Insurance advice 'different'
A senior Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) official has confirmed the degree to which the Federal Treasury is actively considering applying a different set of rules to insurance advice under the Future of Financial Advice reforms.
ASIC commissioner and former Commonwealth department head, Dr Peter Boxall, told an insurance industry regulatory update that Treasury recognised that insurance “has different features from investment products, including the fact that there are no investment funds that might be used to pay for advice”.
“Treasury therefore wishes to explore concerns about affordability and the potential for underinsurance,” he said.
Boxall said that in line with Treasury’s intent to consider insurance issues separately to other financial products, the department had met with the industry Peak Consultation Group, which included the Insurance Council of Australia, in late January.
Boxall’s comments have come at the same time as industry spokesmen such as CommInsure’s general manager of retail advice, Tim Browne, have urged the Government to differentiate between investment and insurance product advice.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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