Who carries on “insurance business” in Australia?
“Insurance business” is defined by section 3 of the Insurance Act 1973 (Cth) (Insurance Act) to mean the: “business of undertaking liability by way of insurance (including reinsurance), in respect of any loss or damage, including liability to pay damages or compensation, contingent upon the happening of a specified event, and includes any business incidental to insurance business as so defined…”. In the construction of this definition, s 3(5) expands upon the rider in the definition namely, “business incidental to insurance business as so defined”. A business of a person is taken to be within the ambit of this rider to the extent one or more of the following kinds of acts are engaged in: • inducing others to enter into insurance contracts with that person as an insurer, and • publishing or distributing a statement relating to a person’s willingness to enter into a contract (or procuring the publication or distribution of such a statement). The notion of carrying on “insurance business”
