Finance

An insurance policy comparison tool operated by the NSW government has reportedly underestimated the cost of coverage by 15%, the NSW Small Business Commissioner says, as soaring premiums catch businesses off guard.

Insurance premiums could fall if insurers did a better job of recognising the disaster mitigation efforts taken by their policy-holders, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said.

Businesses struggling to keep up with soaring insurance premiums would benefit from the immediate reform of state insurance taxes, the Insurance Council of Australia says, as warm and dry conditions lead to increased bushfire risks leading into summer.

Victorian small and medium businesses are now considering budget adjustments and passing on the cost of labour, as they add surging WorkCover insurance premiums to the list of growing operational expenses.

Some small businesses are watching their insurance premiums rise by 30% year-on-year, industry advocates say, as KPMG projects double-digit increases over the next twelve months.

The launch of Pet Circle Insurance follows the company’s Series C $125 million funding round in late 2021, which catapulted Pet Circle to unicorn status.

Ashli Templer turned to her closest friends after a Melbourne warehouse fire torched her skincare business' stock. Now, Templer says a broader community of loyal customers is pitching in to help Yours Only recover from the devastating blaze.

Insurance tech startup Butter has landed $1.3 million in pre-seed funding to make insurance accessible and less boring for younger Aussies.

Payments to Australian insurers have risen alongside rainfall readings, a new report says, suggesting small businesses can expect heightened premiums to linger through a third straight La Niña season.

Businesses that are comfortable with transferring all risk to insurance companies have not considered the consequences of an attack or their networks being compromised by a third party. 

The devastating floods which afflicted northern New South Wales and southeast Queensland in February and March this year have officially become the second-costliest weather event in Australian insurance history.

Insurers may already be using artificial intelligence to make judgments — perhaps erroneously — about customers. And there's no way to know.