - Oct 19, 2009
A Government extension to tax deductions for insurance premiums for total and permanent disablement (TPD) cover in superannuation gives little relief, with the possibility of insurance premium increases and decreased coverage for Australian workers, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA)...

Judge rebukes APRA over insurer probe - Oct 13, 2009
A Federal Court judge has sharply criticised the insurance regulator for its ''reprehensible'' handling of an investigation into a struggling insurance company...

IAG pours flood cover on policies - Oct 12, 2009
Insurance Australia Group has begun making flood cover an automatic part of its policies as it faces a fight with its rival insurers and against the threat of climate change...

Life under cover - Oct 09, 2009
Fixed insurance premiums have some advantages.

In an industry first, the insurer MLC has announced the default setting for the life insurance products it sells through advisers will from now on be “level” premiums, rather than the more common “stepped” premiums that increase with age...

It pays to insure your income - Oct 05, 2009
It is no secret Australians are among the most underinsured people in the developed world. Almost three times as many people insure their cars as insure their most important asset – their income...

MLC announces changes to insurance offering - Oct 05, 2009
MLC has announced annual changes to its insurance offering that include the reduction in some premium rates...

Insurance sector irked by climate change - Sep 23, 2009
Insurance brokers are concerned about the financial effect of climate change on their clients but are unsure how to advise them on protecting against the risk, a survey finds...

Insurance industry suffers underwriting loss of $1.5 billion - Sep 16, 2009
Australia’s general insurance industry operations suffered an underwriting loss of more than $1.5 billion during the 2008-09 financial year, according to a KPMG insurance survey...

Suncorp stays solo in insurance battle - Sep 07, 2009
SUNCORP will go it alone rather than partnering either Woolworths or Coles as part of its plan to defend its 30 per cent of the insurance market against a much-mooted and large-scale entry by the two leading retailers...

Insurance fears deter gene tests - Sep 07, 2009
AUSTRALIANS with a family history of cancer are turning down genetic tests that could improve their chances of early detection and survival because they fear insurance companies will discriminate against them...

Australia Post puts stamp on insurance - Sep 02, 2009
THE insurance industry faces one of its biggest shake-ups after Australia Post's decision to offer car insurance - and soon home and contents cover - through its 4450 outlets...

Left in the lurch - Aug 31, 2009
Small print and onerous exclusions make the benefits advertised by some insurance companies virtually worthless, writes Catharine Munro...

Financial storms and weather erode Suncorp profit - Aug 27, 2009
The regional banking and insurance company Suncorp has reported a 40 per cent fall in its full-year after-tax profit...

GFC key reason for dropping life cover - Aug 25, 2009
A recent study has found people are increasingly using the global financial crisis (GFC) as a reason to cancel their life insurance policy...

Fairness falls short - Aug 18, 2009
Insurance contracts may be exempt from the new laws protecting consumers, reports Catharine Munro.

To say that consumer lawyers are not happy that insurance policies have been quietly dropped from new laws protecting the public from unfair contracts is an understatement...

Health insurance numbers fly in face of warnings - Aug 18, 2009
ANXIETY about public hospital waiting lists clearly outweighs concern about premium costs. Health insurance numbers climbed by more than 200,000 in the past year, despite budget changes that make it easier for middle-income earners to drop their insurance...

Insurance losses put a rocket under premiums - Aug 17, 2009
CAR and home insurance premiums have shot up as much as 30 per cent as insurers attempt to replace cash reserves depleted by years of large weather-related claims and hefty investment losses...

Income products should be default option for retirees: Vamos - Aug 11, 2009
Income products should be the default option for retiree superannuation funds, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) chief Pauline Vamos...

Troubled US insurer AIG back in black - Aug 10, 2009
Troubled US insurance giant AIG has announced it is back in the black for the first time in almost two years with second-quarter earnings of $US1...

Planners' insurance reach under threat - Aug 10, 2009
Superannuation funds stand to be the major conduit for the delivery of life insurance as a result of the Federal Government’s new intra-fund advice regime, according to the chief executive of Tower Australia, Jim Minto...

Government must review PI insurance guidelines - Aug 06, 2009
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has called on the Government to review the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s RG 126 requirements for professional indemnity (PI) insurance in its submission to the Rippoll inquiry...

Life insurance risk market inflows up by 16 per cent - Aug 05, 2009
Life insurance risk market inflows increased by 16.1 per cent to $7.6 billion for the 12 months to March 2009, according to researcher Plan for Life...

MLC named life insurance company of the year - Aug 03, 2009
MLC was named life insurance company of the year for the second year running at the 2009 Australia and New Zealand insurance industry awards held in Sydney last night...

Elders sells insurance arm to QBE Insurance - Aug 03, 2009
QBE Insurance has acquired Elders’ insurance arm in a deal worth $315 million. Elders was placed in a trading halt yesterday at its request pending an announcement of the sale...

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