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.
Quotemonster Information Security Bulletin – keeping safe online
This is our fifth information security bulletin, all about keeping your Quotemonster account secure and keeping safe online.
As a valued user of quotemonster.co.nz, we want to ensure that your personal information remains secure, and your privacy is safeguarded. With cyber threats becoming increasingly sophisticated, it's crucial to adopt best practices to enhance your online security. Here are some friendly reminders and recommendations to help you stay protected:
Create a strong and unique password: Make sure your password is at least eight characters long and includes a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Avoid common phrases, predictable patterns, or personally identifiable information. If you have trouble remembering them, try using a password manager, such as LastPass.
Use a different password from your other accounts. Keep everything separate so that if one account is compromised your attackers do not gain access to them all.
Never use your name, username, or part of your email address as your password.
Regularly update your password: We recommend changing your password periodically, ideally every three to six months. Regularly updating your password helps protect against potential breaches and unauthorized access to your account.
Familiarise yourself with two-factor authentication (2FA) - we are glad you are all using 2FA to log onto our site. This additional layer of security significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access by requiring a second verification step, usually through a code sent to your email or your preferred authenticator app. Ensuring you are familiar with the process means you will not be frustrated when asked for a code from your app – and you can easily find it and log on.
Do not share logins: While it may be tempting to share your login credentials with trusted individuals, it's important to remember that doing so compromises your security. Encourage each person who needs access to create their own account, ensuring accountability and preventing potential misuse.
Stay vigilant against phishing attempts: Cybercriminals often employ phishing techniques to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information. Be cautious of emails or messages requesting personal details. Avoid clicking on unfamiliar links and verify the authenticity of any communication before sharing any information.
Some notes on good general online safety:
Keep your devices and software up to date: Regularly update your operating system, web browsers, antivirus software, and other applications to ensure you have the latest security patches and features. These updates often contain critical fixes that address known system vulnerabilities. Also, having a modern computer (less than five years old) running up to date software, will greatly enhance your experience of using the site – its quicker, as well as more secure.
Be mindful of public Wi-Fi networks: When accessing our service on the go, exercise caution when using public Wi-Fi networks. Public networks may lack proper encryption, making your data vulnerable to interception. Whenever possible, connect to secure and trusted networks or use a virtual private network (VPN) for added protection.
Remember, the security of your personal information is our priority. Adopting these proactive measures will significantly contribute to safeguarding your privacy. If you ever have any questions or concerns regarding the security of our service, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team.
Want to know more?
We are here to help! You can email us to ask for copies of past security bulletins. You can also review our outsource provider statement at the bottom right-hand corner of every page on the site at www.quotemonster.co.nz. More information about relevant certifications, policies, and procedures will be shared in future information security bulletins. We recommend you keep these with other compliance documents.
Please contact us on 09 480 6071 or at info@quotemonster.co.nz if you have any concerns or questions.
ISB 05-202305
Quality product research database upgrade
We have just uploaded QPR Database version 152 and 152a into our Dropbox folder.
This version of the database includes the following changes:
Changes made in 15.2a:
* ANZ - new policy document effective 06/03/2022
> no rating changes applied
*Revisions made to Medical Amount Scores in V15.2 for:
> Fertility benefit
> Non-surgical benefit
> Oral surgergy benefit
> Overseas treatment
> Physiotherapy
> Pregnancy
> Treatment in Australia
> Surgical benefit
> Recovery benefit
> Minor surgery benefit
Changes made in 15.2:
* Correction made to version summary log (V15.1 released 31-Jan-23) - note should read:
> FSR for PL/BNZ life update from A- to A
* Cigna rebrand to Chubb Life effective 06/03/2023 - no rating changes applied
* Kiwibank rebrand to nib effective 01/06/2023
* MAS - new policy document update for Life & IP effective 01/12/2021
* Business rating for AIA, Asteron, Fidelity, Chubb & Partners:
> TPD
* Specific Injury rating for AIA, Asteron, Chubb & Partners
> Package weighting updated to reflect the addition of SI
* Reviews:
> Medical:
* Exclusions updated for NIB, SX and PL
> IP:
* Insurable Income - rating added for Westpac
* Inflation Adjustment - rating removed for ANZ
> Trauma:
* Instant Buyback for PL Immediate Trauma and Asteron Continuous Trauma
* Heart attack sub item remediation for nib
> TPD:
* Benefit Definition over 65
For advisers the best way to explore the changes is to produce a research report on quotemonster. For product managers please refer to the change logs on the revised database that has been sent to you. For more information please contact one of the research staff.
Quality Product Research: Research Advisory Board – Central Representatives
A big welcome to the Central Representatives of our Research Advisory Board, we are honoured to have you on board!
From top left: Tony Dench (independent chair), Louise Grinstead (board member), Doreen Dutt (QPR representative), Russell Hutchinson (QPR representative)
From bottom left: David Jobson (insurer representative – Partners Life), Samuel Rees-Thomas (board member), Joshua Logan (board member)
Our board met in Wellington in the beginning of May with three topics for discussion:
The proposed rating of Business lump sum products – at the time, we prepared draft ratings for Life and TPD and received highly valuable feedback from our members allowing us to modify and progress this project.
Review of Trauma Incidence – our ‘incidence’ feature is vital to Trauma Research and with the help of claims data from Gen Re, we reviewed our current incidence, however, will be proceeding with an external consultation before these are updated on Quotemonster.
Legacy and recently closed products – we were interested in an adviser’s perspective on if and how these products should be presented on Quotemonster.
The feedback from our Research Advisory Board meetings has prompted us to create infographics that we believe will strengthen the advice you provide to your client, and we are excited to be able to feature them in our upcoming Roadshow.
For more information on our Research Advisory board please click here.
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
8 Jun 2023 - The Employment Relations (Protection for Kiwisaver Members) Amendment Bill was introduced https://www.parliament.nz/mi/pb/bills-and-laws/proposed-members-bills/employment-relations-protection-for-kiwisaver-members-amendment-bill-tracey-mclellan/
9 Jun 2023 - Anne Callinan appointed as the new Deputy Chair at the Commerce Commission https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-commerce-commission-appointment-0
More people expected to delay retirement due to costs of living
The New Zealand Seniors Series: Working Seniors Report has found that a substantial number of New Zealanders may need to delay retirement due to their financial situation.
While the most commonly cited reason to keep working beyond 65 years of age was enjoying working (65%), 61% selected the rising cost of living and 57% chose financial needs as reasons for working past retirement age.
Only 43% of people surveyed felt on track to retire at the age they preferred, with 37% believing they may have to keep working past their preferred retirement age to fund their retirement (up from 23% in 2021) and 20% believing they would not having full control over the age they retire.
74% of people agreed that their home ownership and mortgage status had a great impact on their retirement decisions and 78% thought that being fully retired with mortgage debt was a key concern.
The implications of the pandemic, rising cost of living and looming global recession have meant that 21% of respondents will need to delay their full retirement age slightly and 17% will need to delay their full retirement age considerably.
In December we examined how the market for insurance has changed due to patterns of longer living and longer working. Between 2002 and 2022 the share of 65 to 69 year-olds who are in work rose from just over 20% to 46.5% - a group of nearly 120,000 people. It seems plain that if life is extending, so will working life, and probably the need for cover will continue longer than previously thought.
More daily news:
Enquiries to the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme break records three months in a row
MBIE planning a new consumer rights and harm prevention campaign
Registrations for Financial Advice NZ’s August Out of the Box tour are now open
Submissions for the ANZIIF New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards are now open
Investment Leaders Forum will be held 30 July - 1 August in Queenstown
Study finds moving for an hour a day can lower the risk of developing diabetes by 74 per cent
Report claims Pharmac takes more than seven years to make decisions on new medicines
A report, Pharmac's Medicines Waiting Lists: Impacts on Patients in Aotearoa New Zealand, has claimed that Pharmac has an average waiting time of 7.7 years for applications across all Pharmac lists. The report was commissioned by Medicines New Zealand, a campaign group whose members are in the prescription medicines and vaccines industries.
Pharmac is the government agency that decides what medicines to fund and manages a fixed budget for those medicines. Pharmac need to decide which medicines to fund for the best health outcomes for New Zealanders – how improved people’s lives might be and for how long with the medicine; how much shorter or less healthy people’s lives would be without the medicine; and how a patient’s family will be affected by a funding decision.
Applications on the Options for Investment waiting list, which comprises applications that Pharmac have indicated they would like to fund, subject to budget, have been there for an average of 5.9 years. The report claims that the time taken to achieve funding decisions has increased in the last 2 years, with 39% of applications being funded within 20 months in 2020/21 compared to only 3% in 2021/22. One of the recommendations the report calls for is for Pharmac to establish a performance benchmark for the time taken to achieve funding decisions.
Some insurance companies offer access to Medsafe-approved, non-Pharmac funded medicines, like nib’s non-Pharmac Plus option.
More daily news:
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'Embracing AI in the world of finance' on 28 June
Office of the Privacy Commissioner encourages two-factor authentication
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
6 Jun 2023 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the finalised reporting standards for insurers impacted by the introduction of the Australian Accounting Standards Board 17 Insurance Contracts (AASB 17). https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-responds-to-consultation-on-minor-amendments-to-insurance-reporting
8 Jun 2023 - The FMA has filed civil proceedings against AA Insurance Limited for failing to apply multi policy and membership discounts, as well as guaranteed no claims bonuses to eligible customers’ premiums, resulting in $11.12 million in overcharges. https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/fma-files-proceedings-against-aa-insurance-for-alleged-fair-dealing-breaches/
8 Jun 2023 - MBIE: Regulations have been made to support the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Act 2022. Links to the regulations are below, along with details of an online information session that MBIE will be holding regarding the sales incentives regulations.
Links to the regulations
The regulations can be found at the following links:Financial Markets Conduct (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Regulations 2023: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2023/0123/latest/whole.html
These regulations cover the sales incentives prohibition based on volume or value targets and other provisions to ensure the regime works as intended, including provisions setting the requirements for participants in the Lloyd’s insurance market.
Financial Markets Conduct (Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2023/0124/latest/LMS829791.html These regulations set the licensing fee for financial institutions applying for a market services licence under the regime.
A commencement order has also been made, which will bring the regime into effect from 31 March 2025. As you may be aware, financial institutions will be able to apply for a licence from the FMA from 25 July 2023 and must be licensed by 31 March 2025 to continue providing relevant services to consumers. The FMA has advised that by submitting an application as early as possible, applicants will give themselves the best chance of ensuring their licence is processed before 31 March 2025. The commencement order can be found at the following link: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2023/0122/latest/LMS830584.html
The monster has new features and new technology - be the first to see
Aneel Ravji, Kelly Pulham and Russell Hutchinson
Quotemonster will be touring the country from 18 July to 11 August.
New tech and new tools:
New comparisons
New AI tools to make your life easier
New ways to make your advice process better, safer, and quicker
Review of recent guidance
At this stage, we don’t want to say more – but it will be worth coming along.
In addition, it’s a great opportunity for us to meet with you and hear about what’s happening for you in the market and how we can help. There will be time for questions and some one on one time with our team to work through any scenarios or features you want to explore further.
Look out for the invitation in your inbox (if you have an account) or just click on your nearest town below to register.
11 August - Auckland (North Shore)
We look forward to seeing you soon.
FMA files court proceedings against MAS over fair dealing provisions breaches
MAS self-reported that it had multiple failures between 2014 and 2022:
Failure to apply the correct inflation adjustments to 6,297 customers
Failure to apply multi-policy discounts affecting 8,864 customers
Underpayment of life and disability claims affecting 104 customers
Failure to apply no claims bonuses correctly, affecting 1,235 customers
MAS’s failures were due to errors and deficiencies in its systems, including data entry errors by MAS employees. MAS has been co-operating with the FMA through its investigation.
The FMA is seeking a declaration that MAS contravened the FMC Act and a pecuniary penalty.
MAS has rolled out an unclaimed monies register in support of their remediation process to correct pricing and payout errors. While most affected clients have been compensated, the register encourages impacted members who haven’t been contacted to get in touch to receive their refund.
Jason McCracken, MAS chief, has apologised to members.
“As a mutual, MAS takes the trust our Members have in us very seriously and we apologise for the impact these errors have had. We remain committed to finding any issues and making them right.”
More daily news:
nib's top five medical claims by dollar value for April cover spine, heart, and cancer surgeries
Katrina Shanks writes of the importance of businesses' health and wellbeing policies
The Retirement Commission launch De-jargoning Money initiative
Liam Mason says there has not been a significant increase in Section 25 notices in recent years
Crombie Lockwood awarded a Human Resources Director New Zealand Employers of Choice award for 2023
Kelly Sullivan appointed as the new national manager of PSC Connect Life NZ Ltd in May
Bowel Cancer NZ encourage you to take part in the ‘move your butt’ challenge this June
PWC release Family Business Survey 2023
PWC’s Family Business Survey of key decision-makers in 52 family businesses across NZ had some interesting insights on what these businesses’ priorities and plans for the future are.
• 69% expect to grow over the next two years
• 90% have some form of governance policy in place
• 52% feel they have strong digital capabilities
• Only 10% actively protect and consistently communicate about how they use private data
• 35% of business leaders said they will focus on improving their digital capability over the next two years
• 35% have an agreed and communicated environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy
More daily news:
Naomi Ballantyne talks about how her exit strategy for Partners Life changed
Jon Davies says every insurance company needs to be looking at how they use technology and AI
ANZ and ASB are named as some of the top 20 employers in NZ
Study links ultra-processed foods and depression
Australian workplaces required to look after employees wellbeing
Nurses at Gisborne Hospital strike for health and safety reasons