Duty of insurer to make offer of settlement on claim for damages
6.22 Duty of insurer to make offer of settlement on claim for damages
It is the duty of an insurer to make a reasonable offer of settlement to the claimant on a claim for damages as soon as practicable unless the insurer wholly denies liability for the claim.
An offer of settlement is to specify an amount of damages or a manner of determining an amount of damages.
If an offer of settlement is made on the basis that the insurer admits only part of the liability for the claim, the offer is to include details sufficient to ascertain the extent to which liability is admitted.
This section does not apply to—
a claim made in respect of the death of a person, or
a claim in respect of which a medical assessor has declined to make an assessment under Division 7.5 of the degree of permanent impairment of the injured person because the impairment caused by the injury has not become permanent.
The insurer is not entitled to delay the making of an offer of settlement under this section on the ground that any particulars about the claim are insufficient unless the insurer requested further relevant particulars within 2 weeks after the claimant provided particulars.
Note.
A dispute about whether particulars about a claim are sufficient may be referred to the Commission.
It is a condition of an insurer’s licence under this Act that the insurer must comply with this section.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandumSecond reading speech
The statute text is free to read above. View subscription options to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.