The Board of Catholic Church Insurance (CCI) has decided to voluntarily place the organisation into ‘run-off.’
Despite every effort, CCI has been unable to secure sufficient capital contributions from shareholders to enable its business to continue operations in line with regulatory requirements.
CCI remains an Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) authorised insurer, and as such will continue to manage claims from existing policyholders using its capital reserves. It will not issue any new or renewal policies for all insurance business.
Some policyholders have contracts that are due to expire in coming weeks. CCI is offering them a short-term renewal up to 30 June 2023, to allow affected policyholders time to source alternate insurance arrangements.
CCI is focused on supporting its staff during this time. The organisation is also advising shareholders and policyholders and working through the implications with APRA.
Ms Joan Fitzpatrick, the Chair of CCI, said: “The CCI Board and management deeply regret that it has been necessary to make this decision and would like to assure all staff, policyholders and suppliers that it has sufficient assets to meet its commitments as they currently stand.”
In a statement released this week, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference re-stated its commitment to responding with justice and compassion to victims and survivors of abuse in Catholic settings – as it has sought to do for many years.
The bishops and leaders of religious institutes re-iterated its apology for the abuse that has occurred in the Church and said it will continue to work towards justice and healing for the crimes and sins that took place, where possible, including through the payment of compensation.
The Catholic Church Insurance run-off also means that Church entities that have been insured with CCI will need to find new insurers. The ACBC said it is supporting Catholic ministries currently insured with CCI to ensure continuity of general insurance cover and is confident that will be achieved.