Insights Categories: Insurance

Insurance Broker Remuneration – 5 Legal Considerations  

  1. Commission Documentation Brokers should ensure that all commission, remuneration and financial benefit arrangements with insurers is appropriately documented to include: review process dispute process for conflict about remuneration post – termination payments detail of each component of remuneration such as contingent remuneration, monetary or non-monetary benefits, profit share commission, volume bonuses, or any […]

Outstanding Insurance Lawyer Andrew Sharpe to join Meridian Lawyers’ Sydney Team.

Meridian Lawyers has made another strategic play, luring highly regarded insurance law specialist Andrew Sharpe from McCabes to the firm’s Sydney office. Andrew is no stranger to Australian and international insurers, with 25 years’ experience acting as a strategic advisor and practitioner in the fields of insurance law, litigation and dispute resolution.  He has a particular […]

Release of Insurance in Superannuation Voluntary Code of Practice

On 18 December 2017, the Insurance in Superannuation Working Group (ISWG) released the “Insurance in Superannuation Voluntary Code of Practice” (the Code) for superannuation trustees.  The ISWG is comprised of Australia’s superannuation bodies, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) and the Financial Services Council (FSC).  The […]

Court’s disdain for disability claim

Justice Pembroke’s decision in Doltic v Hannover Life Re of Australasia Limited in the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 27 July 2017 is interesting not because it creates any new law but because of His Honour’s erudite assessment of the plaintiff’s case. Following a motor accident in 2009, which Justice Pembroke described as […]

70 years in the making: the Civil Liability (Third Party Claims Against Insurers) Act 2017

Since 1946 Section 6 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946 (‘Section 6’) has been the main vehicle through which claimants in New South Wales have gained direct access to the liability insurance policies of other persons. However, Section 6 has long been the subject of criticism from the bench, bar table and solicitors […]

Vets must be vigilant to avoid legal action

An increasingly litigious society and ever-greater humanisation of pets means vets must be vigilant to avoid legal action. This article was written by Chris Sheedy and republished with permission from Vet Practice Magazine, June 2017. Whether a vet’s patient is a million-dollar racehorse, a $250,000 stud bull, a $100,000 exotic bird or a $25 pet dog, […]

What does mandatory reporting mean for early child care workers?

Vital role of early childcare workers recognised by law reform – ‘Mason’s Law’: Changes to the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld) reflect the vital role workers in the early childhood sector play in the health and wellbeing of Queensland’s children. These changes will take effect on 1 July 2017. Early childhood carers and educators are […]

Dealing with complex facts in assessing contribution for an asbestos exposure injury

The Supreme Court of Victoria decision of Swiatek, handed down on 21 December 2016, provides an insight into how the courts deal with complex issues of factual causation and contribution involving multiple defendants in a case relating to an injury resulting from ongoing exposure to asbestos over an extensive period of time. The facts The […]

Brand loyalty in professional indemnity insurance: risks of shifting insurance cover

The case scenario: A registered health practitioner was involved in the treatment of a cardiac patient in 2008. The practitioner heard nothing further about the patient until receipt of a letter from the Coroner’s Court of Victoria in 2012 requesting a statement concerning the patient’s cardiac management in 2008. The practitioner had retired from practice […]

The insurer strikes back

The recent NSW Court of Appeal decision in Stealth Enterprises trading as The Gentleman’s Club v Calliden Insurance Limited (delivered on 5 April 2017) provides further guidance on: What must be disclosed by insureds when entering into and renewing contracts of insurance; and The burden of proof on insurers in relation to establishing what the […]

General insurers need to be ever mindful of best practice advertising

It is essential for the general insurance industry to maintain proper standards of advertising. The general insurance industry is a prudential business. It is regulated by our prudential regulator APRA and it is also subject to scrutiny by the other regulators including the corporation’s regulator ASIC, the competition regulator, the ACCC and the tax regulator, […]

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