Life Insurance

Hall & Wilcox’s life insurance team provides a complete range of front and back-end insurance and corporate legal services to life insurers, friendly societies and their commercial partners.

This includes:

Claims services

• Advising on and defending death, TPD and trauma claims under group and retail life policies at IDR, AFCA and court levels for life insurers and superannuation trustees.

Product design & channel distribution

• Product design for all types of life risk and life investment products. This work ranges from regular PDS rolls through to helping clients develop innovative new products.
• Experience of all aspects of channel management, such as the drafting and updating of distribution arrangements, conflicted remuneration, profit sharing and rebates.

Regulatory

• Prudential and regulatory compliance with all legislation, regulation and guidance that affects the business of life insurers in Australia. This includes APRA’s continuing focus on the sustainability of life insurance products and insurance in superannuation.
• Dealing with APRA and ASIC for relief applications/no-action letters and investigatory work, and breach reporting. We participate in the development of new law through involvement in industry working groups.

Reinsurance

• Policy drafting, benchmarking and advice work, including claims, for treaty and facultative reinsurance, with a focus on quota share reinsurance. This includes commutations and recaptures.
• Experience of value-in-force reinsurance arrangements and retrospective reinsurance to transfer economic risk (adverse development cover and loss portfolio transfer reinsurance).

Transactions

• Experienced in the sale and purchase of life insurance businesses and life insurance portfolios, including scheme transfers under Part 9 of the Life Insurance Act 1995 (Cth).
• Liaison with Treasury and APRA for the FSSA, IATA and FIRB applications that supports transaction work. This includes APRA licensing of life insurers and NOHCs.

Employment and workplace practices

• Advising on employment contracts, enterprise agreement negotiation and interpretation, restraint of trade, terminations of employment and transfers of business.
• Experience of workplace investigations, industrial disputes and employment-related claims including unfair dismissal and general protection claims.