Quality Product Research: Research Advisory Board – Northern

Last month we held our first Research Advisory Board meeting of the year with our Northern Representatives and as usual returned to Quotemonster HQ with lots of valuable feedback. 

Board members: Allan Gillbanks (Owner, Director of The Quantum Group) and Katrina Church (Director, Head of Client Engagement of Insurance People)

Independent Chair: Tony Dench

Insurer Observers: Laura Fitzpatrick (Asteron Life)

Research Team: Russell Hutchinson, Doreen Dutt, Sara Alani and Kim Oliver

The research advisory board reviewed the following topics:

• Interim Cover: based on discussions, QPR will look to create some educational material on interim cover.

• The Addition of Legacy Research to our Standard Quote Flow: for improved clarity, we’ll review renaming ‘Legacy products’ to ‘Closed products’ and look to include a workflow to help advisers handle legacy products.

• Specific injury add-on compared to built-in for IP: we will review the value of Specific Injury as a built-in item vs a standalone item.

• Finalised Rating for Rural Key Person: we announced the launch of rural key person cover ratings for five providers - AIA, Asteron Life, Fidelity Life, Chubb Life, and Partners Life. Based on discussions, we will review the rating differences for some specific features. We’ll also gather feedback on the weighting for home modifications and vocational rehabilitation to ensure the ratings accurately reflects their value.

• The Proposed rating of disclosure: this is all about how easy it is to find policy documents on insurers’ websites and for customers to access all required documentation easily. We plan to review and rate this feature across all products in future.

• The Proposed rating of Waiver of Premium: members liked the idea of splitting up the different types of premium waivers and having them as separate items (injury {traditional WOP}, parental leave, unemployment, and redundancy being the main 4 categories). Our research team will look to implement these changes in our database in the next few months.

• Quote Functionality - Error Message / Exact Match vs Near Match: we’re looking into whether we’ll be able to implement near matches (rather than just exact matches) for products that are similar but not the same.

As always, the feedback from our Research Advisory Board meetings has been very valuable to our Research team and allows us to strengthen our research ratings by getting more insight into the adviser perspective. We look forward to meeting with our Central and Southern Advisory Boards later in the year.

nib New Zealand launches Ultimate Life & Living product range

nib New Zealand has launched Ultimate Life & Living, a suite of six new insurance products available exclusively through advisers.

The six new products are:

• Ultimate Life Insurance

• Ultimate Trauma Insurance

• Ultimate Income Protection Insurance (available in both Indemnity and Agreed Value)

• Ultimate Mortgage Protection Insurance

• Ultimate Total & Permanent Disability Insurance

• Ultimate Waiver of Premium

nib is introducing a simplified application process. The updated system, nibAPPLY, will allow advisers to quote and submit applications for health, life and living insurance products simultaneously, improving efficiencies.

Advisers must complete product training and accreditation to offer the new products. nib offers online modules for both new and experienced advisers.

For a limited time, new customers get a $300 credit on their nib Ultimate Life & Living Insurance policy after paying for their first month or more when processed through nibAPPLY before 30 June 2025.

For a limited time, existing nib health clients can get 10% off their Health Insurance premiums when they bundle Health with Ultimate Life & Living Insurance, when any member on an eligible health policy is issued with a new Ultimate Life & Living Insurance policy (subject to meeting minimum premium criteria). The discount applies to the total health policy premium excluding the policy fee and the offer is available exclusively through nibAPPLY until 30 September 2025.

More news:

AIA bring back popular one month’s premium free campaign

New AIA Vitality Garmin reward

Naomi Ballantyne honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award

Lifetime Group awarded Community Impact Award

AIA change reinstatement rules for policies lapsed for 180 days or more

AIA release updated Underwriting Guide

AIA have refreshed their conduct standards for advisers

The FMA wants to see advisers avoid burying disclosure in lengthy documents full of jargon

nib combine member engagement and digital transformation teams

Fidelity Life celebrates its latest 20 Career connect graduates

Last week, Fidelity Life held a celebration to honour its latest 20 Career Connect graduates. Each graduate has successfully completed their Level 5 qualifications in life, disability, and health insurance.  

• Anna Devereux; Women in finance scholarship recipient (Dunedin)

• Ashlee Cuttance (Dunedin)

• Awhina Scott; Pounamu scholarship recipient (Christchurch)

• Briar Evans (Auckland)

• Caitlin Hayward (Morrinsville)

• Christabel Bertie (Auckland)

• Grace McIntyre; Rural scholarship recipient (Dunedin)

• Harpreet Rehal (Auckland)

• Jenny Silva; Kōwhai scholarship recipient (Queenstown)

• Kim Forsythe (Invercargill)

• Kirsty Gobbie (Auckland)

• Leean Te (Auckland)

• Marna Breetzke; Pāua scholarship recipient (Auckland)

• Matthew Roxburgh (Dunedin)

• Myja Gregory (Auckland)

• Namrata Kumar (Auckland)

• Shiwangni Mala (Auckland)

• Sydnee Taylor; Toe Toe scholarship recipient (Christchurch)

• Taylah Marr; Rāngi Po scholarship recipient (Christchurch)

• Vanessa Jones-Dutton (New Plymouth)

This year, 95% of Career connect graduates were women, and a quarter of the group identifies as Māori or Pasifika.

Michelle Doyle, Head of Solutions said

"More than 60% of the graduates who asked for introductions to adviser businesses have already landed jobs, excited to start careers that help New Zealanders protect what matters most.”

Since its inception in 2023, Career connect has had more than 200 registrations for 70 course places, welcomed 47 students and helped almost 40 people gain their Level 5 qualifications in life, disability, and health insurance.

Submissions to be part of the 2025 intake of Career connect closed earlier this month with nearly 70 applications from a diverse group of candidates across various ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds. 

More news:

Expressions of interest for Partners Life New Adviser Training Course open

The latest issue of ASSET features Katrina Church on FMA monitoring visits, Naomi Ballantyne discussing the year ahead for the life insurance industry and Russell Hutchinson on the challenges of insurance retention

mySolutions webinar 'Navigating the future ' 2 April

FSC webinar 'How financially resilient are Kiwis?' 29 April

Adviser refunds income protection premiums in FSCL dispute

Steve Wright considers issues posed by FSCL dispute

Study finds insurers rate inflation, recession, market volatility, geopolitical tensions and AI adoption as macroeconomic threats

Minister says country on track to have open banking operational by the end of the year, with regulations specific to the sector to be confirmed in the coming weeks

Product and pricing changes at Partners Life

Partners Life have announced a range of product changes, effective from 15 March 2025, aimed at giving customers more flexibility and the option to remove features if they don’t want to pay for them.

• The built-in Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Benefit will become a TPD Option. If a client opts out of TPD, the premium for their monthly disability cover will reduce accordingly. This change applies to Mortgage Repayment Cover, Household Expenses Covers and Income Cover Agreed Value, Agreed Loss of Earnings and Indemnity Loss of Earnings.

• They have made changes to Trauma Cover and Moderate Trauma Cover for clients who have suffered an out of hospital cardiac arrest. They have removed obsolete medical requirements, and added current diagnostic tools used by medical staff to confirm a cardiac arrest has occurred. The wording has been updated to allow for new and future diagnostic tools.

• They have updated Trauma, Moderate Trauma and Severe Trauma Cover wordings to let clients know that Partners Life will notify them when they can exercise their Life Cover or Deferred Trauma Cover buy-back options.

Any beneficial enhancements to policy wordings are automatically applied to existing in-force policies under the Guaranteed Upgrade of Future Benefits feature.

In addition to the product changes, Partners Life have reviewed premiums, in light of increased volume and cost of medical claims. Premiums for Private Medical Cover including Specialists and Tests Option will increase by 18% and the policy fee will increase from $58.08 to $64.13 per annum, both from 22nd April 2025.

More news:

FSC25 Conference: Transforming for Tomorrow is on 10 - 11 September in Auckland

The Rising Stars in Insurance Seminar expands to more cities

Managing risks posed by Artificial Intelligence in the banking Sector

70% of NZ CEOs say AI has increased efficiencies in their employees’ time at work

What’s the biggest health claim paid for a procedure?

The health insurance industry has been experiencing a time of rising medical costs, where both volume of claims and inflation have been increasing. We’ve taken a closer look at individual claims values that a few insurers have released recently. As you can see from the data below, the costs of individual claims can be astronomical.

nib regularly publish their top 5 health claims by month. RiskinfoNZ has an article collating historical nib’s top health claims by month here.

nib’s top health claims for January 2025

Treatment                     Cost              Gender              Age

Spinal surgery               $101,000         Male                   16

Cardiac surgery           $85,000           Male                   46

Cardiac surgery           $56,000           Male                   70

Cardiac surgery           $54,000           Female               70

Digestive surgery          $53,000          Male                   72

nib’s top health claims for December 2024

Treatment                      Cost                Gender               Age

Cardiac surgery            $103,000          Male                   72

Cancer surgery             $102,000          Male                   77

Cardiac surgery            $93,000            Male                   80

Cardiac surgery            $88,000            Male                   76

Spinal surgery                $87,000            Male                   48

But these do not top the charts of what we are currently aware. Southern Cross’s most expensive surgical claims were $256,165 for a spinal fusion procedure and $127,191 for a breast reconstruction.

While Partners Life don’t release a similar monthly overview of their top claims, their ‘The story behind our claims’ slideshow highlights their largest single payouts since 2011. The most expensive claims paid out were a whopping $1.6 million+ for Total and Permanent Disability or Income cover; $2.9million +for Life cover; $3.2million + for Trauma cover and $982,000+ for Private Medical Cover.

While the majority of claims won’t cost anywhere near as much, what used to be ample caps of some older medical values don’t seem so rosy in light of recent inflation and surging claims costs. Yet we haven’t seen any insurers coming out and indexing claims caps. We think that’s wrong, and we’ll offer a score boost to the first insurer who offers indexed caps.

What types of claims have you heard of and how did they go? We would love to hear more from you, especially if you are a Quotemonster subscriber, through our adviser claims experience tool (check the side menu when you are next logged in).

More news:

mySolutions webinar 'What got you here, won't get you there' 19 March

nib release launch date for Ultimate Life & Living

nib Ultimate Life & Living will launch on 28 March 2025. Details of the suite of products were released at nib’s nationwide adviser events last month, and advisers can complete their training and accreditation on the nib Learning Management System using their existing password.

Products available will include:

• Ultimate Life Insurance – cover to support a client’s loved ones if they die or are expected to die within the next 24 months;

• Ultimate Trauma Insurance – cover that extends beyond the initial diagnosis of a medical condition to support a client and their family’s well-being;            

• Ultimate Income and Mortgage Protection Insurance – pays a monthly amount if a client is unable to work because of illness or injury;

• Ultimate Total & Permanent Disability Insurance – focuses on the financial impact of lasting disability, so clients can rebuild their future with less financial strain;

• Ultimate Waiver of Premium – removes the burden of premium payments for a client if they’re disabled, ensuring their Ultimate Life & Living cover remains active.

 The full suite of products will be available for comparison on Quotemonster by the end of the month. You can find out about how Ultimate Life and Living works on Quotemonster at our forthcoming roadshows.

More news:

ANZIIF is set to participate in International Women’s Day 2025

nib develops resources to inform people about the health checks they need

Keri Jenkins to leave Wealthpoint

nib to roll out life insurance offering next month

nib’s new Ultimate Life and Living products, which include life, trauma, TPD, income protection and mortgage protection will be available from next month. nib are currently running roadshows outlining its new products, but pricing will not be released until closer to the policies being in the market. QPR has rated the products, and they have come out favourably.

New customers buying bundled health insurance and Ultimate Life and Living policies will qualify for a 10% premium discount, while current members can qualify for multi-cover discounts ranging from 10% – 15%.

More news:

Fidelity Life increasing the underlying premium rates from 1 April

Partners Life’s QFA Phase 2 upgrade is now live

Financial Advice NZ Community of Practice: Central District 25 February

Willis Towers Watson will carry out the first independent investment review of ACC

Thoughts from advisers - Jeremy Bernstein

We reached out to some advisers and other experts in the industry for their thoughts and opinions on the job, advice they’d give to people looking to get into the financial services industry, what they’re looking forward to and steps people can take to set themselves on the best financial path at different stages.

Thoughts from Jeremy Bernstein, Senior Adviser - Life & Health at Gallagher

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I get huge satisfaction from writing insurance for people that are not otherwise insured, new policies for new clients, creating financially resilient families & businesses and growing the insurance market.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone looking to get into the financial services industry, what would it be?

Find ways to enjoy continuous learning. Over time, aim to understand every corner of detail of how these policies work - understand that attention to detail is absolutely vital in this industry.

What is something you are looking forward to about the industry over the next 10 years?

I look forward to the industry maturing into regulation and contributing to higher standards of ethics and professionalism. 

What steps can people take to set themselves on the best financial path in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s?

20’s: Find a career they love and one where you are not simply renumerated by wages alone i.e. share in profits through professional partnership or business ownership or a role that offers bonuses if sales targets are achieved. Contribute to KiwiSaver with high growth asset allocation with low fee investments. If not already insured, apply for Private Medical Cover with Partners Life, apply for Loss of Earnings Income Protection with Level Premium until age 70 with Asteron Life.

30’s: Buy a home and review insurance to ensure Life Cover is sufficient.

40’s: Work hard to achieve career goals and find ways to enjoy continuous education. Stay healthy and try hard to keep relationships intact i.e. divorce is a massive financial setback.

50’s: Apply for higher professional roles and actively seek opportunities for business growth and increased income, repay mortgage and step up investment.

60’s: Stay married, stay happy, stay healthy, stay professionally relevant and stay working!

What’s the last book you read?

How Star Wars Conquered the Universe - Chris Taylor.

Thoughts from advisers - Samuel Rees-Thomas

Thoughts from advisers

We reached out to some advisers and other experts in the industry for their thoughts and opinions on the job, advice they’d give to people looking to get into the financial services industry, what they’re looking forward to and steps people can take to set themselves on the best financial path at different stages.

Thoughts from Samuel Rees-Thomas, Director and Financial Adviser at Harness Financial

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Saving New Zealanders' lives. Literally. (Especially when it comes to Health Insurance advice paying off). 

If you could give one piece of advice to someone looking to get into the financial services industry, what would it be?

Go through the Financial Advice process yourself multiple times with a few different advises and take notes.

Pay for the advice if a fee is involved. Buy insurance through an Adviser, take notes.

Go through the insurance sales process at your bank, take notes and compare the experience.

Start investing in a managed fund after receiving advice. 

What is something you are looking forward to about the industry over the next 10 years?

An increase in the nation's financial literacy.

What steps can people take to set themselves on the best financial path in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s?

20’s: Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Follow the principles. When you buy your first house, buy a 'house' because of its merit. Don't try and buy your long-term home.

"Work harder on yourself than you do in your job (but still work hard), that way your income earning potential will grow and so will your character." Jim Rohn (summarised). Buy 5 star Health Insurance and Income Protection.

30’s: Don't wait too long to have kids as you'll never have more time or energy than you do now.

Push yourself and take new career opportunities.

Make sure your retirement planning pathway and the associated disciplines are locked down and underway. Date your spouse even when you've been together for a long time.

40’s: Revisit wealth generation & retirement strategy, ensure your goals and disciplines are aligned.

50’s: Revisit wealth generation & retirement strategy, ensure your goals and disciplines remain aligned.

60’s: Revisit wealth generation & retirement strategy, ensure your goals and disciplines remain aligned.

Asteron Life paid out 97% of claims

Asteron Life paid out 97% of the Trauma, Life and Income Protection claims it received in the year ended June 30 2024. In total, Asteron Life paid out $112 million of claims, with $53.5 million being paid out for Life Insurance, $34.1 million in Trauma policy payments and $24.4 million in Monthly Income Protection cover claims.

Accident or Injury was the leading cause of claims, for both Monthly Income cover and Trauma cover. Mental Health claims duration remains high, with an average duration of 8 - 12 months, compared to other new claims where the average duration was around 6 - 8 months. Executive Manager Claims and Customer Solutions, Seema Bangera, said

“Return to work outcomes are directly related to early intervention and rehabilitation. This means the mental wellbeing of customers needs to be at the forefront for claims specialists and we need to ensure all clients have the necessary support building their personal resilience for their return-to-work journeys.”

More news:

Financial Advice NZ masterclass 'The ethics of client psychology: How clients think' 1 April

Partners Life enhance Quote for Alterations service

12 steps that could help prevent dementia