HDI-Gerling Australia Insurance Company Pty Limited, in the matter of HDI-Gerling Australia Insurance Company Pty Limited (ABN 16 069 085 196)

HDI-Gerling Australia Insurance Company Pty Limited applied to the Federal Court for dispensation from certain notification requirements under section 17C(5) of the Insurance Act 1973 (Cth) in relation to a proposed scheme of arrangement transferring its insurance and reinsurance business to HDI-Gerling Industrie Versicherung AG, Australian Branch. The court was required to decide whether the nature of the scheme and the circumstances attending its preparation warranted dispensing with the need for compliance with section 17C(2)(c) of the Act, which requires an approved summary of the scheme to be given to every affected policyholder.

The court considered that the Australian Company had undertaken a full search of its records and taken additional steps to identify and notify affected policyholders, including sending copies of the approved scheme summary to relevant policyholders, insurance intermediaries, and reinsurers. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority had no objection to the application. The court held that the factors in favour of granting a dispensation order, such as the thoroughness of the search and additional notification steps, outweighed any concerns about not directly notifying some policyholders. The intra-group nature of the scheme was also relevant but not determinative.

Accordingly, the court granted the application and made orders dispensing with the need for compliance with section 17C(2)(c) of the Act, provided that certain notification requirements were met. The orders required the Australian Company to send copies of the approved scheme summary to specified classes of policyholders and intermediaries, and make the summary available on its website. The scheme was not confirmed at the time of the orders, which only related to the dispensation application.