Read the Member Matters Issue #3, July 2023 below, or the email version here.

Dear Member,

Welcome to the July edition of the Member Matters newsletter.

This month’s edition of our newsletter covers important details on the 2023/24 renewal process, changes to the Cyber Protection wording and Management Liability policy wording, and the looming deadline for data collection.

We are also pleased to welcome a returning Member to the Mutual.

Welcome back Weld Australia

We are always looking for opportunities to increase our Membership base. We are delighted to welcome Weld Australia back to the Mutual!

Geoff Crittenden CEO and Executive Director of Weld Australia recently said: “Weld Australia first became a Member of Unimutual in 1991 and for the following 30 years received outstanding service. In 2021 we conducted an open tender for our business and regrettably we parted ways with Unimutual based on price. However, we soon discovered that our new, ‘cheaper,’ provider did not meet our needs from a service or cover perspective and immediately contacted Unimutual.”

“I cannot speak more highly of the whole team at Unimutual and am very grateful and relieved that we are reunited.”

We are so pleased to now call 55 institutions our Members.

Renewal webinar

In the current challenging environment, our goal is to make the upcoming renewal process as smooth as possible for our Members. Our Underwriting and Reinsurance Manager, Tobias Pfau, has been working with our reinsurance partners – both in Australia and London – since March to ensure we continue to secure the highest quality protection (A-Standard and Poors financial rating or better) at the most favourable terms. We have not yet finalised these terms but are on track for our reinsurance renewal beginning 1 October.

The Australian reinsurance renewal on 1 July 2023 (when the large insurers renewed their reinsurance protection) highlighted increases to their reinsurance costs on the property side, driven by an increase in declared asset values and rate changes. We will be providing an overview of these market changes in our upcoming Renewal webinar on 27 July. If you are yet to receive an invitation or need help registering, please email us at service@unimutual.com.au.

We will continue to keep you updated on the renewal process via our Member Matters newsletter and relevant webinars.

Changes to Protection and policy wordings

By now you would have received details of the changes to our Cyber Protection wording and the Management Liability policy wording for 2023/24.

The key changes are:

Cyber Protection – Incorporation of existing endorsements and structural changes to make the wording more user-friendly.

Management Liability – Introduction of the new Chubb Management Liability wording including the change in cover for Internet Liability and Trustees Liability.

It is important that Members understand these changes in advance of renewal and we encourage you to review the new wordings.

If you have any questions or require any assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact our Underwriter Salinda Saat (salinda.saat@unimutual.com.au; 02 9169 6613).

Data collection time

The renewal data collection deadline is fast approaching for the 2023/24 renewal. As you know, it is critical that we receive complete Member data in a timely manner to ensure we have sufficient time to model our exposures and negotiate the best terms for you and your institutions on our reinsurance protection. Completion of data collection is due by Monday 31 July.

If you have any questions or require any assistance, please contact Christine Cummings (christine.cummings@unimutual.com.au; 02 9169 6602), or Kerry French (kerry.french@unimutual.com.au; 02 9169 6609).

As always, if you have any feedback, or if you have any suggestions or requests for additional industry-related fact sheets, please feel free to email me at geoff.henderson@unimutual.com.au.

Yours sincerely,

Geoff Henderson
Chief Executive Officer

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