The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) today commended the general insurance industry for its efforts in submitting claims and policies data to the new National Claims and Policies Database (NCPD).

APRA Member, Mr Steve Somogyi, said that by the 28 February deadline for data submission more than 90 per cent of contributing insurers had submitted data.

“This is a good result, particularly for a first‑time lodgement under new reporting standards”, he said. “The data covers well over 90 per cent of the public liability and professional indemnity insurance business in Australia.”

Information collected in the NCPD will enable industry, APRA and other stakeholders to identify trends and establish industry benchmarks for public liability and professional indemnity insurance. It will also enhance market transparency and facilitate informed commercial decisions and policy formulation for these classes of risk.

The current batch of data, covering the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2004, will form the basis for the first set of aggregate reports from the database to be released in May 2005. A rigorous validation process is being applied to the data to ensure their high standard and those of the reports.

Mr Somogyi added: “The NCPD is about determining appropriate premiums and developing suitable insurance products for policyholders. Its objective is to help reduce the incidence of claims for public liability and professional indemnity insurance and/or lower their cost.”

All authorised general insurers offering public liability and professional indemnity insurance, including Lloyds of London, are obliged to submit data to the NCPD under the general insurance reporting standards introduced last year.

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 $2.0 trillion in assets for 20 million Australian depositors, policyholders and superannuation fund members.