Insurance and Risk Management

As the title indicates, this book is about risk management and about insurance and provides an essential resource for all those involved in delivering high quality advice about protecting both personal and property for all Australians, their families and businesses. Financial planning involves more than just solving accumulation of capital problems. It has evolved to include advising on strategies to protect assets against catastrophic events should they happen and reducing their financial impact. This book introduces the risk management process and shows how insurance fits into the process. It also outlines how the process is applied to small business, personal property and personal financial protection; that is, the book focuses on the practical application of the techniques.

Financial planning exists in a dynamic environment where legislative change is the only constant. From the introduction of the new Corporations Act (2001), the FOFA legislation and the new education requirements adopted by the Turnbull government signals the government’s expectations of higher professional and ethical standards of financial planners.

The third edition goes a long way in meeting these increased expectations as it includes the new legislative reforms as well as the reforms contained in the Insurance Contracts Amendment Act 2013. (the Act). This Act introduces changes such as to: the duty of disclosure, subrogation, misstatement of age, the removal of unfair terms in insurance contracts and much more. It also includes the FOFA reforms and advice to financial planners on conducting due diligence. Many sections have been updated and additional cases and illustrated examples added. The sections in the 2nd edition referring to New Zealand have been removed to avoid confusion with the Australian insurance scene.

Insurance and Risk Management is the only Australian text book that focuses exclusively on the Australian Insurance Contracts Act 1984, Australian regulatory environment, Australian insurance environment, Australian insurance policies and as such, is an invaluable resource for Australian students and professionals.

It:

• includes all the material that is required to be covered for graduates to gain entry into the Financial Planning Association of Australia
• meets the education content requirements for the proposed legislation to raise the professional standards of financial planners
• provides a practical explanation of risk management and its application
• explains complicated and technical general and life insurance concepts in plain English
• outlines how the general and life insurance industries operate in Australia
• provides practical instruction that will enhance the financial planning and insurance curriculums, and
• empowers readers to present life and general insurance risk management solutions in an authoritative and professional manner.

Insurance and Risk Management is an invaluable resource for practicing financial planners, students and the public as the reader is taken from the basics through to a deeper level of understanding on a range of topics. Each chapter concludes with specific review questions, which makes the book particularly useful for:

• Diploma of Financial Planning students
• Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning students
• students studying for a degree in financial planning or as a major/minor area of study in an accounting or other degree
• students studying for a master’s degree in financial planning or as part of a master’s degree in business, or
• those who wish to know how a better understanding of risk management and the application of insurance can increase the financial security of their families and businesses.