Published May 2021. This message is intended for Chubb's intermediary partners.

In 2020, ASIC extended Unfair Contract Terms (UCT) legislation to the general insurance industry.

UCT legislation applies to standard form policies for consumer and small business with less than 20 employees, that are either entered into, modified or renewed from 5 April 2021.

As a result, we have been reviewing our existing in-scope policy wordings, endorsements and associated documents and updating them to comply with the UCT legislation.
 

What has been updated

Our broad review of in-scope documents included reviewing and amending policy wordings, endorsements and associated documents in the following lines of business:

• Personal Lines (such as Masterpiece and Masterpiece Signature & Chubb Home)
• Corporate A&H (such as Business Travel, Group Personal Accident, Journey Accident, Expat/Inpat, Voluntary Workers)
• Retail Travel
• Business Pack
• Management Liability
• Cyber Enterprise Risk Management
• Professional Indemnity
• General Liability
• Strata

Along with making changes to comply with UCT legislation, we have taken the opportunity to improve other aspects of our policy documentation. For example, where appropriate we have removed caveats from definitions to ensure they are clearly spelt out within the exclusions section, we have applied gender neutral language and improved plain English readability where practicable. 

The updates to these reviewed policy wordings were effective for new business and renewals from 5 April 2021.

Our claims teams have been trained on the legislation to understand the changes made and their application.

Chubb will continue to update policies throughout 2021 to align with the upcoming regulatory changes. Further communication will be distributed on this in due course.
 

What do I need to know about the changes?

In respect to UCT changes, we have generally updated the language in policy wordings, endorsements and associated documents to make them clearer and easier for our customers to understand. While most changes made do not alter the level or type of cover that our customers receive, some business lines have taken the opportunity to update other aspects of the policy. On this basis, any policy that has been amended for UCT should be considered as if it were a new policy wording for your client.
 

What do I need to do?

These amendments have resulted in new policy wordings or PDS documents for the above business lines. If you use a Chubb policy wording or PDS in your role or communicate with customers about matters regarding a Chubb policy, you will need to ensure you understand the changes made as a result of the UCT legislation or otherwise, and are using the latest version of the document.

If you would like further information, please contact your local Chubb underwriter.