The ACCC has issued a draft determination proposing to grant authorisation to enable the Insurance Council of Australia (the ICA) and firms that issue business interruption insurance policies to enter and give effect to agreements to use a web-based portal called the DSpark Tool to assist in the assessment of business interruption insurance claims arising from COVID-19. The DSpark Tool provides a common database that aggregates existing, publicly available information about COVID-19 exposure sites and public health orders.
The ACCC considers that the proposed conduct is likely to result in some public benefits in the form of more transparent and efficient claims handling processes for insurers and holders of business interruption insurance policies. The proposed conduct is likely to result in little, if any, public detriment. Insurers will individually continue to assess BI claims arising from COVID-19 according to the policies they have issued. Use of the DSpark Tool does not involve any agreement relating to the price or terms of BI insurance policies offered by insurers.
The ACCC proposes to grant authorisation until 2 October 2023.
In December 2021 the ACCC granted interim authorisation to allow the arrangements to proceed while the ACCC considers the substantive application.
The ACCC invites submissions in relation to the draft determination by 11 March 2022. A copy of the ACCC's draft determination is available on the ACCC’s public register at: Insurance Council of Australia.