EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1990 NO. 446
INSURANCE REGULATIONS
ISSUED BY AUTHORITY OF THE TREASURER
Subsection 44(6) of the Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) requires reinsurers to lodge with the Insurance and Superannuation Commissioner a monthly statement of each claim incurred in that month which exceeds a prescribed amount. The intention of this subsection is to provide the Commissioner with information on the size and frequency of larger claims incurred by reinsurers.
The amendment to regulation 25 increases the prescribed amount from $50,000 to $250,000. This will result in only those claims which are large and infrequent being reported as was intended when the regulation was introduced in 1974. Form 15 in the Schedule to the Insurance Regulations has also been amended to reflect this change.
Section 123 of the Act provides that a person may, on application in accordance with the regulations and on payment of the prescribed fee, inspect documents specified in the section, and make a copy of, or take extracts from, such documents.
Regulations 28 and 29 of the Insurance Regulations prescribe fees under section 123 of the Act for the inspection and copying of documents respectively. The amount prescribed in regulation 28 was set at $5 in 1985, while the amount prescribed in regulation 29 had not altered since its introduction in 1976. The amending regulations increase the level of the fee in regulation 28 to $10.
The previous regulation 29 has been omitted and substituted by a new regulation 29 prescribing the fee for the provision of copies of documents. The new regulation provides for an increase in the fee to $1 for each page of a copy of the whole or part of a document (previously 40 cents a page), with provision for the same rate to apply where the copy is provided in electronic form.
The amending Regulations also make a minor amendment to subregulation 3(1) of the Insurance Regulations by removing the words ‘to these Regulations’.
Details of the Regulations are attached.
Insurance and Superannuation Commission
CANBERRA
ATTACHMENT
DETAILS OF THE INSURANCE REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Regulation 1 provides that the Insurance Regulations are amended by the amending Regulations.
Regulation 2 amends subregulation 3 (1) of the Insurance Regulations by omitting the words ‘to these Regulations’.
Regulation 3 increases the prescribed amount in regulation 25 of the Insurance Regulations from $50,000 to $250,000. This amendment improves administrative efficiency by requiring only large and infrequent claims to be reported.
Regulation 4 amends regulation 28 of the Insurance Regulations by increasing the prescribed fee for the inspection of documents from $5 to $10.
Regulation 5 omits the previous regulation 29 of the Insurance Regulations and substitutes a new regulation 29 prescribing the fee for the provision of copies of documents. The regulation now provides for the fee to comprise an amount calculated at a rate of $1 for each page of a copy of a document (previously 40 cents a page), or, where the copy is provided in electronic form (eg. on computer diskette), an amount calculated at $1 for each page provided in that form.
Regulation 6 substitutes Form 15 in the Schedule to the Insurance Regulations with a replacement form which reflects the change to regulation 25 of the Insurance Regulations.