Consumer groups including the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Counselling Australia have welcomed the Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICAs) initial industry response to the General Insurance Code of Practice Independent Review and the 2022 Flood Inquiry Recommendations, released today and called upon the sector to respond to, and accept all 109 further recommendations left outstanding.
Quotes attributable to:
Alexandra Kelly, Acting CEO, Financial Rights Legal Centre
”If we were to deliver a report card on the sector’s response to their homework we’d say: “good start, more work to do.”
“The poor performance of the insurance sector in almost all aspects of their service and product delivery over the past few years has led to serious harms and a real need for the sector to invest and improve themselves. The Independent Code Review and Flood Report provide the road map to a better future for the sector and for insureds, but given the initial response that we have seen today there is a long way to go.”
“If this were a Sydney-to-Melbourne road trip we wouldn’t have even made it to the Dog on the Tuckerbox.”
“Insurers have picked off some low hanging fruit in the recommendations and we commend them for beginning their journey to implement some changes.”
“However there remain 60 code recommendations and 49 Flood Report recommendations outstanding – or close to 60% of the total recommendations needing to be considered and worked on. And most of these are the real meat of the recommendations that need addressing.”
“Still to be responded to are recommendations like insurers providing genuine financial hardship assistance to their customers, accepting claims that have not been decided on within 12 months and incorporating their code as a term of the contract with consumers. These are but a small snapshot of the many recommendations to which the industry hasn’t yet responded.”
“Insurers need to accept all of the outstanding recommendations in order to begin regaining trust and confidence of a community left traumatised and disappointed in their interactions with insurance sector over the past few years.”
Stephanie Tonkin, Consumer Action Law Centre
“We are pleased to see the ICA accept that industry conduct has fallen short of public expectations. We are hopeful that much of the harmful conduct we have been calling out will be left to the past - but there is still a long way to go. There remain a number of important recommendations that the ICA is yet to commit too. We urge the ICA and its members to implement to all of the recommendations from the Flood Inquiry and Independent Code Review.”
Vicki Staff, Coordinator of Disaster Recovery, Financial Counselling Australia
“It’s great to see the insurers taking meaningful steps to improve outcomes for their customers but the outstanding issues are glaringly obvious, and today’s response has ignored critical areas that impact people experiencing vulnerability.”
“The industry needs to commit to suitable support for customers facing financial hardship. With insurance premiums more expensive than ever, this really is a no brainer.”
“It’s time for insurers to stop low-balling when offering cash settlements so people are getting what they are entitled to as a paying customer.”
Background
The Initial Report of the Independent Review of the General Insurance Code of Practice can be found here: https://codeofpracticereview.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/240905_FINAL-GICOP-Review-Initial-Report.pdf
The Final Report of the Standing Committee on Economics Inquiry into insurers’ responses to 2022 major floods claims can be found here: https://www.aph.gov.au/floodinsurance
Contact
For further information contact media@financialrights.org.au or Drew MacRae on 02 8204 1386
