Insurance

The insurance sector is undergoing a significant transformation with market consolidation, foreign investment and increased regulatory oversight.

We are the law firm of choice to the insurance sector to help you navigate these and future transformations – seven pinnacle industry awards in seven years confirm this.

Our Australia-wide team understands all aspects of the insurance industry and the issues and challenges it faces – that's how we're helping our clients make better business decisions. We provide solutions to insurers, intermediaries, underwriters, brokers and agents, claims officers, loss adjusters, as well as corporates and financiers across the full risk spectrum, the full lifecycle and distribution channels within the insurance sector.

Our front-end insurance team provides extensive advisory services to both insurers and insureds, including:

Establishing businesses, licensing, agent and broker arrangements
Policy wording, drafting and advice
Advice on new product offerings
Regulatory obligations, compliance, regulatory change and reform and interactions with regulators such as APRA, ASIC, ACCC and PHIAC and overseas regulators
Risk management and allocation;
Corporate governance and advisory
Marketing and sales advice
Reinsurance
Portfolio transfers and other M&A transactions
Client distress, restructuring and insolvency
Technology implementation and outsourcing
Tax structuring

Our insurance litigation practice helps resolve claims and handle insurance disputes across multiple sectors. We also have significant expertise defending litigation (including class actions) on complex insurance issues.

We focus across multiple segments, insurance offerings and insurance claims including general insurance, life insurance, directors' and officers' insurance, professional liability and indemnity, employment practices liability insurance, workers safety and compensation, industrial special risks, construction all risks, maritime, aviation and trade, environmental, warranty & indemnity insurance, cyber risk, management liability, IPO liability, class actions, defamation, product recall, reinsurance and sector specific especially in life sciences, technology, medical malpractice and mining industrials (especially dust diseases).

We are the firm insurers and insureds turn to for emerging trends, new and novel, untested products such as policies and claims.

Recent developments

Experience

Advising leading insurers in front end advisory work including policy advice, corporate advisory, reinsurance and agency agreements for all classes of insurance

Advising leading insurers in insurance litigation including professional indemnity, D&O, product liability, workers compensation, asbestos, life, marine, aviation, self-insureds, government and industrial special risks claims

Defending litigation (including class actions) on complex insurance issues

Advising Australian financial institutions on implementation of Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) and Life Insurance Framework / Trowbridge reforms

Advising insurers on commercial transactions, including most recently, Zurich on its acquisition of Macquarie Life's risk insurance business and IAG on the intra-group transfer of all the insurance business of seven of its Australian general insurers (including CGU, Swann and WFI) to Insurance Australia Limited by way of schemes under the Insurance Act.

Managing all asbestos claims in Victoria for three of Australia's largest insurers, Allianz Australia Insurance Limited, QBE Insurance Limited and AAI Limited (trading as Vero Insurance)