In R v Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd (ACN 000 122 850); R v AWP Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 097 227 177) [2025] NSWSC 127 the Supreme Court of NSW has convicted and imposed criminal fines of $13.5 million against Allianz Australia Insurance Limited and $3.3 million against AWP Australia Pty Ltd for making false or misleading statements in relation to financial products, contrary to sections 1041E(1) and 1311(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth .
Allianz Australia Insurance was sentenced for six counts of disseminating information in relation to financial products that was false or misleading and AWP was sentenced for one count of disseminating misleading information.
The Court found that between 2016 and 2018, Allianz and AWP published information online, including on Allianz’s domestic and international travel insurance web pages, that misrepresented the characteristics or level of coverage of its travel insurance available to consumers.
The Allianz website advertised the maximum travel insurance benefits payable to consumers but sometimes failed to state that sub-limits, terms, conditions or exclusions would limit those benefits.
Allianz was fined $2.25 million for each of its 6 offences, totalling $13.5 million.
The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry conducted a case study into how neither Allianz nor AWP carried out adequate compliance reviews before they refreshed their website pages on 11 February 2016.
Previously in Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Allianz Australia Insurance Limited [2021] FCA 1062 Allianz Australia Insurance and AWP Australia were ordered to pay penalties of $1.5 million ($360,000 for Allianz and $1,140,000 for AWP) for misleading sale of travel insurance on Expedia websites.
The Court imposed the penalties after finding Allianz and AWP engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct when selling travel insurance by failing to correctly state how premiums were calculated and by allowing insurance to be sold to ineligible customers.
AWP acted as agent for Allianz in respect of the relevant travel products.
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Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
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About David Jacobson
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.
