General insurance and financial services news from Australia and around the worldhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/en-auhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/councils-more-resolved-to-pursue-regional-mutualhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/councils-more-resolved-to-pursue-regional-mutual<p>A group of regional councils are continuing to explore a mutual insurance option after a roundtable last week highlighted frustrations at a lack of affordable cover...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 05:32:36 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/move-to-evs-drives-up-claim-costshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/move-to-evs-drives-up-claim-costs<p>Insurance consequences from the shift towards electric vehicles include a higher claims cost severity, according to Taylor Fry...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 05:32:30 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/in-office-mandates-during-fuel-crisis-beggar-beliefhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/in-office-mandates-during-fuel-crisis-beggar-belief<p>Not every insurer has heeded employees&rsquo; requests to work from home amid the fuel price crisis, the Finance Sector Union says...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 05:32:20 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/el-nino-possible-within-months-as-ocean-warmshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/el-nino-possible-within-months-as-ocean-warms<p>An El Nino may form this winter as tropical Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures continue to climb, the Bureau of Meteorology says...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 04:26:42 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/judge-rejects-church-sexual-misconduct-policy-changehttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/judge-rejects-church-sexual-misconduct-policy-change<p>The Federal Court has dismissed an application by Allianz to reduce the limit for sexual misconduct claims on a professional indemnity policy...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 04:26:32 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/star-casino-ruling-puts-focus-on-d-and-ohttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/star-casino-ruling-puts-focus-on-d-and-o<p>A court decision on whether senior executives and directors at The Star Entertainment Group breached their duties of care and diligence has implications for understanding how directors and officers cover responds, a law firm says...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 04:26:21 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/perils-raises-spring-storms-loss-estimate-to-1-5-billionhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/perils-raises-spring-storms-loss-estimate-to-1-5-billion<p>Insured losses from storms in Australia&rsquo;s east in October will reach $1.5 billion, with Queensland making up 94% of the total, Swiss catastrophe data company Perils estimates...</p>Mon, 04 May 2026 04:26:07 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/silent-alarm-insurers-moving-to-shut-down-ai-exposureshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/silent-alarm-insurers-moving-to-shut-down-ai-exposures<p>Underwriters are quickly adding exclusions as courts start to hold companies responsible for harm from AI tools...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:32:28 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/bureau-flags-dry-spell-for-eastern-australiahttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/bureau-flags-dry-spell-for-eastern-australia<p>Eastern Australia and parts of the southwest are likely to receive below-average rainfall from May to July, the Bureau of Meteorology says in its latest long-range forecast...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:32:07 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/ship-collision-case-heads-to-chinahttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/ship-collision-case-heads-to-china<p>The Federal Court has refused to allow legal action in Australia over two ships that collided in Chinese territorial waters...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:03:36 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/ombudsman-cannot-make-insurers-fund-climate-upgradeshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/ombudsman-cannot-make-insurers-fund-climate-upgrades<p>New Zealand&rsquo;s financial services ombudsman has warned policyholders to be aware of coverage limitations after ruling against a family who wanted their floor level raising in a rebuild after flood damage...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:03:26 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/shareholder-win-sparks-warning-on-d-and-o-adequacyhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/shareholder-win-sparks-warning-on-d-and-o-adequacy<p>A successful shareholder class action against logistics giant Brambles has raised the risk of more lawsuits and potential losses against directors and officers cover, experts say...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:03:12 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/cyclone-storms-add-to-surge-in-weather-claims-iag-nzhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/cyclone-storms-add-to-surge-in-weather-claims-iag-nz<p>IAG New Zealand has received 1000 claims arising from Cyclone Vaianu earlier this month, across home, contents, commercial, motor and boat policies...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:02:58 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/row-over-strata-premium-best-settled-in-courthttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/row-over-strata-premium-best-settled-in-court<p>A dispute over how strata insurance premiums are apportioned between a backpacker hostel and apartment owners is headed for court, after an adjudicator ruled it needed settling in another jurisdiction...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:02:41 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/allianz-aims-to-lift-spirits-after-disasters-strikehttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/allianz-aims-to-lift-spirits-after-disasters-strike<p>Allianz has created a mental health support program for communities hit by natural disasters...</p>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:01:36 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/middle-east-turmoil-fuels-ev-quote-demandhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/middle-east-turmoil-fuels-ev-quote-demand<p>Insurers are receiving more requests for quotes covering electric vehicles as Middle East fuel supply issues continue...</p>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:06:14 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/leading-insurers-post-strong-revenue-gains-am-besthttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/leading-insurers-post-strong-revenue-gains-am-best<p>The top 10 Australian non-life insurers produced insurance services revenue of nearly $46 billion in their latest annual results, up 11.1%, an AM Best analysis shows...</p>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:06:08 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/financial-lines-consequences-flagged-as-fuel-shock-rocks-companieshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/financial-lines-consequences-flagged-as-fuel-shock-rocks-companies<p>Economic shocks caused by the Middle East war have implications for financial risk exposure, law firm Kennedys has warned...</p>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:05:58 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/psychiatric-injury-can-t-be-bolted-on-to-back-claim-judges-sayhttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/psychiatric-injury-can-t-be-bolted-on-to-back-claim-judges-say<p>A woman has lost her bid to have a mental illness treated as part of a back injury claim with WorkCover after the Queensland Appeal Court found they are two separate issues...</p>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:05:37 GMThttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/war-sparks-business-interruption-claims-crawford-sayshttps://www.insurancenews.com.au/local/war-sparks-business-interruption-claims-crawford-says<p>Business interruptions linked to the Middle East War have emerged, according to claims services group Crawford &amp; Company...</p>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:05:06 GMT