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☆ Aussie corporate regulator alleges IAG units misled home insurance customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Small toy figures are seen in front of displayed IAG (Insurance Australia Group) logo in this illustration taken, November 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/file photo Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies IMA and IAL misled customers about loyalty discountsIAG says units intend to defend the proceedingsRegulator is seeking declarations of contravention, pecuniary penalties and adverse publicity ordersAug 25 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator said on Friday it filed a lawsuit against two units of Insurance Australia Group (IAG) (IAG.AX), alleging they misled customers about loyalty discounts available for certain types of home insurance policies. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has commenced civil proceedings against Insurance Australia Ltd (IAL) and Insurance Manufacturers of Australia (IMA) in the Federal Court, alleging loyal customers may have had their premiums increased before the promised discounts were applied. "IMA and IAL do not agree that they have misled customers and intend to defend the proceedings further," IAG said in a separate release. The regulator is seeking declarations of contravention, pecuniary penalties and adverse publicity orders against IAL and IMA from the court.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, IAG, Sarah Court, IAL, Nausheen, Krishna Chandra Eluri Organizations: Insurance, REUTERS, Insurance Australia Group, Australian Securities & Investments Commission, Insurance Australia Ltd, Insurance Manufacturers of Australia, Federal, IMA, IAL, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Australia's IAG misses annual cash earnings estimates; shares slip
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Nausheen Thusoo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Small toy figures are seen in front of displayed IAG (Insurance Australia Group) logo in this illustration taken, November 8, 2021. The country's top general insurer posted cash earnings of A$452 million ($290.00 million) for the year ended June 30, up from A$213 million a year ago but missing analysts' average estimate of A$656.7 million, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Australian insurers have seen their profits soar this year, as they incur higher premiums in an elevated interest-rate environment, while also benefiting from a rebound in investment income. The company also expects an insurance margin in fiscal 2024 of 13.5%–15.5%, higher than the 12.6% margin last year. However, elevated inflation in home and motor claims costs, as well as the higher natural perils allowance, impacted the underlying insurance margin, IAG said in a statement.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, IAG, Nick Hawkins, Nausheen Thusoo, Archishma Iyer, Paul Simao, Stephen Coates, Rashmi Organizations: Insurance, REUTERS, cps, Insurance Australia Group, New Zealand, Citi, UBS, Thomson Locations: Australia, New

☆ Australia's IAG sees lower double-digit gross written premium growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Small toy figures are seen in front of displayed IAG (Insurance Australia Group) logo in this illustration taken, November 8, 2021. Australia's top general insurer reported a 10.6% rise in GWP to A$14.73 billion ($9.4 billion) for fiscal 2023, matching the Refinitiv estimate. The company also expects an insurance margin in fiscal 2024 of 13.5%–15.5%, higher than the pervious year's margin of 12.6%. IAG also declared a dividend of 9 Australian cents per share, up from 5 cents per share a year ago. The insurer posted cash earnings of A$452 million for the 12 months ended June 30, up from A$213 million a year ago.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Nick Hawkins, IAG, Refinitiv Eikon, Nausheen Thusoo, Archishma Iyer, Paul Simao, Stephen Coates Organizations: Insurance, REUTERS, cps, Insurance Australia Group, ”, Thomson Locations: GWP

☆ A WFH employee in Australia is hitting out at her ex-employer after it tracked how much she was typing — and then fired her
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An employee in Australia was fired for not typing enough when she worked from home. Her manager said she should be hitting over 500 keystrokes per hour. She was typing 80 keystrokes per hour between December 1-16. The insurance company presented precise details saying Cheikho logged 48.6 keystrokes per hour in October, 34.56 keystrokes per hour in November, and 80 keystrokes per hour in December. The case in Australia highlights the use of employee surveillance technology as more employees work remotely following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Persons: Suzie Cheikho, Cheikho, IAG, ResumeBuilder.com Organizations: Service, Insurance Australia Group, Australia's Sunrise Locations: Australia, Wall, Silicon

☆ Exclusive: Insurers look to ease UN climate alliance rules after member exodus - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Tommy Wilkes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The U.N.-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) is set to remove a six-month deadline for members to publish greenhouse gas emissions targets alongside other changes to make membership less prescriptive, the sources said. The hope is to "steady the ship" and create space for ex-members to consider returning later, they said. The changes under discussion have not been finalised, the sources said, and it's not clear how the alliance would deal with insurers that drag their feet in publishing targets. Remaining members believe the NZIA still has a valuable role, and point to methodologies it developed for assessing and reporting on underwriting-linked emissions. France's AXA, which chaired the NZIA before quitting in May, last week published its first emissions goals for its insurance portfolio.

Persons: Italy's, Peter Bosshard, Bosshard, Canada's Beneva, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Greg Roumeliotis, Simon Jessop, Emelia, David Evans Organizations: Zero Insurance Alliance, United, Zero Insurance, AXA, Tokio, Republican, Glasgow Financial Alliance, Aviva, Alliance, Insurance Australia Group, France's AXA, Thomson Locations: United Nations, London, United States, U.S

☆ Third quarter is a key time for extreme weather events. Here's what to expect for exposed stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The third quarter is a key time for extreme weather events. An El Niño weather pattern is widely expected for 2023. "Following three years of La Niña, climate scientists expect 2023 to have El Niño conditions with near-100% certainty given current signals," Karp said in a note to clients last month. Insurers are also among the stocks to typically move in relation to extreme weather events. This year should be a fairly typical one for hurricanes, as El Niño is typically linked to a less severe season.

Persons: Nature, —, Sophie Karp, La, Karp, El, bode, Morgan Stanley, Andrei Stadnik, Stadnik, Matthew Carletti doesn't, hasn't, Jefferies, Yaron Kinar, Brown, Arthur J, Gallagher, Aon, Niño, Generac, Aaron Jagdfeld, Bob Huang, bullish, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Energy, DTE Energy, WEC Energy, CNBC Pro's, WEC, Xcel Energy, Portland General Electric, Edison International, CenterPoint, Southern Company, Duke Energy, Nextera Energy, El, Insurance Australia Group, Suncorp, Arch Capital, Everest Re, Bloomberg, Arch Locations: El, Canada, U.S, Gulf, Pacific Northwest, California, Michigan, Avista, Portland, American, Mexico, CenterPoint Energy, Bermuda, Texas

☆ Australian general insurers to repay $550 million over pricing misconduct
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 23 (Reuters) - Australian general insurers will repay A$815 million ($550.29 million) to more than 5.6 million consumers due to their systemic failures in delivering on pricing promises, the country's corporate regulator said on Friday. A report published by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found insurers did not always have adequate oversight and controls over the pricing promises made or delivered by the distributors of their products. Acting upon pricing failures reported since Jan. 1, 2018, ASIC's Deputy Chair Karen Chester said systemic pricing failures were a result of "unnecessary complexity in pricing promises and pricing practices — accounting for the lion's share (at least A$379 million) of the remediation". Back in October 2021, the regulator had directed 11 general insurers, including Insurance Australia Group (IAG.AX), QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited and the local subsidiary of Allianz (ALVG.DE) to complete comprehensive reviews to find, fix, report and repay customers for pricing failures. "It's now up to the boards of general insurers to ensure the prompt and full repayment of the A$815 million owed to their 5.6 million customers, implement the fixes needed and rebuild consumer trust," added Chester.

Persons: Karen Chester, It's, Jaskiran Singh, Krishna Chandra Organizations: Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Insurance Australia Group, QBE Insurance, Allianz, Thomson Locations: Australian, Australia, Chester, Bengaluru

☆ Australia's IAG cash earnings jump 27% on growth across key businesses, dividend steady
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Insurance Australia Group (IAG.AX) reported a 26.7% jump in its first-half cash earnings on Monday, boosted by volume growth across its key businesses that helped offset the ongoing impact of higher inflation on claims costs. The insurer said GWP growth was driven by rate hikes, to offset the high inflation in the supply chain, as well as customer number growth in the home and motor portfolios. read moreThe insurance giant's natural perils costs ballooned to A$524 million following the severe weather events across multiple states in Australia during the period. read moreCash earnings for the six months ended Dec. 31 came in at A$223 million ($154 million), compared with A$176 million in the prior corresponding period and a Refinitiv estimate of A$464 million. Australia's top general insurer declared an interim dividend of 6 Australian cents per share, the same as in the prior corresponding period.

☆ Australian insurers receive over 8,000 claims after New Zealand floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

As of Monday morning, Suncorp's Vero and AA Insurance brands have received about 3,000 claims, while IAG's AMI, State and New Zealand Insurance brands have obtained over 5,000 claims. Both the insurers expect the number of claims to rise further over the coming days, as the event continues to unfold and customers identify damages. IAG received 24,000 claims in the first three days of flooding in Sydney and across the New South Wales state last year. Local New Zealand insurers have yet to provide any details on claims received. ($1 = 1.5427 New Zealand dollars)($1 = 1.4085 Australian dollars)Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ New Zealand's Auckland expected to receive further rains as flooding remains
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An area flooded during heavy rainfall is seen in Auckland, New Zealand January 27, 2023, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. A state of emergency remains in place in Auckland and further south in regional Waitomo. "There has been very significant damage across Auckland," New Zealand new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told state-owned television station TVNZ Monday. Metservice has issued an updated Heavy Rain Warning for Auckland and Great Barrier Island for 12 hours from Jan. 31 at 6pm (0700 GMT). Auckland Council said if rain continues at this pace there will be further flooding and landslides are expected.

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