Fair Trading (Motor Vehicle Insurers and Repairers) Amendment Regulations 2023 (SA)

South Australia

Fair Trading (Motor Vehicle Insurers and Repairers) Amendment Regulations 2023

under the Fair Trading Act 1987

Contents

Part 1—Preliminary

1            Short title

2            Commencement

Part 2—Amendment of Fair Trading Regulations 2010

3            Insertion of regulations 4A and 4B

4A          Disclosure of relevant interest by insurer (section 28K(1) of Act)

4B          Disclosure of choice of repairer by insurer (section 28K(2) of Act)

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

These regulations may be cited as the Fair Trading (Motor Vehicle Insurers and Repairers) Amendment Regulations 2023.

2—Commencement

These regulations come into operation on 1 June 2023.

Part 2—Amendment of Fair Trading Regulations 2010

3—Insertion of regulations 4A and 4B

After regulation 4 insert:

4A—Disclosure of relevant interest by insurer (section 28K(1) of Act)

(1)Subject to this regulation, for the purposes of section 28K(1) of the Act, an insurer must disclose any relevant interest held by the insurer in relation to a repairer in the manner set out in this regulation.

(2)An insurer must provide the holder of the policy of insurance with—

(a)a statement of relevant interest; and

(b)a statement advising the holder of the policy of the availability of all statements of relevant interest on the insurer's website in accordance with subregulation (4).

(3)A statement required to be provided by an insurer to the holder of a policy of insurance under subregulation (2) must—

(a)be given to the holder of the policy personally; or

(b)be read out to the holder of the policy over the telephone; or

(c)be posted in an envelope addressed to the holder of the policy—

(i)at the holder of the policy's last known address; or

(ii)at an address for service provided by the holder of the policy; or

(d)be provided by electronic means agreed by the insurer and the holder of the policy.

(4)An insurer must make available a list of all current statements of relevant interest on the insurer's website in a manner—

(a)that is easily accessible to holders of a policy of insurance; and

(b)that allows the holder of a policy of insurance to search the statements of relevant interest.

(5)Pursuant to section 97(2)(c) of the Act, an insurer is exempt from complying with the requirement in section 28K(1) of the Act in relation to a relevant interest of a kind described in paragraph (b) of the definition of relevant interest in subsection (3) of that section if the contract or arrangement under which the repairer is engaged or authorised to undertake repairs—

(a)facilitates the undertaking of repairs on a one‑off basis; and

(b)does not establish an arrangement between the insurer and the repairer for undertaking repairs on behalf of the insurer on an ongoing basis.

(6)In this regulation—

statement of relevant interest means the name, address and contact details of the repairer in relation to whom the insurer holds a relevant interest.

4B—Disclosure of choice of repairer by insurer (section 28K(2) of Act)

(1)For the purposes of section 28K(2) of the Act, an insurer must, at the time the holder of an insurance policy—

(a)enters into a contract of insurance; and

(b)renews a contract of insurance; and

(c)makes a claim against a contract of insurance,

provide to the holder of the policy—

(d)if the insurance policy contains a provision allowing the holder of an insurance policy to make a choice as to which repairer may be engaged to undertake repairs under the insurance policy—a statement of that fact; or

(e)if the insurance policy does not contain a provision allowing the holder of an insurance policy to make a choice as to which repairer may be engaged to undertake repairs under the insurance policy—a statement of that fact.

(2)A statement required to be provided by an insurer to the holder of an insurance policy under subregulation (1) must—

(a)be given to the holder of the policy personally; or

(b)be read out to the holder of the policy over the telephone; or

(c)be posted in an envelope addressed to the holder of the policy—

(i)at the holder of the policy's last known address; or

(ii)at an address for service provided by the holder of the policy; or

(d)be provided by electronic means agreed by the insurer and the holder of the policy.

Editorial note—

As required by section 10AA(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 1978, the Minister has certified that, in the Minister's opinion, it is necessary or appropriate that these regulations come into operation as set out in these regulations.

Made by the Governor

with the advice and consent of the Executive Council

on 23 February 2023

No 7 of 2023