Insurance premiums for public liability and professional indemnity insurance have fallen by up to seventeen per cent according to a report released by the Government today.
The Assistant Treasurer, Mal Brough, released the findings of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) fourth report to Government on public liability and professional indemnity insurance. The Government instituted premium and claim monitoring following changes to tort law in 2002.
"This is an encouraging sign that the tort law reforms undertaken by the Commonwealth, states, and territories are delivering real benefits in the form of lower insurance premiums for the community and businesses," Mr Brough said today.
The key findings are:
- Public liability premiums have fallen, on average, by 15 per cent in the six months to June 2004. This reverses the pattern of premium increases since 2000.
- Professional indemnity premiums have fallen, on average, by 17 per cent over the same period.
"What we're now seeing is access to affordable insurance cover for community facilities and events, and less pressure on businesses that have faced burgeoning insurance costs in recent years," Mr Brough said.
"There is still further work to be done. For example, the Government will reintroduce amendments to the Trade Practices Act which were blocked by Labor in the Senate but remain an important outstanding element of tort law reform."
It was originally intended for this report to mark the conclusion of the price monitoring period. However, in order to ensure the benefits of reforms continue to be passed on to consumers the Assistant Treasurer has asked the ACCC to continue to monitor public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance for a further 3 years and report at 12 month intervals.
The full report can be accessed at http://www.accc.gov.au.