IFRS 17 summary and timeline

A summary of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts, including information on current proposals and a timeline of past amendments, announcements, exposure drafts and consultations.

Summary

IFRS 17 applies to issued insurance and reinsurance contracts, reinsurance contracts held and investment contracts with a discretionary participation feature that are issued by an entity that also issues insurance contracts. Contracts may be grouped for accounting purposes.

Issuers of insurance contracts should report them in the statement of financial position at the total of:

1. the fulfilment cash flows, being current estimates of amounts that the entity expects to collect from premiums and pay out for claims, benefits and expenses, adjusted for the timing and risk of those amounts, and
2. the contractual service margin, being the expected profit for providing insurance cover

Where a contract is expected to be profitable, the profit is recognised over the term during which insurance coverage is provided; where a contract is expected to be loss-making, the expected loss is recognised in profit or loss immediately.

The amount recognised in the statement of financial position should be remeasured at each reporting date, taking into account current discount rates and estimates of the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows.

The change in the carrying amount of insurance contracts is included in profit or loss or disaggregated between an amount presented in profit or loss and an amount presented in other comprehensive income. This is an accounting policy choice.

The premium allocation approach (PAA) is a simplified approach that is available to measure some short-term insurance contracts.

The measurement requirements are modified for reinsurance contracts held and insurance contracts with direct participation features.

The standard also has extensive disclosure requirements. 

Timeline