Making insurance claims handling a financial service

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry recommended that the handling and settlement of insurance claims, or potential insurance claims, should no longer be excluded from the definition of ‘financial service’ (see recommendation 4.8).

Consistent with the Government’s response to this Royal Commission recommendation, the Government has released for public consultation exposure draft legislation and regulations to:

• remove the exclusion of insurance claims handling and settlement services from the definition of a ‘financial service’ in the Corporations Act 2001;
• make handling and settlement of an insurance claim, or potential insurance claim, a ‘financial service’ under the Corporations Act 2001; and
• tailor application of the existing financial services regime to the new financial service of handling and settling an insurance claim.