The major companies in the HIH Insurance Group (HIH) were placed in provisional liquidation on 15 March 2001. The losses and hardship inflicted on the Australian community by this corporate failure have been significant and have been a major contributing factor to the current insurance crisis.

The liquidation process could take up to ten years and the financial return to creditors is expected to be negligible. The Australian community had an expectation that corporate regulation, audit and good corporate governance should have triggered early warnings of any looming crisis.