Following a consultation period last year, the Treasury has released draft legislation to extend the unfair contract terms regime to insurance contracts. In releasing the draft legislation, the government has reaffirmed its commitment to implementing all 76 recommendations from Commissioner Hayne’s Royal Commission Final Report. Consultation is now open until 28 August 2019 following which the draft legislation will be considered by Parliament. The draft legislation comes during a time of significant regulatory change in…

Following the release of Report 622 earlier this month, which was highly critical of sales of consumer credit insurance, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released Consultation Paper 317 (CP 317). Under CP 317, ASIC proposes to prohibit unsolicited telephone sales of two types of insurance – direct life insurance and consumer credit insurance (also known as CCI insurance). Although Commissioner Hayne recommended a ban on unsolicited phone calls for all insurance products,…

Yes we are, according to the High Court of Australia. On an issue that was previously up in the air, the High Court has provided some long awaited clarity on the scope of claims that can be made against a domestic carrier in the event of death or injury to a passenger. Claims brought by passengers against a carrier for domestic flights are subject ‘exclusively’ to the strict liabilities and caps under the Civil Aviation…

DIF III – Global Co-Investment Fund LP v Babcock & Brown International Pty Limited The recent NSW Supreme Court decision in DIF III – Global Co-Investment Fund LP v Babcock & Brown International Pty Limited ruled that section 54 the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) (ICA) did not cure a lack of notification of circumstances if those circumstances were not known during the policy period.  Here, this finding was based on the particular policy wording…

I        Can you breach an insurance policy before being aware of a claim? The short answer is yes.  In a split decision, the New South Wales Court of Appeal recently found a cause of action for breach of an indemnity policy accrues at the time of an insurable event, in this case property damage. In Globe Church Incorporated v Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd [2019] NSWCA 27, Bathurst CJ, Beazley P, and Ward…

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released Consultation Paper 311 seeking input from interested parties on 15 proposals that will change the way Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) holders conduct and report on internal dispute resolution (IDR)  processes. Submissions close on 9 August 2019, with the final revisions to Regulatory Guide 165: Internal Dispute Resolution to be published in December 2019. The measures are proposed to be progressively implemented between December 2019 and…

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) this week released its 12-month Insights Report for the Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) Scheme (Report).  The Report shows trends and noteworthy statistics from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019, reporting an uptick in notifications and identifying the most common cyber trends leading to a requirement to notify. The OAIC notes that many entities have taken a proactive approach to engage with the OAIC and it has…