Insurance - Consumer Action Law Centre

Joint Consumer Submission to the Life Code Independent Review

Consumer Action is a signatory to the Joint Consumer Submission to the Life Code Independent Review. This submission builds a case that the current Life Code – and the ‘promises’ life insurers make...

Insurers once again shown to be failing customers, not meeting expectations

Consumer groups including Financial Rights Legal Centre, Financial Counselling Australia and Consumer Action Law Centre, have backed calls from the insurance regulator the Australian Securities and In...

Insurance code enforceability welcomed but delays and watering down protections a concern

Consumer groups including the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Financial Counselling Australia and the Consumer Action Law Centre, have welcomed the Insurance Council’s announcement that they will inclu...

‘Cost-of-living’ at the centre of Election 2025: Our consumer-centric priorities revealed  

Consumer Action Law Centre has revealed a list of its top consumer-centric priorities to make life fairer and better for all Australians, ahead of the upcoming federal Election. “This Federal Elec...

Insurance sector action plan welcomed – but consumer groups warn industry that ‘trust us’ doesn’t cut it

Consumer groups including the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Counselling Australia have welcomed the Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICAs) Industry Action Pl...

Code Governance Committee monitoring priorities for 2025-26

Insurance files form a large part of our legal casework and frequently involve clients in personal or financial crisis. While many claims may appear straightforward to an insurer, no claim is simple t...

Flood Inquiry Report provides clear roadmap to lift insurer standards

Consumer groups have welcomed the release of the Final Report of the Standing Committee on Economics’ Inquiry into Insurer’s responses to 2022 Major Floods. The groups have called on the insurance...

Independent Review: Initial Consultation Paper, April 2024

Financial Rights Legal Centre has drafted this submission on behalf of the Consumers Federation of Australia. The following organisations have contributed and are signatories to this submission: •...

General Insurance Code Governance Committee 2024-25 monitoring priorities

This is a joint submission from Consumer Action Law Centre and WEst Justice. Consumer Action and WEstJustice recommend that the Committee consider the following areas for monitoring or compliance w...

REPORT: Insurers must lift their game and handle customer claims better especially for vulnerable consumers

A new Report from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Navigating the storm: ASIC's review of home insurance claims (LINK) calls on Australia’s insurers to step up and improve r...

‘Claim denied’: Report highlights insurance industry’s systemic failure

A new report has found that insurance companies are relying on maintenance or wear and tear exclusions to deny customers too many claims with almost half the decisions subsequently overturned on appea...

ConsumerAction · "The best job I will ever have in my career..." Gerard Brody on his 10 years as Consumer Action CEO

PODCAST: “The best job I will ever have in my career,” Gerard Brody on his 10 years as Consumer Action CEO

PODCAST: In his last week as Consumer Action CEO, Gerard Brody sat down to reflect on some of his experiences at the centre. One of the most incredible aspects of Gerard's leadership is his calm and v...

Inquiry into the extent and nature of poverty in Australia

Consumer Action’s financial counsellors and lawyers advise and assist people experiencing financial hardship and poverty on a daily basis. The data Consumer Action collects, as well as the reflections...

Code Governance Committee’s monitoring and compliance program for 2023-24 consultation

We are grateful for the opportunity to provide input to the Code Governance Committee’s (CGC) monitoring and compliance program for the 2023-24 financial year. In our submission we recommend that t...

ConsumerAction · Why funeral insurance is a crap product and what you can do about it

PODCAST: Why funeral insurance is a crap product and what you can do about it

Philippa Heir is Managing Lawyer at Consumer Action, she is an expert in all things insurance. She says, in short, that funeral insurance is a crap product and makes no sense. "There are a number o...

Impacted by flood? Crucial tips about insurance to bear in mind

Consumer Action Managing Lawyer Philippa Heir is an expert in the complex law around insurance and at this critical time she gives the following tips for people whose homes have been impacted by the V...

“A decade-long disgrace”: Thousands likely remain uncompensated by the Freedom Insurance Remediation program

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission revealed today that it is likely thousands of customers remain entitled to an unclaimed refund from the Freedom Insurance Remediation Program. “...

First step towards a resolution” Save Sorry Business Coalition welcomes initial response from government on Youpla/ACBF collapse

The Save Sorry Business Coalition, which is supported by 130 organisations and almost 20,000 individuals, welcomes today’s Government announcement for the family of policy holders who have passed and...

“Devastating cultural and financial impact”: First Nations communities in crisis after Youpla collapse

New data reveals the local communities hit hardest by predatory insurer as calls grow for urgent Federal Government action “The collapse of the predatory funeral fund Youpla (ACBF) is having a deva...

Youpla collapse to fuel ‘trauma and intergenerational debt’ for Indigenous families across Australia

A coalition of over 125 organisations has released an open letter to both major parties calling for urgent action to prevent more than ten thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families from...

Failure in Government policy sees First Nations peoples lose millions in funeral fund collapse

A coalition of community organisations which work with First Nations consumers and consumer groups are calling on the Australian Government to step in to assist policyholders who have been devastated...

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Hayne Royal Commission findings on conflicted remuneration forgotten by Federal Government in long-awaited review

Consumer Advocates are calling for an urgent rewrite of the Federal Government’s Draft Terms of Reference (Draft TOR) for the Quality of Financial Advice Review (Advice Review). “This review is sup...

Consumer groups call for new ombudsman to ‘prune’ lemon cars

Consumer advocates are calling on the Victorian Government to commit to a free and effective dispute resolution service for Victorians who are sold ‘lemon’ cars by car dealers in next year’s Budget....

Consumers win as long-awaited financial services sector reforms commence

A raft of major reforms in the financial services sector have come into effect this week, the culmination of years of consistent campaigning and casework from consumer advocacy groups representing hun...

The Life Insurance Code final round of consultation

Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre and Redfern Legal Centre have made a joint submission to the final round of consultation on the review of the Life Insurance Code of Practice...

Consumer groups concerned that travel insurance has unwarranted exemptions from Hayne reforms

Consumer advocates are calling on the Federal Treasurer and ASIC to implement the ban on unsolicited selling of insurance and superannuation consistently with the letter and spirit of Commissioner Hay...

ASIC Consultation Paper 346 – The Hawking Prohibition: Update to RG 38

This submission has been prepared by Consumer Action Law Centre with contributions and endorsement from the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Financial Counselling Australia and Super Consumers Australia...

Consumer groups: Insurance exemption loopholes undermine spirit of Hayne reforms

Yesterday the Morrison Government announced that it would provide sweeping exemptions to the insurance industry from Financial Services Royal Commission reforms designed to improve insurance sales pra...

Implementing the Royal Commission recommendations: The deferred sales model for add-on insurance

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) and Financial Rights Legal Centre (Financial Rights) broadly support the content of the draft regulatory guide for the industry-wide direct sales model (DS...

Royal Commission add-on junk insurance reforms must be implemented industry-wide

Community legal centres are urging the Government to deliver on Commissioner Hayne’s recommendation that the deferred sales model for add-on insurance apply ‘industry-wide’. The Final Report of the...

Deferred sales model for add-on insurance – exemptions by class

This submission is made by Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Rights Legal Centre and WEstjustice. We oppose any exemptions for classes of add-on insurance products from the deferred sales model...

Consumer groups comment on Banking Royal Commission reforms

Consumer groups welcome today’s passage of Royal Commission recommendations into law, but condemn the government for introducing the law to axe safe lending laws into the House. “This week the govern...

One step forward, two steps back: Banking Royal Commission reforms welcomed but deep concerns remain

Consumer groups* have strongly welcomed the introduction of a Bill today in Parliament to prevent hard-sell tactics for insurance and other financial products. The Bill introduces some of the 76 lo...

Revamped Koorihelp website and Facebook page launched for community

Consumer Action has launched a revamped Koorihelp website and new Facebook page focused on providing the latest information about pressing consumer issues and services to Victoria’s Aboriginal and Tor...

Taking advantage: The negative impact of funeral insurance in Aboriginal Communities

This opinion piece is by Kaylee Anderson and Mark Holden and it is based on an article – ‘The impact of funeral insurance in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities’ – which first appeared...

$28 million of junk add-on insurance claims and counting… ASIC must act now to fix junk insurance

Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Rights Legal Centre and WEstjustice have made a submission to the corporate regulator urging a crackdown on junk insurance sales in car yards. The submission c...

The sale of add-on financial products through car yard intermediaries

Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Rights Legal Centre and WEstjustice have made a submission to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) Consultation – Product intervention: The...

Regulator proposes to stop the latest predatory lending model involving Cigno

The corporate regulator is proposing to again use its product intervention power (PIP) in relation to Cigno and BHF Solutions. Consumer Action Law Centre supports the move, saying there is a desperate...

Consumer groups: Federal insurance pricing monitor a ‘national priority’ ahead of next bushfire season as NSW office closes

The closure of the NSW insurance pricing monitor today leaves a gap in consumer protection that should be filled by an independent national body says a coalition of consumer groups. The NSW Emergen...

Junk insurance rorts continue despite millions in refunds

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) announcement today that it has secured its final tranche of remediation for consumers sold junk consumer credit insurance (CCI) by 11 bank...

Government reaffirms commitment to implement Banking Royal Commission reforms in full

Today the Government announced a six-month deferral to the implementation of commitments associated with the Banking Royal Commission. Under the updated timetable, measures previously scheduled for...

Hayne Royal Commission insurance reforms should be introduced into Parliament in next sitting

A coalition of consumer advocacy groups is calling on the Federal Government to urgently implement much-needed reforms to the insurance industry as recommended by the Royal Commission into Misconduct...

Consumer group tells Bushfire Royal Commission that climate change is creating a perfect storm for insurance affordability

Consumer Action has warned that climate change is expected to make insurance unaffordable for many as extreme weather events hit Australia as part of its submission to the Bushfire Royal Commission re...

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