Monsters in March – Registrations Now Open!

Advisers, don’t miss this must-attend event covering the latest research and tools for insurance and KiwiSaver. With limited seats, secure your spot now!

We are holding two in Auckland and one in Christchurch, dates and venues with links to register are below.

This event is a must-attend for advisers looking to refine their expertise, embrace new opportunities, and integrate cutting-edge research into their practice.

The events will each have three sessions – one on business insurance, one on personal insurance and one on KiwiSaver. You can choose whether to attend all three sessions or pick one or two.

Session 1: Business Insurance – Unlocking Growth & Overcoming Barriers

Explore the untapped potential of Business Risk Insurance and learn how to navigate this lucrative market. This session provides a deep dive into the New Zealand business landscape, highlighting key statistics on insurance uptake and identifying opportunities for advisers.

Session 2: Personal Insurance – Navigating Market Shifts & Research Innovations

Stay ahead of industry trends and leverage independent research to strengthen your advice process. This session covers critical developments in the personal insurance market and our research tools.

Session 3: KiwiSaver – Strengthening Advice for Better Retirement Outcomes

Enhance your KiwiSaver advice strategy with independent research and expert insights. This session highlights the importance of adviser-led KiwiSaver recommendations and the tools available to support better decision-making.

Benefits of attending this event include:

1.        Explore the latest new research and platform enhancements firsthand

2.        Gain insights from expert speakers and earn valuable CPD credits

3.        Connect with industry professionals through networking and enjoy complimentary catering

4.        Unlock exclusive access to extended free trials

18 March – Remuera Golf Club, Auckland Central

20 March – Addington Raceway, Christchurch

25 March – North Harbour Stadium, North Shore

Please reach out to us if you have any questions, we can’t wait to see you there!

Website and research upgrades: what you need to know – website version v4.6.6 / QPR v16.4

Our team have made some monstrously good updates to Quotemonster recently. If you’ve noticed we’re running a bit slower than usual, please refresh your page and scroll down to ensure that you’re on our latest version – QUOTE ENGINE V.3.0 B1 | QPR V.16.4 | WEB V4.6.6.   

Researchmonster updates:

- Pricing and research available for SBS Home Loan Repayment Cover  

SBS Insurance launched a new mortgage protection product on 1 February 2025.
To include the company in your price and research comparisons, simply ensure they are selected in your Product and Provider Settings.

- Upgrade to Multi Trauma Functionality 

We have made an update to how Fidelity’s Multi Trauma product is quoted, and this is a direct result of adviser feedback. When Instant Trauma Buyback is selected, Fidelity Life’s Multi Trauma product will now automatically be quoted in your comparison, alongside the following products:

Asteron Life and Chubb Life’s Continuous Trauma, and Partners Life Immediate Buyback.   

- Minor review of the following items:

Trauma - minor sub-item review for Inflation Adjusted Benefit (personal) and Life Cover Buyback (personal & business)

TPD - minor sub-item review for Counselling & Support (personal & business)

Income and Mortgage Protection - sub-item review for Reduction in Wait Period (personal)

Other noteworthy updates:

- Updated terms and conditions pop-up

We’ve updated our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to keep things fresh, legal, and slightly more interesting than watching paint dry.

What's changed? Some boring but important updates about Kiwimonster, data protection and slick new tools like API’s—because the future is coming, and our policies need to keep up!

Before you start crunching, please read our new terms and click Agree and Continue. Once accepted, you won’t see the pop-up again. However, if you’re in front of a client we will allow you to skip once, but you’ll need to agree the next time around or you will no longer be able to login.

This will appear on all logins including PA logins the next time each user tries to log in.

- Recent rate changes

- nib Ultimate Health and Ultimate Health Max effective 1 February

- Chubb Life & Living rates have been added into our Estimates section

- Kiwimonster is live

Our free KiwiSaver comparison tool, Kiwimonster is now live. We have collaborated with Morningstar and Investment News New Zealand to help deliver fund and fee comparisons to help elevate your KiwiSaver advice process. Research is coming soon…

If you’re an existing user, all you need to do is log in to your Quotemonster account and click on the Kiwimonster logo on the top left.

If you’re a new user, please head over to www.kiwimonster.co.nz and click the orange sign up button on the top right to have access to this new feature.

Join now with a free trial and you can also check out the research and advice services available with a subscription.

- Updated research infographics

Research on previous policy document versions (if applicable) can be found in our Standalone Head to Head.

The following infographics have also been updated:

·        Personal Product Rating Map

·        Standalone Head to Head Product Map

Training sessions:

Our team hosts online training sessions on a regular basis and invites you and your colleagues to join us if you’re interested in learning more about our services.  

Our next sessions will be: 

Introduction to Quotemonster – Tuesday, 18 February 2025 9:30 am-10:30 am

In this session Kelly Pulham, our National Partnerships Lead, will demonstrate the basic functions of our website, along with some handy tips and tricks along the way.

Demystifying Advicemonster - Tuesday, 18 February 2025 11:00 am-12:00 pm

In this session Aneel Ravji, our AdviceTech Lead, will demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.

Business Risk Research and SOAs with Quotemonster – Wednesday, 19 February 2025 10:30 am-11:15 am

In this session, Aneel will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.

Introduction to Kiwimonster - Monday, 24 February 2025 11:30 am-11:50 am

A session on our brand spanking new service – Kiwimonster.

If you would like to join any of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!

Introduction to Kiwimonster on Wednesday, 29 January

Kiwimonster free service now available to Quotemonster users.

Check out free KiwiSaver scheme and fund data comparisons at  www.kiwimonster.co.nz - if you already have a quotemonster login then you can get immediate access. Explore the free comparison tools and let us know how to keep improving the reporting. Soon KiwiSaver research will be available bringing comparisons in categories such as service, support, and facilities research to financial advisers to support your advice process.

If you’re interested in learning more about Kiwimonster, we have an in-dept training session scheduled on Wednesday, 29 January 2025 12:00 pm-12:20 pm, please email us on info@quotemonster.co.nz if you are interested in joining us.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Recent rate changes on Quotemonster

Dear Quotemonster users,

We are pleased to confirm that the following rate changes are live on Quotemonster effective 1 January 2025.

• nib Ultimate Health and Ultimate Health Max

• AIA monthly policy fee

If you have any questions or comments on these changes please reach out to us on info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!

Quality Product Research – Major Review: the proposed rating for Special Events and Future Insurability

Introduction

Special Events Increase (SEI) and Future Insurability Option (FIO) increases are valuable but often underutilised features in products like Life or Trauma insurance. Recently, we were challenged by a rated company on our methodology for assessing these benefits.  As a result, we have initiated a major review of these items.

While SEI and FIO share similarities, they cater to different needs:

• Special events increases are reactive to life milestones.

• Future insurability options are proactive, providing periodic opportunities for growth. This is an optional feature to be selected at application time, and often results in an increase in premium.

Both features provide flexibility, especially as life circumstances evolve, and combining them offers the best of both worlds.

·        Our review aims to assess the following:

·        The sub-items used for each benefit.

·        The weightings applied to each sub-item.

·        How the Amount score should be captured: per event, allowable increase at policy anniversary, or total maximum increase over the life of the policy.

Key Considerations for Scoring

1. Per event: Capturing the increase per special event may highlight significant variations in amount scores between insurers. However, this could lead to confusion, as insurers often apply different limits to different special events.

2. Over lifetime of policy: This approach would provide more straightforward scoring but may result in most insurers receiving the same amount score, which could fail to reflect nuanced differences in limits for specific events.

Below, you’ll find our proposed sub-item list with preliminary weightings. These weightings will be refined based on feedback received during this consultation process.

Review process

Our review began with internal discussions and a comprehensive analysis of policy wordings across the market. We have conducted an initial review of the sub-items, and our next step is to seek feedback from insurers and reinsurers. Once all relevant information has been gathered, we will make appropriate updates to our database and share the new ratings on our social media channels.

Your feedback

We highly value your feedback on how these wordings are being applied in the real world. Please email us at info@quotemonster.co.nz with details of your experience to help us refine our understanding, or alternatively please use the Adviser Claims Experience on Quotemonster to log your claims experience, a video on this feature can be found here.

Quality Product Research – Major Review: the updated research rating for Cardiac Arrest

Introduction

We were challenged by an insurer regarding our rating for Cardiac Arrest. Given the significant advances in modern medicine, it was an opportune time to conduct a major review of this item and evaluate how the definition of cardiac arrest has evolved in the market. Our conclusion is that claim criteria for this benefit have improved over the years, which can lead to better outcomes for customers.

Please find our proposed changes below.

Renaming Cardiac Arrest to Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Review Process

We began by notifying insurers and reinsurers of our intention to review this item. This included inviting them to share claims data and clarify how their definitions are applied to real claims, with appropriate references to their policy documents. We also shared a proposed rating with advisers during our research deep dive session earlier this year.

After gathering the necessary information, we updated our product database accordingly. The final rating was released in QPR v16.2 and is now live on Quotemonster.

Please note that while this document includes the proposed rating for comprehensive trauma cover, the updated rating has been applied across moderate, severe, and business covers.

Your feedback

We highly value your feedback on how these wordings are being applied to claims you may have encountered. Please email us at info@quotemonster.co.nz with details of any recent claims to help us refine our understanding, or alternatively please use the Adviser Claims Experience on Quotemonster to log your claims experience, a video on this feature can be found here.

Final training sessions for 2024 released

You’re invited to join our final training sessions for 2024, our team have had a great time running these sessions, meeting new and experienced advisers and receiving valuable feedback on what we can do to improve.

If you’re interested in joining us, please see our scheduled below:

• Introduction to Quotemonster – Wednesday, 11 December 2024 10:30 am-11:30 am

In this session, Kelly Pulham, our National Partnerships Lead, will demonstrate the basic functions of our website, along with some handy tips and tricks along the way.

• Demystifying Advicemonster - Wednesday, 11 December 2024 12:00 pm-1:00 pm

In this session Aneel Ravji, our AdviceTech Lead, will demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.

• Business Risk Research and SOAs with Quotemonster – Thursday, 12 December 2024 9:30 am-10:15 am

In this session, Aneel will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.

If you would like to join either of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!

Recent rate changes on Quotemonster

Dear Quotemonster users,

We are pleased to confirm that the following rate changes are live on Quotemonster effective 1 December 2024.

• Southern Cross Wellbeing One and Two (no changes were made to the GP and Prescriptions or Dental and Optical Options)

If you have any questions or comments on these changes please reach out to us on info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!

Website and research upgrades: what you need to know – website version v4.6.3 / QPR v16.2

Here are the changes that we’ve recently made on Quotemonster:   

Researchmonster updates:

- Pricing and research for Fidelity Life’s Specific Injury is now available.

Specific injury cover pays a lump sum when you suffer from one of the 30 defined specific injuries as a result of an accident.

These injuries include certain fractures, burns, loss of sight, loss of hearing, loss of use of one limb and more, where the required definition is met. Where your injury is covered, the payout will depend on how severe the specific injury is. To learn more, click here.

To select this option on Quotemonster, ensure you have included qualifying covers (e.g. Life, Trauma or Income) in your quote.

Fidelity Life has also released a range of enhancements to Life, Trauma and Multi Trauma, effective 20 November 2024. These changes are reflected in our product ratings on Quotemonster. To learn more, click here.

- Updated pricing and research for Pinnacle Life enhancements now available.

Pinnacle Life have updated their definitions for cancer, heart attack, stroke, and bypass surgery, along with the addition of 16 covered conditions such as Cardiac Arrest, Major Head Trauma, Meningitis / Meningococcal Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis and more effective 7 October 2024.

Quotemonster provides research for Pinnacle Life’s Life, Trauma Accelerated, TPD Any Occ Accelerated and Income Products, plus pricing for Life and Trauma in the ‘Estimates’ section. To learn more, click here.

- Research for AIA Specified Accidental Injury is now available.

AIA have completed Phase two of their planned changes to accidental injury.
Quoting and research is now available for this version, which was released on 1 November 2024. To learn more, click here.

Noteworthy mentions regarding updates above: 

Research on previous policy document versions (if applicable) can be found in our Standalone Head to Head.

The following infographics have also been updated:

·        Personal Product Rating Map

·        Standalone Head to Head Product Map

·        Health Benefit Maximums

·        Insurer Pass Backs and Policy Terms

Training sessions:

Our team hosts online training sessions on a regular basis and invites you and your colleagues to join us if you’re interested in learning more about our services.  

Our next sessions will be: 

Introduction to Quotemonster – Wednesday, 11 December 2024 10:30 am-11:30 am

In this session Kelly Pulham, our National Partnerships Lead, will demonstrate the basic functions of our website, along with some handy tips and tricks along the way.

Demystifying Advicemonster - Wednesday, 11 December 2024 12:00 pm-1:00 pm

In this session Aneel Ravji, our AdviceTech Lead, will demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.

Business Risk Research and SOAs with Quotemonster – Thursday, 12 December 2024 9:30 am-10:15 am

In this session, Aneel will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.

Introduction to Kiwimonster - Wednesday, 4 December 2024 9:30 am-9:50 am

A session on our brand spanking new service – Kiwimonster.

If you would like to join any of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!

Upcoming training sessions

We are hosting online training sessions on Researchmonster, Advicemonster and Business Risk/Research on a regular basis, we invite you and your team to join us if you’re interested in learning more about these new features.

Our next sessions will be: 

• Introduction to Quotemonster – Wednesday, 30 October 2024 9:30 am-10:30 am

In this session, we will demonstrate the basic functions of our website, along with some handy tips and tricks along the way.

• Demystifying Advicemonster - Tuesday, 29 October 2024 9:30 am-10:30 am

In this session Aneel Ravji, our AdviceTech Lead, will demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.

• Business Risk Research and SOAs with Quotemonster – Tuesday, 29 October 2024 11:30 am-12:15 pm

In this session, Aneel will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.

If you would like to join either of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!