INSURANCE POLICIES – AUSTRALIA

Private Health Insurance Switching: HCF, Bupa, and ahm see biggest customer growth

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Feb-25

Data from Roy Morgan shows that despite rising cost-of-living pressures, most Australians are maintaining private health insurance rather than opting out, but they are switching. As of December 2024, over half of Australians aged 14+ (57.2%) hold a private health insurance policy – equivalent to approximately 12.9 million people. This represents steady growth over the past five years, rising from 52.9% in December 2020 to 57.2% in December 2024. Some 6.8% of private health insurance policies were switched to another company in the year to December 2024, while 17.9% were renewed after approaching another company. In total, close to one in four (24.6%) people looked for a better health insurance policy deal, up from 22.3% in the previous year. HCF, Bupa and ahm have been the biggest winners from customer switching in the past 12 months, benefiting from their reputation for competitive pricing. In contrast, Medibank Private saw the largest customer loss due to switching.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, THE HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AHM HEALTH INSURANCE, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

More Australians switching insurance since COVID-19

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jun-21

New data from Roy Morgan shows that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Australians with either vehicle insurance or household insurance have been far more likely to switch their insurance provider, and also far more likely to consider switching after looking for deals from other companies. In the year to March 2021, only 62.9% of the nation’s 30 million+ vehicle insurance policies (including Compulsory Third Party) were renewed without approaching another company, down from 77.9% in the year to March 2020. There was a significant increase in vehicle insurance policies that were renewed only after approaching other companies, up 9.2% points to 23.5%. There was a similar trend in the household insurance market, which comprises nearly 25 million policies. Some 68.1% of these policies were renewed without approaching another company, down 12.3% points from the year to March 2020 when 80.4% of household insurance policies were renewed. Meanwhile, 22% of household insurance policies were renewed after approaching other companies, up 7.7% points from a year ago, and 6.1% of policies were ‘switched’ from another company, up from 3.7% a year ago. These are some of the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source insurance data derived from in-depth personal interviews conducted with over 50,000 Australians per annum, including details of over 75,000 vehicle insurance policies and over 65,000 household insurance policies.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Westpac insurance sales misleading: ASIC

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 9-Apr-21

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is taking legal action against Westpac in the Federal Court. ASIC claims that Westpac mis-sold credit card insurance to customers who did not want it, with more than 380 customers affected in a four-month period between April and July 2015. Westpac has stated that it will work with ASIC constructively through the court process, and that it has not sold credit card insurance since 2019. Credit card insurance came under scrutiny during the Hayne royal commission, and the big banks have stopped selling the product.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Nearly nine million general insurance policies at risk of being switched – RACV and Apia top for loyalty

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Sep-19

A new report from Roy Morgan shows that during the last 12 months, 8.9 million general insurance policies, or nearly one in five (18.2%), were subject to review. This was made up of the policies that were switched to another company and those that were renewed with the same company after approaching other companies. Companies with the most loyal customers (those who renew without looking around) are RACV, Apia and CGU. The research also shows that over the last year, 79.4% of general insurance policies were renewed with the same company without approaching any other companies. This was an increase from the previous year when it was 77.3% and currently represents 38.7 million policies. These are some of the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s ‘General Insurance Currency Report’. The report is derived from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey (Australia) which is derived from in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their homes, including details of over 120,000 general insurance policies.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RACV INSURANCE, AUSTRALIAN PENSIONERS INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD, CGU INSURANCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

RAA leads general insurance satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Jun-19

The latest Roy Morgan General Insurance Satisfaction report shows that 78.7% of Australians aged 14+ were satisfied with their general insurer in April 2019, down 0.1% from the same time in 2018. RAA now has the highest customer satisfaction level within the general insurance industry, at 91.1%. It is followed by RACT (90.8%), WFI (89.7%), RAC (89.4%) and Shannons (87.9%), all well above the industry average of 78.7%. The report is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes, including over 39,000 with general insurance.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RAA INSURANCE LIMITED, RACT INSURANCE PTY LTD, WFI INSURANCE, RAC INSURANCE PTY LTD, SHANNONS

Insurers urge caution over hail sales

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 10-Jan-19

Cars that were damaged by a hailstorm that struck Sydney in late December are now being offered by sale by car dealers. However, Youi and Suncorp are among the insurers that have advised consumers to exercise caution when buying hail-damaged cars. They say bargain-hunters should consider factors such as the cost of repairing such vehicles, the likely resale value and whether they will be able to obtain insurance. Both companies have ruled out offering comprehensive insurance for cars that were damaged in the storm.

CORPORATES
SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, YOUI PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED MOTOR INSURERS LIMITED, GIO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BINGLE.COM PTY LTD

Insurers shun Adani’s Carmichael mine

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 20-Dec-18

Activist group Market Forces claims that 10 leading insurance companies have ruled out providing coverage for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Queensland. They are said to include global insurers such as Allianz and AXA, as well as Australia’s QBE and Suncorp. Market Forces executive director Julien Vincent says insurers have the power to ensure that the mine does not proceed. Adani has scaled back the size of the project and announced that it will be self-funded after banks refused to provide financing for it.

CORPORATES
ADANI MINING PTY LTD, MARKET FORCES, ALLIANZ AG HOLDING, AXA SA, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, SWISS REINSURANCE COMPANY, MUNICH REINSURANCE COMPANY, FM GLOBAL, ZURICH INSURANCE COMPANY, GENERALI, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INCORPORATED, SCOR SA, HANNOVER RUCKVERSICHERUNGS-AG, AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL ASSURANCE COMPANY, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

One million potential for switching risk and life insurance policy providers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that in the 12 months to June 2018, 1,008,000 risk and life insurance policies (10.8% of the total market) had the potential to change companies. This potential is the sum of the 242,000 that actually switched to another company and the 766,000 that renewed with the same company after having approached other companies. Of the total switching potential of 1,008,000 risk and life policies over the last year, the 35-49 age group is the biggest segment, with 425,000 or 42.2% of the total. The second largest segment is the 50-64 age group, with 360,000 or 35.7% of the total. Meanwhile, 27.9% of switching potential is in the $60,000 to $99,000 personal income group, with 281,000 policies. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey, which is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own homes, including over 10,000 interviews with people holding risk and life insurance policies.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Directors hit in Hayne fallout

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Original article by Alice Uribe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Jul-18

Providers of directors’ and officers’ insurance have increased their premiums by an average of 70 per cent over the past six months due to costs incurred as a result of class actions. Eden Fletcher of Aon Risk Solutions notes that providers have moved to prevent further losses on class action policies they offer by inserting exclusions that would see them refuse to cover companies hit by class actions resulting from the banking royal commission. There are potentially up 20 class actions pending as a result of the royal commission, with AMP alone facing five lawsuits over its fee-for-no-service scandal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AON RISK SERVICES AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, CHUBB CORPORATION, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LAW REFORM COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, RABOBANK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP INCORPORATED, XL CATLIN

Over 250,000 didn’t renew private health insurance

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-May-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that an estimated 256,000 Australians aged 14+ decided not to renew their private health insurance in the year to March 2018. This compares with 182,000 in the year to March 2017, making it the highest number for the last five years. Some 53.3% of consumers said the main reason for dropping out of health insurance was because it was "too expensive", up from 47.1% in the previous year; this was followed by "too much out of pocket expense", citied by 19.1% of consumers, up from 12.8% in 2017. An analysis of the individual major health funds shows that cost ("too expensive") is generally the main reason for each that members do not renew.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED