Chatswood serves the life and health insurance sector in New Zealand with market intelligence, data, and bespoke consulting services. Some of these are provided in conjunction with Quality Product Research Limited - a subsidiary that brings you Quotemonster.
We believe that good decisions are more likely to occur when we have good information about the market environment in which we operate. Intuitive leaps and creative decisions are always required, of course, but the more they are based on a firm foundation of observation, the better they tend to be.
Updated Health / Medical insurance price comparison database
We have created an updated Medical Comparison database V114. Institutional subscribers have copies in their shared folders / FTP sites. Advisers quoting on Quotemonster already have the new rates showing in their quotes. Changes are detailed in this post.
We have created an updated Medical Comparison database V114. Institutional subscribers have copies in their shared folders / FTP sites. Advisers quoting on Quotemonster already have the new rates showing in their quotes. Changes are detailed below.
Changes in V114:
Updated nib rates effective 1/1/25
Updated AIA Policy Fee ($7.80) effective 1/1/25
Product comparison database upgrade
The research team worked tirelessly through the holidays—there is always more research work to do. Some highlights from their busy summer, while you were on break, are detailed in this post.
The research team worked tirelessly through the holidays—there is always more research work to do. Some highlights from their busy summer, while you were on break, include:
Library Expansion:
We now have over 4,000 policy documents in our library. We are confident that no one else has such a comprehensive collection. In addition, we have identified more than 300 old in-force policy types that are no longer sold, which we plan to incorporate into the library.Legacy Contracts:
Before Christmas, we had rated 202 legacy contracts. While that might seem modest compared to the more than 4,000 documents in the library, let us explain: we prioritize legacy contracts with the largest number of existing members. For instance, a 50-year-old Temperance and General Mutual Assurance Society whole-of-life policy might have a few dozen current members, whereas older plans from major insurers such as BNZ Life or Westpac often have tens of thousands—sometimes over 100,000—members. Our carefully curated library now supports about 95% of the existing business research inquiries we receive. Additionally, over the last three weeks, we’ve added two dozen new legacy research evaluations.Dynamic Updates:
A key advantage of our approach to legacy research is that we update ratings whenever there is a weighting change or product upgrade. Some services only provide the rating applicable when the product was last actively researched while on sale. This can lead to outdated insights, especially given the recent trend of blanket upgrades in existing business—particularly by medical insurers and specialist bancassurers acquired by mainstream life insurers.On-Sale Research Updates: version 16.3 now live
We have upgraded our on-sale research database to version 16_3, which includes the following enhancements:Trauma: Minor sub-item reviews for Major Organ Transplant, Early Onset Osteoporosis, Stroke, Coma, Aplastic Anaemia, Trauma Buyback, and Permanent Loss of Hearing.
Mortgage: Minor sub-item review for Offsets.
Life: Minor sub-item review for Inflation Adjustment.
Specific Injury: Minor sub-item review for Loss of Hearing.
Medical: Minor amount score review for GP Minor Surgery and Pregnancy.
If you’d like to learn more about the recent changes to our research ratings, please join us at our forthcoming research deep dive meeting. Details will be posted here on the blog as well as via a pop-up on the site.
Industry infrastructure and the value of good government
What do we mean by ‘industry infrastructure?’ KiwiSaver managers highlight an example currently missing.
There is a necessary tension between an industry and government. Too close and there is a risk of coddling, capture, and even worse. Too distant and producers and consumers suffer from the neglect of industry infrastructure.
What do we mean by ‘industry infrastructure?’
These are the systems, practices, laws, and regulations that collectively set up ‘how we do things in this industry.’ In some cases, they are legal and regulatory frameworks - such as licensing of insurers by The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and regulation of financial markets by the Financial Markets Authority. Sometimes they are literal services - for example, collection of contributions to KiwiSaver by Inland Revenue.
Establishing these and getting them right-sized is difficult. For all our gripes about new regulation, most New Zealand insurers and financial advisers that look at the Australian approach feel our regime is far better. KiwiSaver managers have identified that there is a missing piece of industry infrastructure in their world: a common standardised method for establishing whether a hardship withdrawal should be permitted. I think it is an excellent example of where government can help a sector, which means customers first and foremost but also includes product providers and advisers. Read this article to find out more: “Heartbreaking” hardship applications a challenge for KiwiSaver providers - Good Returns
Reinsurer: post-Covid excess mortality could last a decade
Post-COVID excess mortality could continue for up to a decade, according to some reinsurance analysts.
Swiss Re is one of the reinsurers that has analysed mortality trends and identified that post-COVID excess mortality could persist in some places for more than a decade: Post-COVID 19 'excess mortality' rates could remain high for another decade - Insurance News | InsuranceNewsNet
Hat tip to Tony Vidler for highlighting this article.
Quotemonster Site upgrade - last for 2024
QuoteMonster Release report for Version 4.6.4 [13 Dec 2024] - open this article for more details.
QuoteMonster Release report for Version 4.6.4 [13 Dec 2024]
It is our pleasure to announce the last Quotemonster site upgrade for 2024. If you haven’t tried it already, please do check out the Kiwimonster fund comparison tool for KiwiSaver funds. That’s a new service, but already has some updates we have been able to push through. Second on the list are some AI improvements to the business insurance statement of advice writing tool. If you have Advicemonster and you haven’t tried this yet - get on to it - it will move to becoming a separate paid service sometime in the first quarter next year. Some people have noticed that if they use Bing as a search engine, often because its preloaded on their computers when they purchase them, as part of the Microsoft Edge bowser, that the top Bing search result is, inexplicably, our test site. Your login won’t work there, there is a redirect on the site, but we’ve also disabled the ‘signup’ button to prevent further confusion.
A summary is below:
1. Kiwimonster web page changes include new home page, and pricing page when you visa kiwimonster.co.nz
2. Businessmonster – AI summary function improvement.
3. Update QAv2 site to remove Signup button and add message on the top.
4. Kiwimonster function changes including:
a. Able to enter 0 for Yearly Gross Earning, KiwiSaver Balance, and Weekly Topups
b. Able to download all history reports on Kiwisaver Dashboard
c. Change free PDF report format to show the small charts for each fund.
d. Wording changes for report and Kiwisaver items.
5. Add Freshdesk help button on all pages that include contact us and Knowledge base question and answer
New health / medical insurance price comparison
Institutional subscribers will be pleased to know that we have sent out a new version of the Medical/Health Insurace Price Comparison database.
This update includes the latest Southern Cross rate changes effective 1st December. Their prices went up by 2%.
Website and research database updates last week
Both the quotemonster.co.nz website and product research database went through upgrades last week. Here is a summary of the changes….
Both the quotemonster.co.nz website and product research database went through upgrades last week. Here is a summary of the changes:
1. Fidelity Specific Injury pricing + QPR Research
2. Pinnacle Life and Trauma new rate
3. Chubb Specific Injury with Qualified cover conditions with error message.
4. Accuro dependent over age 20 issues.
5. Personal AI result format issues on the SOA report.
6. QPR Version 16.2
The database version included a wide range of updated and new evaluations. Here is a more detailed list of those:
Changes in V16.2
Personal:
New policy document for Pinnacle Life effective 7 October 2024 - rating changes applied to Life, Trauma, TPD, and Income Protection
New policy document for AIA Specified Accidental Injury effective 1 November 2024 - rating changes applied
New Fidelity Life Specific Injury rated and enhancements applied to Life, Trauma and Multi Trauma effective 20 November 2024
Business:
New policy document for Fidelity Life effective 20 November 2024 - rating changes applied to Life and Trauma
Reviews & Remediations (personal/business):
AA Life Financial Stability Rating update from A+ to A
Trauma: - Sub-item review for Cardiac Arrest and renamed Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest
MyThingz - by Ray Sheath
Ray Sheath of Essential Financial Solutions has launched a new app to help clients keep track of possessions, documents, and ownership details to support them in the event of loss.
MyThingz is a personal record-keeping app designed to help you keep track of your important possessions and assets. You can enter and maintain details of all your valuable items, and access this information from anywhere, at any time. In case of theft, you can quickly retrieve your asset list details and share them with the police and your insurance provider. You can check it out at: https://www.mythings.co.nz/
The app, the brainchild of Ray Sheath, of Essential Financial Solutions, demonstrates that once again financial advisers tend towards the entrepreneurial and are constantly innovating to help push forward new ideas and helpful tools for clients.
Medical insurance pricing database updated
Details of the price changes applied by AIA and Southern Cross to medical insurance plans.
The medical insurance database comparison for institutions was updated Tuesday 5th of November. Rates went live earlier on Quotemonster, of course. This is version 11_2 of the medical comparison database. Of particular interest are the comparisons of how price changes have been applied. AIA, which increases price annually, has taken an across-the-board approach. Southern Cross, applying its fourth increase in the last 12 months, varied changes by age and by excess level. People in their forties with higher excess levels experienced the largest increases. For more details about the database, please contact us. If you subscribe but haven’t checked out the changes yet - do look at the price change charts first when you open the database.
Changes in QPR Database Upgrade 16.1
A summary of the database upgrades made in the shift to version 16.1 on Wednesday 30 October.
Changes in V16.1
New product rated under Mortgage Protection (MPI)
> Partners Life - Household Expenses v19.1 effective 22 April 2024
New documents added:
> Accuro SmartCare and SmartCare Plus June2024 (Policy document update only)
> Southern Cross Wellbeing1&2 Oct2024 (rating changes applied to exclusions)
> Chubb Life Biz&Personal 26 September 2024 (Personal rating changes applied to Child Trauma, Instant Buyback and update to trauma expiry age)
Remediations Personal & Business:
> Medical
* Major review for non-pharmac which includes split into two items:
- non-PHARMAC drugs (cancer specific)
- non-PHARMAC drugs (non-cancer)
> Life cover
* Sub-item review for Conversion Option (renamed to Cover Conversion)
* Sub-item remediation for Terminal Illness (Asteron Life) and Upgrade Policy Wording
> Trauma
* Sub-item remediation for Permanent Loss of Hearing
* Sub-item remediation for Permanent Paralysis
> Specific Injury
* Sub-item remediation for Permanent Paralysis
> Income/Mortgage
* Sub-item remediation for Travel and Transport (Asteron Life)
* Sub-item remediation for Key Person and Business Expenses Partial Disability (Asteron Life)
* Update to income expiry age for 2 and 5 year benefit (Asteron Life)
FSR updates applied to:
* Asteron Life FSR updated from A+ to A
* Accuro FSR rating update from B to A
* SBS FSR rating update from BBB to BBB+
* Booster Assurance update to NR