The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) today welcomed the release of the Final Report by the Independent Code Review Panel and has accepted a large number of recommendations from both the Code Review and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics report into insurers’ responses to 2022 major flood claims (Parliamentary Inquiry).
The General Insurance Code of Practice is independently reviewed at least every three years to ensure it remains relevant to maintaining and enhancing consumer protections, including for those who are vulnerable and facing financial hardship.
The Review of the Code commenced in November 2023 with an Initial Report being released by the Review Panel in September 2024 containing 101 recommendations.
The Final Report concluded that no additions or adjustments were required to the 101 recommendations outlined in the Initial Report which cover several areas, including financial hardship, customer vulnerability, and claims handling.
The Final Report considers the recommendations of the Parliamentary Inquiry and highlights similarities between the two sets of recommendations.
For this reason, insurers have reviewed recommendations from the Code Review and Parliamentary Inquiry concurrently.
The industry has to 78 recommendations across both reports that can be supported or where the industry can work constructively with others to explore implementation.
These recommendations seek to improve products and processes for customers while ensuring healthy product competition and innovation.
The industry has already made progress towards implementing many of both sets of recommendations, including work on development of potential standardised maintenance/ wear and tear clauses and better identification and handling of vulnerable customers.
Further progress will be outlined in the forthcoming update of the industry-commissioned Deloitte Report. The finalisation of this update has been extended until early 2025 because of the focus on responding to the Code Review and Parliamentary Inquiry recommendations.
The ICA and insurers are committed to continuing to work closely with Australian governments, stakeholders, consumer representatives, and regulators to implement changes that improve the industry’s response to customers impacted by extreme weather events.
The industry will continue to work through the remaining recommendations in 2025.
Quotes attributable to ICA CEO Andrew Hall:
The release of the Final Report marks an important step in the insurance industry’s ongoing efforts to ensure the Code continues to serve customers.
I thank the Panel for their work in reviewing the Code, particularly its chair Helen Rowell, alongside all those who made valuable submissions.
The Insurance Council and its members appreciate the insights consumer advocates bring to making sure insurance works better for customers.
We look forward to continuing our work with consumer advocates in the new year to address the remaining key issues and recommendations.
The insurance industry is committed to enhancing and uplifting outcomes for customers – not just during a disaster, but systemically.
