The State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) has imposed special licence conditions on Insurance Australia Limited, trading as NRMA Insurance (NRMAI), after the insurer reported multiple failures in its compulsory third party (CTP) premium systems in New South Wales. The conditions took effect on March 31, 2026, under section 9.5(2) of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW), according to SIRA. The reported issues involved customers being charged premiums that had not received SIRA approval, eligible policyholders not receiving intended premium discounts, and customers being paid incorrect refund amounts. SIRA has described these matters as breaches of the Motor Accident Guidelines, with financial effects for customers and consequences for the operation of the NSW CTP scheme.
Under the special licence conditions, NRMAI is required to appoint an independent party to review the controls within its current third-party policy premium management system and provide a report to SIRA. Following that assessment, NRMAI must consult with SIRA on the findings and implement system or control changes identified through the review. After NRMAI’s new third-party policy premium management system is fully implemented, the insurer must complete a further review within six months to test whether its controls are functioning as intended and are compliant with applicable requirements.
SIRA has stated it will monitor NRMAI’s performance against the licence conditions and oversee the remediation of affected customers. The regulator has restated its expectation that CTP insurers maintain systems and controls that satisfy legislative and regulatory obligations and are capable of supporting the scheme’s objectives. In its statement, SIRA acknowledged NRMAI’s response to the issues. “NRMAI has demonstrated commitment to remediation of current issues and improving their control environment moving forward,” SIRA said.
In a statement provided to Insurance Business, NRMAI said it is addressing the issues as a compliance matter. “NRMA Insurance takes its compliance obligations seriously and is committed to addressing SIRA’s concerns,” the insurer said. NRMAI said the issues arose during a technology transition. “The matters raised were surfaced during NRMAI’s transition from its legacy system to the new policy system (Enterprise Platform),” the statement said.
The insurer said it reported the problems to the regulator. “NRMA Insurance self-reported these issues to the regulator and has already taken significant steps to remediate them, including:
• undertaking a detailed root cause analysis of the issues identified with a view to mitigating future occurrence
• engaging independent external experts to review our operational and system controls
• uplifting project governance and allocating additional resources, including specialist expertise, to support remediation.”
NRMAI said it plans to contact affected policyholders in the first half of this year. “NRMA Insurance will be contacting impacted customers in the first half of this year to process refunds and provide appropriate support,” it said. The insurer said the remediation is occurring alongside its migration to a new technology platform. “The migration to the new technology platform will resolve many of the issues that were identified and support a more resilient future operating environment,” NRMAI said.
The action involving NRMAI sits within SIRA’s wider approach to supervising insurers across the three schemes it regulates: CTP, workers compensation, and home building compensation. SIRA sets requirements through licensing and regulatory frameworks and monitors insurers to assess whether they meet legislative obligations, guidelines, and licence conditions. The authority also engages with insurers on compliance issues and performance trends and can apply regulatory responses where it identifies deficiencies. In the CTP scheme, SIRA’s oversight covers how support and benefits are delivered to people injured in motor vehicle accidents, how claims are managed under statutory requirements, and how scheme benefits are applied under the Motor Accident Injuries Act.
SIRA’s supervision of insurers combines ongoing monitoring, targeted reviews, and remediation requirements. Core supervision includes assessment of business plans, analysis of insurer metrics, complaints monitoring, review of significant matters, and engagement with insurers and other stakeholders. Where risks or issues are not fully visible through routine monitoring, SIRA conducts thematic reviews under its CTP Supervision Assurance Program (SAP). The SAP examines existing or emerging compliance and performance risks within the CTP scheme and is aligned with SIRA’s stated supervision strategy.
The SAP forward program reflects themes identified in the three-year statutory review of the CTP scheme and operates alongside core supervision and insurer-specific remediation. SIRA publishes its annual assurance program and advises insurers of scheduled reviews, while retaining flexibility to adjust timing when new issues arise. Outcomes from SAP reviews are published when the work is completed. Previous CTP assurance activities have included a Claims and Injury Management Assurance Program focused on minor injury classification, liability decisions, and internal review and dispute processes. SIRA has also commissioned an independent legal review of insurers’ internal review practices and has examined how insurers apply contributory negligence thresholds, using both claims data and interviews with claims personnel.
SIRA uses information from core supervision and thematic work to identify non-compliance or performance concerns and to require remediation where needed. Expectations on remediation plans and associated reporting have been communicated to insurers across the regulated schemes. The special licence conditions applied to NRMAI illustrate regulatory focus on premium, discount, and refund processes; governance of policy administration systems; and the use of independent reviews where control weaknesses are identified. The case points to the need for documented pricing and discount controls, oversight of system changes that affect customer charges and refunds, and readiness to undergo independent reviews when issues arise that may affect customer payments or the administration of the scheme.
