INSURANCE COMPANIES – AUSTRALIA

Bupa sued for $35m for misleading customers

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Jul-25

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has asked the Federal Court to impose a $35 million fine on health insurer Bupa for allegedly misleading customers over a five-year period. The ACCC alleges that Bupa gave customers incorrect information in regard to claiming benefits in situations where two or more procedures were taking place at the same time, with some customers having to pay thousands of dollars or cancel medical procedures altogether as a result of the incorrect information. Bupa’s Asia Pacific CEO Nick Stone says he is "deeply sorry" that customers were given the wrong information, while ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says Bupa should have invested in the proper training and processes to prevent such mistakes from occurring.

CORPORATES
BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Medibank must release hack reports

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Original article by Angelica Snowden
The Australian – Page: 17 : 8-Apr-25

The Federal Court has ruled that Medibank’s customers should be given access to cyber-security reports that were prepared by Deloitte in the wake of the health insurer’s data breach in October 2022. Medibank had contended that the reports were subject to legal professional privilege. Justice Helen Rofe noted that Medibank had consistently stated that it would share the results of the external review, although she concluded that chairman Mike Wilkins had in fact never intended to do so. Customers who were affected by the cyber-attack are pursuing a class action against Medibank.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Labor’s next woe: health premiums

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Oct-24

Sources have indicated that private health insurers will seek approval from the federal government to increase their premiums by 5-6 per cent in 2025. This would be the highest increase since 2016, when premiums rose by an average of 6.18 per cent. Private health insurers are slated to make their final submissions to Health Minister Mark Butler in early November; the size of the premium increases is traditionally announced between December and March, and they take effect from 1 April. With the federal election due by mid-May and the cost-of-living crisis weighing on many voters, the government will be reluctant to approve a large increase in premiums.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND AGED CARE

Insurance premiums rise faster than Australia’s inflation, spurred by frequent extreme weather

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Original article by Josh Nicholas, Jonathan Barrett
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Feb-24

The latest inflation data shows that insurance premiums have risen by 16.2 per cent over the last year. In contrast, the annual inflation rate was just 4.1 per cent. An Insurance Council of Australia spokesperson says factors such as the rising cost of natural disasters are contributing to the spike in premiums. Reinsurers are also taking into account the impact of climate change when setting their prices, and any such increases are ultimately passed on insurance companies’ customers.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Insurers’ flood cover options in flux

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Original article by Liam Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Dec-23

Allianz has told a federal parliamentary inquiry into the 2022 floods that devasted large parts of eastern Australia that it is reviewing its customer choice flood cover. Currently one of the few home insurers that gives customers the option of having flood coverage, Allianz indicated it is now considering making it mandatory. For its part, Suncorp has told the inquiry that it has abolished two types of caravan and RV insurance, with these relating to relocatable homes and onsite caravans. It stated they were "unsustainable", due to the risks of associated with being located in caravan parks prone to flooding.

CORPORATES
ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN

Medibank to trial four-day work week

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Original article by Jessica Yun
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 23-Oct-23

Health insurer Medibank Private will shortly commence a six-month trial of the 100:80:100 model, whereby employees retain 100 per cent of their salary for 80 per cent of their time, in exchange for a commitment productivity of 100 per cent. Some 250 employees will participate in the four-day working week trial, with a view to eventually rolling it out across the company. Professor Bronwen Dalton from the University of Technology, Sydney has praised Medibank’s initiative, but she believes that the length of the trial and the number of participants should be increased.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Suncorp puts bank into play

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Original article by Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 16 : 27-Jun-22

Suncorp Group may abandon its ‘bancassurance’ model and pursue a sale or demerger of its banking division. Suncorp has engaged the services of investment bank Barrenjoey Capital Partners to consider options for its banking arm, which would allow the listed group to focus on its insurance division. Analysts have suggested that the recent downturn in Australian bank stocks could make selling Suncorp Bank more attractive than listing it on the sharemarket. Suncorp’s own share have fallen by one per cent over the last year, while the S&P/ASX 200 has shed 10 per cent.

CORPORATES
SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, SUNCORP BANK, BARRENJOEY CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Deluge of flood claims has investors fleeing

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 15 : 1-Mar-22

The Insurance Council of Australia has advised that more than 15,000 insurance claims arising from floods in Queensland and New South Wales have been lodged to date. Suncorp had received 5,000 claims by Monday morning, while Insurance Australia Group had received more than 3,200 claims by Sunday evening. Suncorp has also indicated that it may incur losses of up to $75m as a result of the floods; the general insurer recently reported that its costs associated with weather events in the first half of 2021-22 totalled $695m.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG

Deluge of flood claims has investors fleeing

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 15 : 1-Mar-22

The Insurance Council of Australia has advised that more than 15,000 insurance claims arising from floods in Queensland and New South Wales have been lodged to date. Suncorp had received 5,000 claims by Monday morning, while Insurance Australia Group had received more than 3,200 claims by Sunday evening. Suncorp has also indicated that it may incur losses of up to $75m as a result of the floods; the general insurer recently reported that its costs associated with weather events in the first half of 2021-22 totalled $695m.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG

Medibank pays back unused $105m

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Original article by Liam Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 30-Jun-21

Private health insurer Medibank expects about two million customers of its flagship and ahm brands to be eligible for a discount on their next premium payment. Medical procedures such as elective surgery were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing policyholders from making full use of their private health coverage. HBF is among the other health funds that have previously revealed plans to return some money to its members.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AHM HEALTH INSURANCE, HBF HEALTH LIMITED