Insurance

This site is designed to give a broad outline of the University's insurance program and to provide general information which may assist in understanding the University's obligations in the area of insurance and the overall area of risk management, as well as providing information on how to make a claim. If you have any queries of an insurance nature, these can be directed to the following personnel within Audit and Risk Management.

Who is covered

The various property and liability insurance policies cover the University of Sydney, its Servants, Agents, Employees, Governing Bodies, Unions, Honorary Research Fellows, Foundations, Clubs, Societies and Institutes including members of University Committees, whether or not employees of the University, and related companies and organisations of the University.

General information

Insurance policies are contracts between two parties where one agrees to pay for the losses of the other due to the occurrence of agreed events for an annual fee. As these contracts are entered into on the basis of the "utmost good faith" of both parties, there is an obligation on the part of the insured to reveal all facts which may affect the risk that the insurer is underwriting, that the underwriter could not reasonably be expected know. In 1984 this principle was enacted into law by the Insurance Contracts Act which obliges the insured to:

1. Disclose to the insurer every matter that is known, or could be reasonably expected to be known, that would be relevant to the insurer's decision whether to accept the risk of insurance and, if so, on what terms.
2. The duty to disclose in (1) above is the same when a policy is renewed, extended, varied or reinstated.

Therefore, it is extremely important for Audit and Risk Management to be advised if any of the following circumstances arise:

• Acquisitions or creation of departments, centres, institutes, or foundations.
• Purchase, construction or occupancy of new premises (this should be advised during the planning stage).
• Alteration, vacation, temporary unoccupancy; extension or demolition of existing premises.
• Proposed installation of new plant or key machinery.
• Hire, leasing or borrowing of substantial amounts of plant and equipment.
• Contractual liabilities being entered into, except those through Sydnovate.
• Granting of indemnities or hold harmless agreements in lease contracts, service agreements and the like.
• Extension of operations, development of new products etc.
• Proposed installation of mainframe computers, pressure vessels, lifting equipment etc.
• Alteration to or disconnection of burglar alarms or fire prevention systems (including smoke and thermal detectors, sprinkler systems).
• Charter of air or watercraft, other than commercial passenger travel.
• Export of products or advice etc to overseas (particularly USA or Canada).

If the University fails to comply with its duty of disclosure, the insurer could decline liability in respect of a claim or cancel the policy.