Another COVID-19 insurance case comes to a close, at least for now, with the Full Federal Court handing down its decision in Star Entertainment Group Limited v Chubb Insurance Australia Ltd [2022] FCAFC 16. The Full Federal Court also handed down its decision in the second business interruption test case appeal. For our related articles: … Continue Reading
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published two papers designed to assist resolution planning for insurance companies. The papers are practices papers on Resolution Funding for Insurers and Internal Interconnectedness in Resolution Planning for Insurers. Resolution Funding for Insurers. This practices paper considers different sources of resolution funding including policyholder protection schemes and standalone resolution … Continue Reading
On 18 January 2018, the Insurance Act was published in the Government Gazette after it had been assented to by the State President. It is known as the Insurance Act 2017. The Insurance Act, which was tabled in the National Assembly in January 2016 and completed its journey through the parliamentary process in December 2017, … Continue Reading
The pending changes to the Medical Schemes Act and the Long-term and Short-term Insurance Acts to accommodate the demarcation regulations were made on 1 April 2017 including the new definition of ‘business of a medical scheme’. The definition of ‘business of a medical scheme’ in the Medical Schemes Act 1998 makes it clear that if you … Continue Reading
The FSB’s Reinsurance Regulatory Review Position Paper in September 2016 sketches a reinsurance regime by which foreign reinsurers wishing to reinsure South African risks will have to register as a licensed branch in South Africa unless the foreign reinsurer is regulated by a country with an equivalent regulatory framework according to the FSB. Presumably the … Continue Reading
The August 2016 first-of-its-kind judgment against South African Airways in favour of Nationwide Airlines, for damages arising from conduct that was held to be an anti-competitive exclusionary act preventing Nationwide from entering into or expanding within the travel market, raises the interesting question whether the loss is insurable by the company and the directors. SAA … Continue Reading
Africa’s largely untapped specialty lines insurance market has significant opportunities for insurers willing to enter the region. As the market develops, more difficult and unusual risks will be written. Regulations which vary by country must be considered. For example, placing insurance with a locally licensed insurer is often a requirement or a percentage of the … Continue Reading
As the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin increases, so will the demand for insurance to protect against the risks associated with them. A number of global Bitcoin storage providers offer their customers insurance for storage vault failure. At least one US insurance group offers Bitcoin holdings insurance as an endorsement to existing crime policies. Given … Continue Reading
In early June 2015 the Competition Authority of Kenya fined the Association of Kenya Reinsurers about R91 000 for setting minimum premium rates for insurance companies tendering to provide group life cover to the National Intelligence Service employees. The fixing of minimum premium rates have been going on for years in Kenya. The reinsurers claim these … Continue Reading
On 4 May 2015 the Pretoria high court found that an applicant who was terminally ill and suffering intractably with a life expectancy of a few weeks at most, and fully mentally competent, could freely and voluntarily without undue influence be assisted in the act of suicide. The applicant was entitled to be assisted, by … Continue Reading
Insurers, reinsurers and brokers doing business in Botswana may wish to respond to the Insurance Industry Bill 2014 published for comment. The Bill contains many similar provisions to South African insurance legislation. It is a composite piece of legislation dealing with the licencing requirements and regulation of all insurers, including reinsurers and insurance brokers, agents and … Continue Reading
The South African Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi called a Medico-Legal Summit on 9 and 10 March 2015 which we participated in as part of the Ministerial task team appointed to look into the rise of medical negligence claims against the healthcare sector. The objective of the Summit, which was attended by interested stakeholders … Continue Reading
The South African insurance regulator has published a governance and risk management framework for insurers. For a snapshot view, here are ten things to know about the new framework. The Governance and Risk Management Framework takes effect on 1 April 2015. A governance framework must be adopted by insurers to ensure the prudent management and … Continue Reading
There are many opportunities in Africa because the insurance market is largely untapped. Below are some of the legal issues you need to be mindful of when doing business in the continent. For more detail read our Introduction to insurance business in Africa: Ten things to know. 1. Jurisdiction Africa is made up of 55 … Continue Reading
