GIO is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n general insurance

General insurance

General insurance or non-life insurance policies, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance typically comprises any insurance that is not determined to be life insurance. It is called property and...

 company founded by the New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 State Government in 1927 as the Government Insurance Office of NSW. It is now fully owned by Suncorp-Metway

Suncorp-Metway

Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian finance, insurance, and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of Australia's largest banks and its largest general insurance group, formed on 1 December 1996 by the merger of Suncorp, Metway Bank and the Queensland Industry...

.

Types of Insurance

GIO offers the following types of insurance:

• Home (building and contents)
• Landlords
• Car, caravan, trailer and boat
• Compulsory Third Party Insurance (CTP) in NSW
• Business
• Workers Compensation

and through relationships with other parts of the Suncorp group of companies:

• Travel Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Income Protection

History

The Government Insurance Office (GIO) was formed in 1927 to take over the Workers Compensation responsibilities of the New South Wales State Government. GIO expanded its offerings to cover Home, Motor, Travel, Business and Life Insurance. In 1989 GIO was renamed GIO Australia. In 1992 GIO formed the GIO Building Society. The NSW State Government floated GIO on the Australian Stock Exchange in August 1992.

AMP Takeover (1999)

AMP

AMP Limited

AMP Limited is an Australian financial corporation. It operates primarily in Australia and New Zealand. AMP formed in 1849 as the Australian Mutual Provident Society, a non-profit life insurance company. In 1998 it was demutualised and listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges...

 made a hostile takeover bid for GIO Australia in August 1998, with the GIO board recommending that shareholders reject AMP's offer. From this, AMP acquired 57 per cent of GIO's shares. AMP successfully acquired the remaining shares after GIO Australia announced a $743m loss in 1999 due to the GIO Reinsurance division. AMP merged its own General Insurance division AMP General Insurance into the GIO Australia operations.

Suncorp Takeover (2001)

Suncorp-Metway Limited acquired GIO's Insurance division (including AMP General Insurance) in July 2001. As part of the agreement, GIO underwrites insurance products on behalf of AMP.