CommInsure adds to restructured advice team
CommInsure has added to its newly restructured retail advice distribution team with the appointment of Ben Bancroft as national accounts manager. Tony Smith, former head of national accounts departed CommInsure for ClearView Wealth in February, prompting a reshuffle.

Depressed? You’ve got Buckley’s getting insurance
PEOPLE with a history of depression, insomnia or stress are being denied access to insurance, with health experts accusing the industry of systemic discrimination against those with even mild mental health problems.
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Former AFA president mourned
Former Association of Financial Advisers president and former South Australian state director, Michael Murphy, has died at the age of 66, after a six year battle with cancer.

Insurers gear up to push income protection
With the governments of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland looking to cut workers’ compensation, income protection would become crucial, particularly for people who might have relied on government support when sick, injured or unable to work, CommInsure general manager of retail advice Tim Browne said.
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Ebix acquires Australian firm
Ebix, which provides on-demand software and e-commerce services to the insurance industry, has acquired Fintechnix, a supplier of web based straight through processing solutions to the Australian life insurance and wealth management sectors.

Life insurers pay out $4 billion in 2011
The 10 biggest life insurers paid out just under $4 billion in claims in 2011 – up 11.4 per cent from 2010, according to research conducted by The Risk Store. The amount of money paid out in claims has increased by 96 per cent since 2006, said Risk Store managing director Peter Wincott.
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Direct life insurance up but credit insurance flat
Overall direct life insurance sales have grown 11.3 per cent in 2011 and in-force annual premiums are up 10.9 per cent despite flat growth in credit-related insurance sales, according to Rice Warner. Term, income protection and accident insurance business in-force premiums are up 17.4 per cent and have grown more rapidly than traditional adviser-sold and superannuation fund risk insurance in 2011.

‘Churning’ should be addressed at the underwriting stage
Underwriters should exercise the whip hand when it comes to dealing with churning in life insurance. That is the analysis of Synchron, which has claimed that in order to address the issue of ‘churning’ the responsibility should fall on the underwriter to determine whether to continue with an insurance policy.

Benefits of a safety net
Income protection premiums are deductible but often overlooked. If you are thinking about income protection insurance, it could be financially worth your while to prepay a year’s premiums before June 30 and bring forward a handy tax deduction. But that doesn’t mean you should grab any old policy.
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AIA adds superannuation payment option
Financial advisers will be able to offer clients a range of AIA’s priority protection products with payment through their superannuation following a range of upgrades announced by AIA.

Tower lifts first half profit 83pc
The insurer’s profit rose to $23.6 million in the six months ended March 31, from $12.9m a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Tower’s policy liabilities dropped to $671,000 in the period from $8.4m a year earlier, while revenue climbed 14 per cent to $295.7m.

Insurer warns life won’t get easier
THE boss of TAL Limited, one of Australia’s biggest life insurers, has issued a dour outlook for the economy, warning that consumer spending and business confidence across Australia will continue to deteriorate across the next 12 months.
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Optimistic outlook for industry growth: Research
New research from AIA Australia, has revealed that advisers are overwhelmingly optimistic on the 12 month outlook for the industry, seeing the most growth coming from families and the self employed.

Online life-insurance policies are uninformed
Alternative channels to accessing life insurance not involving a financial adviser present a key risk to Australians taking up policies as there is little to no advice being given. “Anyone can go online and take out an insurance policy – but is it exactly what they need, are there any pitfalls?” AMP head of product on-sale John Ashton told InvestorDaily.

Zurich expands Life and Investment team
Zurich Financial Services Australia has appointed Greg Della to the role of chief life actuary. Della will be reporting to Raf Uy, chief financial officer.
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