Australia's biggest insurance companies, and who issues each brand

Who are the big 3 insurance companies in Australia?

Measured by gross earned premium on Australian business, the three largest general insurance groups in APRA's latest insurer-level figures were Insurance Australia Group (IAG), Suncorp Insurance Holdings and QBE, each earning more than $3.5 billion in the six months to 30 June 2023. Allianz was a close fourth and Hollard fifth. General insurance is home, car, business and travel cover; life and health insurers are regulated and counted separately, so they're shown below.

These are the June 2023 editions of APRA's insurer-level statistics, the latest APRA publishes: its pages list the next issue as "to be advised". Groups have bought and sold businesses since, so read the table as a snapshot of that period, not today's market shares.

Australia's largest life insurers

By net policy revenue, for each insurer's financial year ended in the 12 months to June 2023, the largest life insurers were TAL Life, AIA Australia, MLC and Zurich Australia, followed by Swiss Re Life & Health Australia and MetLife. Most life insurance sold under a bank, health fund or retail brand is issued by one of a handful of these and a few others, such as Hannover Life Re of Australasia and NobleOak. Our life insurance guide shows how often claims are paid by cover type and sales channel.

Australia's largest health insurers

Private health insurance has more recent figures. In 2024–25, Medibank (including ahm) and Bupa each held about a quarter of the market, and with HCF, nib and HBF the five largest insurers held 82.5%. Several well-known names are brands inside one of these insurers, which is why ahm, GU Health, RT Health and see-u by HBF are counted with their parent. Each insurer links to our health fund review, which sets out its complaints, retention and benefits figures.

Who issues each brand

The name on the ad often isn't the insurer. The issuer named in the Product Disclosure Statement is the company that holds the licence and pays claims, and one issuer can sit behind several brands. AAI Limited, for example, issues AAMI, Apia, Bingle, GIO, Shannons and Suncorp Insurance car insurance, and Auto & General issues Budget Direct, Coles and Qantas car insurance. Moneysmart warns the same underwriter might sell policies with identical cover at different prices under different brand names, so quotes from brands with the same issuer are still worth comparing.

Life insurance works the same way. Banks, health funds and retailers mostly distribute cover issued by a separate life insurer, and the issuer can change when a book of policies is sold.

Size isn't quality: how to check an insurer

The tables rank insurers by premium, nothing else. A large insurer can still have a lower claims admittance rate for the cover you're buying, longer claim times or more complaints. Before you buy, check the issuer on your PDS against the official records:

• Life insurance and income protection: Moneysmart'slife insurance claims comparison toolshows each insurer's claim acceptance rates, claim times and disputes, from APRA data.
• Health insurance: the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman'sState of the Health Funds reportcompares complaints, member retention and benefits paid, fund by fund.
• Any insurer: the Australian Financial Complaints Authority'sDatacubelets you search complaints by firm and compare firms side by side.

Then compare the policy itself: what it covers, the excess, limits and exclusions. Our guides tocar insurance,home insurance,life insurance,income protection,health insurance andbusiness insurance set out what to check for each.

Common questions