Chubb Life remove medical loading conditions on their 10% Lifetime Reward benefit

Chubb Life have removed the medical loading conditions from their 10% Lifetime Reward benefit from 25 October 2023. This means all new Life, Life Income and Trauma insurance customers who, at the time of taking out an Assurance Extra or Assurance Extra Business policy have a healthy BMI measurement of between 18.5 and 24.99 and are non-smokers, qualify for the benefit. The 10% discount is guaranteed for the life of the customers policy and will be applied to the risk premium for the eligible covers. FAQ’s around the 10% Lifetime Reward benefit can be found here.

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Swiss Re write about redefining sustainability in life and health insurance

Daisy Ning, Head Life & Health Re APAC ex. China, writes about how sustainability can be applied more broadly in the insurance and reinsurance context. Swiss Re believe sustainability aligns with what they refer to as the ‘3A’s’ of life and health insurance:

accessibility (the ease of acquiring coverage), availability (whether suitable plans and products exist to cover the full range of L&H needs), and affordability (whether products and plans are priced fairly and within consumers’ means).

Ning advocates for formulating strategies that manage risk, improve adaptability and explore opportunities – regardless of market conditions; assessing trends and value delivered to clients and adjusting as necessary; and enhancing value delivered to clients by making insurance solutions more relevant. 

The global protection gap in 2022 was sitting at US 406 billion in premium equivalent terms, up 1.5% since 2021. A recent Deloitte estimate has the Australian public at 60 – 80% underinsured. A Swiss Re estimate of NZ’s mortality protection gap was USD 435 billion (NZD 670 billion) or more than USD 540 000 for each household, as of 2020.

Ning suggests we need to leverage connectivity and digitalisation to make products more affordable; leverage big data and advanced analytics to uncover insights into market trends, customer behaviour and risk factors and create products that address emerging needs discovered through this process; look at digital health underwriting; and increase reach through building alliances with online platforms, aggregators, fintechs and other digital players.

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nib release 2023 sustainability, community and climate-related disclosure reports

nib Group have released their 2023 sustainability, community and climate-related disclosure reports. Some highlights from the reports include:

·         25,990 HealthChecks were undertaken by nib members.

·         Employee Experience Surveys in FY23 found an overall engagement score of 81%.

·         289 staff volunteered 1,546 hours across 14 charities.

·         34 suppliers completed continuous improvement plans to manage modern slavery risk.

·         The strategic procurement team has taken a proactive step toward reducing nib’s carbon footprint by introducing environmental criteria into the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.

·         nib introduced a new values-based employee recognition program where all employees have the opportunity to nominate their colleagues and vote on the most extraordinary achievements.

·         nib worked with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei to facilitate the ‘Cultural Coalition’ Program (Whatua te Aho Tukurua). This six-week program teaches participants Māori language and values, encouraging employees to integrate these learnings into regular work activities and practices.

·         Gender pay equity gap has reduced to 2.75%.

·         985 Kiwis visited Clearhead’s Te Reo Māori website and chatbot

nib has identified climate-related risks including:

·         increased market pressure to provide community support and insurance affordability for those experiencing climate hazards;

·         increased illness & comorbidity due to chronic and compounding climate change hazard;

·         trauma, illness, property destruction and disruption leading to high rates of psychological distress;

·         increased incidents and severity of climate hazards causing pressure on discretionary income;

·         chronic and compounding climate change impacts putting pressure on health services;

·         energy and emissions performance standards creating compounding capital expenditure and operational costs;

·         limitations of current regulatory and pricing mechanisms to respond to climate hazards;

·         risk nib won’t meet growing mandatory reporting and regulatory requirements.

nib has developed a risk-management framework to manage and mitigate its material risks, and their board and management regularly identify and analyse risks and the effectiveness of the controls in place to manage these risks.

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AIA release sustainability report

AIA have released their 2022 Sustaining Healthier, Longer, Better Lives report. Some of the key highlights include:

• Achieved Toitū carbonreduce certification (and being recertified in 2023)

• Engaged New Zealanders over 8 million times with the AIA One Billion initiative, a global, multi-year programme that focuses on initiatives and events to improve kiwis physical and mental wellbeing

• Paid 93% of claims received in 2022

• Completed adviser wellbeing research

• Introduced seven waste streams to AIA house, diverting approximately 10 tonnes from landfill

• Employee engagement survey scored 4.3 out of 5

• Announced an enhanced parental leave package

• Published AIA’s gender pay gap (19.1%) in support of gender pay parity

• Established an AIA NZ Board ESG Committee, chaired by an independent director

• Established a dedicated workstream to prepare and assess climate risks and opportunities

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Official Cash Rate now 5.5%

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) Monetary Policy Committee has voted to raise the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from 5.25% to 5.5%.

The RBNZ has indicated that the OCR will need to stay at a restrictive level “for the foreseeable future” to get inflation back down to the RBNZ’s 1% - 3% annual target range.

The RBNZ has acknowledged that demand in the economy is slowing, with businesses reporting less demand for their goods and services, and homeowners feeling less wealthy due to falling house prices. However, low unemployment, the uncertain impact of high immigration on overall spending, rapid recovery in overseas visitor numbers and the repair and rebuild of parts of the North Island due to recent severe weather events all support economic growth.

The RBNZ is still forecasting 5.5% as the peak for the OCR, with cuts anticipated from the third quarter of 2024.

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