The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has allowed insurance companies to continue assisting small businesses as part of the temporary COVID-19 relief measures. The authorisation will be provided to Suncorp, Allianz, QBE Insurance and other insurers or insurance brokers who have notified the ACCC they wish to continue offering such assistance.
Under an interim authorisation granted by the ACCC on 2 April 2020, insurers and brokers were granted temporary permission to coordinate a range of relief measures to eligible policyholders whose insurance premiums fall due before 30 June 2020. This included the deferment of premium payments for up to six months.
The new interim authorisation will allow insurers to extend relief measures until 31 December 2020. This will also allow collaboration in offering refunds on unused premiums for any insurance policy eligible customers need to cancel, without any administration or cancellation fees being charged.
This also applies to travel insurance acquired prior to 30 June 2020 by eligible customers who can no longer travel as planned due to the impact of COVID-19, in which they will be able to get a credit or refund for any unused travel insurance premiums, also without administration or cancellation fees.
“There is clearly a need for these relief measures to continue as many small- and medium-sized Australian businesses continue to experience unprecedented financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” ACCC Commissioner, Stephen Ridgeway, said.
“There is a public benefit in authorising cooperation about these measures until the end of June 2020, as it will provide greater transparency and consistency of relief for small businesses. There is minimal, if any, public detriment.
“However, the ACCC will continue to monitor this authorisation to ensure it does not result in unintended consequences impacting competition in the insurance industry,” Ridgeway added. “We also note that there is nothing to stop individual insurers from offering more relief than is agreed under the authorisation or from continuing to offer relief to policyholders after the authorisation has expired.
Ridgeway said that the ACCC would closely assess each application to determine whether to grant them and, if so, for what period of time.
