SGIO (Western Australia)

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For the insurance business in Queensland, see State Government Insurance Office (Queensland).

SGIO
ASX: SGI
Founded15 June 1926
FounderGovernment of Western Australia
DefunctDecember 2022
HeadquartersWest Perth
Area served
Western Australia
ProductsInsurance
ParentInsurance Australia Group
Websitewww.sgio.com.au

SGIO was an insurance company founded and based in Western Australia. Established in 1926 as the State Government Insurance Office by the Government of Western Australia, it provides business insurance. It is a subsidiary of Insurance Australia Group (IAG).

The company also previously offered personal insurance. In June 2022, IAG announced that SGIO will no longer offer personal insurance to customers, and will transfer new and existing customers to NRMA Insurance from December 2022.[1]

History

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On 15 June 1926, the Government of Western Australia established the State Government Insurance Office (SGIO) to provide workers' compensation insurance to miners in the Kalgoorlie goldfields.[2][3] In August 1992, the Lawrence Government announced the SGIO was to be sold.[4] This was completed in March 1994 with the SGIO listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).[5] In 1998 the NRMA and Wesfarmers both made takeover offers with the NRMA ultimately successful and the SGIO delisted from the ASX in January 1999.[6][7][8][9][10] In August 2000, it became part of the Insurance Australia Group when this was spun off from the NRMA.[11]

SGIO held a monopoly in its early days in workers compensation insurance which made this company a strong competitor. SGIO now provides both personal and commercial insurances and is one of Western Australia's largest general insurance companies.[12] Subsequently, other forms of insurance were offered through SGIO.[13] The company was initially registered as a general insurer and first started to shift its main focus towards life insurance in 1932.[14] This was shown in its company magazine Insurance Lines, which was established in 1917,[14] where the pages began to be dominated by information regarding life insurance instead of its previous main focus which was worker's compensation insurance. By the 1970s life insurance began to be SGIO's main achievement and focal point.[14] Because of this expansion into different areas of insurance, SGIO became a main competitor in all areas of insurance.[14] In the 1970s the Queensland office formed the SGIO Building Society, after a series of other Queensland building societies were united together, and with this, they began to incorporate a strategy that would help begin their privatisation. This strategy included acquiring the Permanent Finance Corporation and becoming a major shareholder in the Bank of Queensland[15]

In 2011, SGIO conducted the Reversing Visibility Index by testing 243 cars on their reversing cameras.[16] With this test, they found that 14 percent scored a full five-star rating (the five-star rating indicated better reversing visibility than all other vehicles) with was higher than their previous testing in 2010. This testing was a result of previous research from SGIO that showed 65 percent of Western Australian drivers had a near miss while reversing. SGIO showed their support after this testing for reverse cameras as it showed an improvement in safety ratings. The company then called for manufacturers to continue the trend of including reverse cameras in new cars.[16]

In June 2022, the Insurance Australia Group announced that SGIO will no longer offer personal insurance, and will begin transferring new and existing SGIO personal insurance customers to the NRMA Insurance brand starting in December 2022.[1][17] Despite this, IAG will continue to offer business insurance under the SGIO brand.[17]

Sponsorships

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SGIO was a major sponsor of the West Coast Eagles from 1988 until 2018.[18][19] It became the West Coast Eagles' naming rights sponsor in 2000.[20]

In 2016, SGIO and the West Coast Eagles started up a campaign called “SGIO Surprisingly Good Goals” to help raise money for charities that help the community in Western Australia.[21] The campaign raised money by having SGIO donate $200 per West Coast goal. They also were able to engage the fans into this campaign event by having them submit their own videos of their “good goals” and donated $20 to charity per submission. By the end of the season SGIO and the West Coast Eagles reached their goal of $100,000, and with this money raised they were able to donate to three different charities in Western Australia: Reconciliation WA, Lifeline WA and the Motor Neurone Disease Association of WA.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Insurance Australia Group pulls pin on SGIO after nearly 100 years". The West. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. ^ Insurance of Miners Kalgoorlie Miner 5 June 1926 page 4
  3. ^ History Timeline Insurance Commission of Western Australia
  4. ^ SGIO to be sold by a public share float[permanent dead link] Premier of Western Australia 4 August 1992
  5. ^ Public SGIO float fully underwritten[permanent dead link] Premier of Western Australia 7 February 1994
  6. ^ Wesfarmers announces cash takeover offer for SGIO Insurance Limited Wesfarmers 10 September 1998
  7. ^ Wesfarmers withdraws SGIO offer Wesfarmers 22 October 1998
  8. ^ Wesfarmers sells SGIO shareholding Wesfarmers 23 October 1998
  9. ^ Advice by NRMA - Intention of Compulsory Acquisition SGIO 18 December 1998
  10. ^ Removal from Official list - SGIO Insurance Limited Australian Securities Exchange 25 January 1999
  11. ^ NRMA returns to insurance for HELP Sydney Morning Herald 23 March 2006
  12. ^ Harris, M & Lye, J 2010, ‘The Fiscal Consequences of Privatisation: Australian evidence on privatisation by public share float’, International Review of Applied Economics, vol. 15 (3), pp. 305-321
  13. ^ "History Timeline" (PDF). Western Australian Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  14. ^ a b c d Cowan, P 2005, ‘Of the people, by the people, for the people’ Workers Compensation in Queensland: The Rise and Fall of a Policy Community’, PhD Thesis, Griffith University, Queensland
  15. ^ McKenzie, M & Keneley, M 2006, ‘An Evaluation in Privatisations in Australian Banking and Insurance’, Deakin University
  16. ^ a b "SGIO shows the growing trend for reversing cameras". Newswire. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  17. ^ a b "SGIO and SGIC to rebrand; NRMA Insurance strengthens its national brand". 4 December 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  18. ^ Newell, Daniel (15 June 2018). "WA insurer SGIO pulls major sponsorship deal with West Coast Eagles after 30-year partnership". The West Australian. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  19. ^ Prestipino, D. "Major sponsor flies the coop on West Coast Eagles after 32 years". The Age. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Annual Report 2000" (PDF). NRMA. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Charities reap benefits of Surprisingly Good Goals". West Coast Eagles. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
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