The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released final specifications for the National Claims and Policies Database (NCPD), which will include detailed policy and claim data for public liability, professional risk and medical indemnity/malpractice from all APRA-regulated insurers. State and Territory insurers have also undertaken to contribute to the database.

The NCPD will assist insurers in these classes of business to price risks and develop products that are more appropriate to the current market.  It will also enable the Government, community and insurers to identify changes that might reduce the incidence or lower costs of claims for these risks.

Developed at the request of the Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan, the data specification for the NCPD has been the subject of two rounds of consultation between APRA and the general insurance industry and other stakeholders.  The final data specifications and the responses to enquiries/comments from industry are available on the APRA website at www.apra.gov.au/General/National-Claims-and-Policies-Database.cfm.

APRA is also developing a set of draft standard reports that will be produced from the NCPD, based on aggregated data. Consultation with stakeholders on these draft reports will take place between April and June 2004.  The first reports are expected to be available within two months of the date by which data for the initial NCPD collection is submitted by insurers.

APRA has decided to put the development and ongoing management of the NCPD out to tender and expects to issue a Request for Tender in late May. This will defer the date by which insurers will be required to provide data for the initial collection period (of 1 January 2003 to 30 June 2004) from the date of 31 August 2004 originally advised. The new date by which data will be required to be submitted will be determined and advised to insurers at the conclusion of the tender process.

All industry enquiries should be emailed to Mr Jock McKeon, APRA’s Senior Analyst – Diversified Institutions Division, at jock.mckeon@apra.gov.au

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is the prudential regulator of the financial services industry.It oversees banks, credit unions, building societies, general insurance and reinsurance companies, life insurance, friendly societies, and most members of the superannuation industry.APRA is funded largely by the industries that it supervises.It was established on 1 July 1998.APRA currently supervises institutions holding approximately $1.7 trillion in assets for 20 million Australian depositors, policyholders and superannuation fund members.