INQ339

The Committee recommends that insurers improve their processes to facilitate the escalation of cases that remain unresolved after 12 months to a more experienced case manager.

The Committee recommends that for each declared event, insurers be required to report the number of unresolved cases after 12 months to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the overarching strategy for resolving these cases.

The Committee recommends that the General Insurance Code of Practice (the Code) be reformed to implement Recommendation 63 of the Independent Review of the 2020 General Insurance Code of Practice, that is: where the insurer has not made a decision on a claim within 12 months, and the delay is not

The Committee recommends that insurers report case management key performance indicators to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

The Committee recommends that insurers recognise standard third-party authorisation forms and that this obligation be reflected in staff training.

The Committee recommends that, if a policy renewal falls due when there is long delay in claim handling or the completion of the project, the insurer should:
- be required to offer a reduced form of cover, with an appropriately lower premium

The Committee recommends that insurers be required to ensure that people paying premiums monthly do not pay more.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with state and territory governments to ensure flood maps are produced to a high standard across the nation, regardless of the size of the local government area producing the modelling. This may require:

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government ultimately move towards a national, centralised, public-facing portal containing flood risk data at the household level for:
- all households and small businesses across Australia, and

The Committee recommends that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s MoneySmart life insurance claims comparison tool be extended to general insurance.

The Committee recommends the Australian Securities and Investments Commission publish quarterly insurer and brand level data on their performance on the metrics recommended in Recommendation 51.

The Committee recommends the Australian Securities and Investments Commission consider seeking data from insurers on their performance based on the metrics recommended in Recommendation 51:
- Quarterly, for business-as-usual operations
- Monthly, for each declared event.

The Committee recommends that all insurers create a role for a ‘consumer advocate’ which has oversight of and, where appropriate, involvement in, the disputes managed within the firm, cases that have moved to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), and claims which have taken a long

The Committee recommends that the Insurance Council of Australia seek to have the General Insurance Code of Practice approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission after implementing any recommendations of the Independent Review of the 2020 General Insurance Code of Practice.

The Committee recommends that the General Insurance Code of Practice be incorporated as a contractually enforceable clause in insurance Product Disclosure Statements (as is the Banking Code of Practice).

The Committee recommends that the General Insurance Code Governance Committee publish aggregate data on code breaches by clause, individual insurer, and brand.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) appropriately use powers that it has as a result of the removal of the exemption of claims handling of insurance products under the Corporations Act 2001.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the General Insurance Code Governance Committee share data so that it is possible to evaluate breaches of the General Insurance Code of Practice in the context of an insurers’ overall claims profile.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission develop and define key outcomes measures for the consumer experience, including:
- Communication (outcome measures)

The Committee recommends that legislation provide the Australian Securities and Investments Commission with sufficient data-gathering powers to obtain the information required to monitor and report on the metrics recommended in Recommendation 51.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government commission research into effective ways of communicating flood risk to communities.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government continue to work with the insurance industry through the Hazards Insurance Partnership to collate:
- data contained in the National Flood Information Database, and

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government continue to work with the states and territories through National Cabinet to ensure that disaster and resilience funding, and non-financial support, are accessible and adequate for all councils, particularly smaller councils.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government work with the Insurance Council of Australia to develop and publish advice on the mitigation measures households could undertake to improve the flood resilience of their property.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government and Insurance Council of Australia explore measures to facilitate the exchange of substantiated information about the resilience of a property to insurers, including new mitigation measures undertaken through state-based grant and loan programs.<

The Committee recommends insurers facilitate options for policyholders to provide additional information to insurers about the resilience of their property to flood risks, and make further investments to better integrate reported resilience measures into the calculations of premiums.

The Committee recommends that state and territory governments develop buyback and resilience programs for households with very high flood risk and where alternative mitigation measures are unlikely to manage the risk.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government work with state and territory governments to review the operation of existing buy-back schemes to ensure they are targeted appropriately and to evaluate the outcomes for households that have received assistance.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government collaborate with state governments to implement measures to repurpose areas with high flood risk for alternative purposes, including returning developed land into a predeveloped state or repurposing land for recreational or agricultural use.

The Committee recommends that insurers explore offering innovative insurance products that have the potential to improve the operation of the insurance market, including:
- More flexible insurance products for small business, including:

The Committee recommends that the New South Wales and Tasmanian governments collaborate with industry and local governments to reform emergency services levies, aiming to enhance premium affordability and reduce barriers to insurance uptake.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government consider measures to reduce household level risks, including whether it would be appropriate to extend the Bushfire Resilience Rating Home Self-Assessment App to flood risks.

The Committee recommends the General Insurance Code of Practice be amended to require that insurers be required to consider relevant propertylevel mitigation measures in any new or renewing insurance policy, and to demonstrate how those measures have been reasonably reflected in the proposed prem

The Committee recommends that a climate financing framework be developed in relation to government mitigation and adaptation funding.

The Committee recommends a more flexible approach to post-flood grant arrangements, to expand eligibility to include some insured people, including:

The Committee recommends that all levels of government should work together to ensure that, as far as is possible, people don’t need to resubmit the same information multiple times for different disaster support.

The Committee acknowledges the increased funding for the community legal sector recently announced. While the focus of this funding will be for family violence services, the Committee recommends that an appropriate proportion be dedicated to natural disaster services.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government consider measures to improve the affordability of flood insurance for existing policyholders with high flood risk properties, including the appropriateness of a government supported reinsurance arrangement.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with State, Territory and local government through National Cabinet to ensure that further development does not occur in areas of 1-in-100 flood risk or greater.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with state, territory and local governments through National Cabinet to ensure that publicly disclosed risk information at the individual property level is available through the property conveyancing process or mandated in state rental

The Committee recommends that building codes and planning rules be strengthened and future-proofed to improve the resilience of communities and households, consistent with Recommendation 2 of the Actuaries Institute’s Funding for Flood Costs report.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government continue to fund community level mitigation, ensuring at least $200 million per year ongoing.

The Committee recommends that state and territory governments remove state-based taxes on general insurance products and shift the tax burden toward less distortionary taxes.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government define the following terms in the Insurance Contracts Act 1984:
- All major forms of water damage, including “rainfall runoff”, “storm surge”, “tidal surge” and “riverine flood”.

The Committee recommends that the General Insurance Code of Practice be amended to require insurers when offering final cash settlements to include areasonable uplift/contingency sum to reasonably compensate policyholders for the risks they take on in project managing the repairs to their proper

The Committee recommends the General Insurance Code of Practice be amended to allow policyholders to have a 12-month period to seek a review of a final cash settlement where there is a change in the facts upon which the original determination was made.

The Committee recommends that the General Insurance Code of Practice prohibit the use of the terms “without prejudice” or “confidential” (or other misleading terms) on final cash settlement offers.

The Committee recommends that a new service be offered to support vulnerable cash settlement recipients to project manage rebuilds and major repairs. This could be similar to the Service Navigator role in Queensland’s Resilient Homes Fund.

The Committee recommends that the Insurance Council of Australia in consultation with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission:

The Committee recommends that there should be insurer and regulator oversight of Scopes of Work through the following mechanisms: