Clarification for accountants assisting clients to make insurance claims
The Financial Services Royal Commission made a recommendation (recommendation 4.8) that insurance claims handling should be regulated as a ‘financial service’ under the Corporations Act 2001.
The Financial Services Royal Commission made a recommendation (recommendation 4.8) that insurance claims handling should be regulated as a ‘financial service’ under the Corporations Act 2001.
That recommendation was substantially implemented by the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response) Act 2020, which received Royal Assent on 17 December 2020, and which required people who handle insurance claims to comply with the same obligations as those which currently apply to people providing financial services, including the obligations to:
- hold an Australian financial services licence ('AFSL');
- act efficiently, honestly and fairly (amongst other obligations); and
- provide appropriate disclosure documents to consumers.
The Treasurer has registered new Regulations to exclude certain parties from regulation for insurance claims handling as a "claimant intermediary" under the Corporations Act 2001. These people are excluded because handling claims is typically not their core business and they often do so for no monetary benefits, and so will avoid the unnecessary regulatory burden of requiring these parties to obtain an AFSL.
The persons excluded by these Regulations include qualified accountants, financial advisers and property managers (among others, such as veterinarians!)
