{"id":32473,"date":"2016-02-23T12:29:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T01:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=32473"},"modified":"2016-02-24T06:28:35","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T19:28:35","slug":"life-insurance-code-of-practice-under-the-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2016\/02\/23\/life-insurance-code-of-practice-under-the-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Life Insurance Code of Practice Under the Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Details about how the much-anticipated Life Insurance Code of Practice will be implemented are to be previewed by the FSC at its 2016 Life Insurance Conference<\/a> in Sydney next month.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"TAL<\/a>
TAL Life MD Brett Clark – the Life Insurance Code of Practice will be a milestone for the industry…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Attendees at the 2016 Conference will hear from TAL MD, Brett Clark<\/strong>, along with FSC Director of Policy, Andrew Bragg<\/strong> and Financial Rights Legal Centre Solicitor, Alexandra Kelly<\/strong>, as they outline how this new code is intended to ‘…lift industry standards and deliver real consumer benefits.’<\/p>\n

Specifically, the Code is intended to address standards and set benchmarks for life companies in their delivery of underwriting and claims services, as well as addressing complaints processes and procedures.<\/p>\n

Speaking with riskinfo about the nature and intent of the new industry Code, Clark noted this was an important milestone for the industry. He said the ultimate success of the financial services industry would be dependent on the extent to which it could build broader consumer trust and confidence in the sector, and that the Code was one of the means of achieving this goal.<\/p>\n

…the development of the Code has enabled key stakeholders … to hold a mirror to themselves and ask the questions they must<\/h6>\n

Clark conceded the Code would not solve all the issues related to consumer trust, but that it was an important first step \u2013 “…a milestone\u201d, on which the industry can make a strong statement about what it stands for. He added the consultation process accompanying the development of the Code has enabled key stakeholders, but particularly the life companies, for whom the Code is intended, to hold a mirror to themselves and ask the questions they must, in order to develop a new set of standards on which they will deliver future services to consumers.<\/p>\n

Clark also confirmed the FSC was working with the industry and ASIC to target an implementation date of 1 July 2016, subject to final discussions and approval by the regulator.<\/p>\n

This Code of Practice is being shaped by the industry to mirror similar codes that already exist within the general insurance and banking sectors. Its development and eventual implementation follows growing momentum for such a code. It featured as part of John Trowbridge’s<\/strong> industry reform model proposals<\/a>, details of which were released at last year’s FSC Life Insurance Conference.<\/p>\n

Outside the controversial remuneration model proposed within the final Trowbridge Report, the life insurance sector was generally supportive of Trowbridge’s recommendations, intended to be viewed and delivered as an entire package, part of which was the implementation of the Code of Practice. Trowbridge’s call for a Life Insurance Code of Practice was also embraced by the then Assistant Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg<\/strong>, and was highlighted as part of the new Life Insurance Framework proposals<\/a>, which were released in late June 2015.<\/p>\n

While not intended to cover the activities and conduct of financial advisers, the proposed Code for the life sector will nonetheless have significant implications for advisers in terms of the minimum standards and range of services consumers will experience in future.<\/p>\n

The 2016 FSC Life Insurance Conference<\/a> will be held in Sydney on Wednesday 16 March at the Four Seasons Hotel. It is a single day event, preceded by the FSC’s annual Life Insurance Industry Awards dinner<\/a> on the evening of Tuesday 15 March.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Details about how the much-anticipated Life Insurance Code of Practice will be implemented are to be previewed by the FSC at its 2016 Life Insurance Conference in Sydney next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,241],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-compliance-regulation","category-conferences-and-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}