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.

FSC’s FAP round table breakfast with the FMA

Quality Product Research are sponsors of the Financial Services Council’s (FSC's) FAP round table breakfast with the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) last month. Several of our team were there, including Aneel Ravji, AdviceTech Lead, Kelly Pulham, National Partnerships Lead, and Russell Hutchinson, Research Director.

The FMA covered how the new regime is working, approaches to enforcement and other initiatives. Attendees were taken through the background and given an overview of the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime.  Other topics included observations on remediations, fair conduct programmes and an overview of the CoFI intermediated distribution guide. Russell Hutchinson facilitated a lively Q&A session.

Here's a few snaps from the day. We highly recommend you attend the FSC round tables if you get the chance, they always make for an interesting and engaging start to the day.

Pictured, from the Financial Markets Authority, from left to right: Michael Hewes, Director, Deposit Taking, Insurance and Advice; Anna Jared, Technical Specialist – Deposit Taking, Insurance & Advice; Kyla Bottriell, Senior Adviser, External Relations; and Romil Ghelani, Head of Financial Advice

Russell Hutchinson, Director at Quality Product Research Ltd, facilitates a Q&A session.

More news:

ACC appoint Michael Frampton as Deputy Chief Executive for Service Delivery

Pharmac promises HRT alternatives after backlash to menopause patch switch

Phase One of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 Response has been released

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!

What does a business version of the healthy futures report mean?

We took a look at Southern Cross’s business edition of the 2024 Healthy Futures Report, which focuses on employee health and wellbeing. There are clear links between wealth and health, as the old saying has it. Whether one causes the other and in which direction the arrow of causality points is unexplored. We think it’s probably more complicated than this simple pairing of factors, although if someone becomes wealthy, they often become healthier. Likewise, if someone has the misfortune to become chronically ill, they usually get poorer. But these two are probably joined by other factors which may also have some power to affect outcomes – like education while young, health while a child, and current environment.

What employers can do to help is limited – but is appreciated by staff. At Quality Product Research Limited we offer seven of the eleven key suggestions made (soon to be expanded to eight) – we like that we can do that – but people use or do not use them pretty much as they please.

Key takeaways for us from the survey results:

• 89% of respondents said it was important to them to work for a company that supports the health and wellbeing of their staff.

• 55% of respondents’ employers were doing well in supporting their employees.

• The top ten initiatives employers could invest in were wellbeing leave (36%), lunch or break room (29%), flu vaccinations (26%), healthy food options (25%), activities promoting good mental health (23%), workplace massage (23%), Employee Assistance Programme (22%), health assessments (21%), subsidised membership to off-site facilities (21%) and stress management programmes (20%).

• 88% of employees think having a good work-life balance is important, with a third considering taking steps to improve their work-life balance.

• Making use of flexible working hours (43%) and switching off from work when finished for the day (43%) were the most common means of managing work-life balance. Conversely, having a high work load (60%), financial pressures (40%) and not having flexible working hours (40%) were cited as most commonly as reasons for poor work-life balance.

• 51% of workplaces offer flexible working arrangements, down from 54% in 2022; 60% of employees make use of flexible working hours most weeks and an additional 26% utilise it sometimes.

• Only 45% of kiwis rate themselves as happy with their financial situation; 91% cite cost of living as one of their top concerns and 58% worry about not having enough money to support themselves or their families.

• 84% of New Zealanders are concerned about not having good, affordable access to healthcare, up 8% from 2022.

• Kiwis don’t feel they are getting enough sleep (60%) or exercise (62%).

• New Zealanders without health insurance were more likely to be less happy with their health, financial situation, mental wellbeing, fitness levels, weight of themselves and their children, exercised less on average and were more likely to be stressed.

Southern Cross highlight a series of initiatives workplaces could take to improve employee wellbeing, including:

• offering education on stress management and financial management;

• offering free fruit or healthy food in breakrooms;

• encouraging employees to make use of flexible working if it’s offered;

• offering health assessments;

• educating employees on the importance of flu vaccinations;

• offer opportunities for physical exercise, through work place team sports, sports day or subsidies for gyms or exercise equipment;

• encouraging employees to take their annual leave;

• training leaders to identify those at risk of burn-out;

• offering wellbeing leave;

• providing employee assistance programmes and educating employees on what it is and hot to use it;

• offering subsidised health insurance.

1,463 employees were surveyed for this report in March 2024.

More news:

Changes to Partners Life’s My Underwriting Manager platform

Jon-Paul Hale talks about CPI & income protection claims

Resonate 2024: Navigating Innovation event 7 November

Amanda Bridge has joined Apex Advice as Adviser Manager

NZ banks begin rollout of the confirmation of payments service from November 2024

Centrix’s latest ‘Credit Indicator Report' finds 461,000 people are behind on their payments

The Monetary Policy Committee cut the Official Cash Rate to 4.75%

BNZ has launched a new security feature aimed at combating online scams

October is International Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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!

Website upgrades: what you need to know – v4.6.2

Our IT Development team have been working hard to improve the services that we offer our advisers as well as improving user experience.

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.16.0| WEB V.4.6.2

Here are the changes that we’ve made:

Researchmonster updates:

Pricing and research for Chubb Life’s Continuous Trauma option is now available, the benefit allows customers to retain their Trauma Cover post-claim, providing continuous coverage up to a maximum of 4 times the Trauma Cover sum insured. This supports customers to retain their Trauma Cover for future unrelated conditions they may get, providing financial support for treatment and other costs.

To select this option on Quotemonster, click Instant Trauma Buyback in your Advanced Options.

Chubb Life also has also released a range of enhancements effective Thursday, 26 September which we are working to release over the next few weeks, from an early review by our research team, these enhancements will have low impact on weighting, to learn more, click here.

Expiry Age is now included in our policy wording reports, to include these in your presentation to clients.

-        Click through to Research

-        Select a Benefit (e.g. Trauma Standalone)

-        Select an item (e.g. Heart Attack) which generates a pop up with the policy wording for each insurer

-        Click Print, then Download to generate a PDF copy, which now includes Expiry Age

Advicemonster updates:

Advicemonster users will notice two logos at the top left of their screen, one labelled Quotemonster and the other, Businessmonster (how snazzy does Crunchy look with his tie and briefcase!).  Quotemonster brings your recently saved personal quotes to hand, while Businessmonster shows business quotes, simply click to change between them as required.

Training sessions:

We are hosting online training sessions on Researchmonster and Advicemonster on a regular basis and 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, 16 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 - Wednesday, 16 October 2024 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 – Thursday, 17 October 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 any of these sessions, please email your request to info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!

nib rates are now live!

We are pleased to confirm that the premium changes for nib, effective 1 October 2024 are live on Quotemonster.

There was a rate increase for Ultimate Health, Ultimate Health Max and the Specialist option, no changes to GP or Dental, Optical, and Therapeutic options.

Happy Crunching!

Website upgrade: Southern Cross Healthy Lifestyle Reward

Another upgrade we’ve recently made to Quotemonster is how users can select Southern Cross’s Healthy Lifestyle Reward. This was reviewed following adviser feedback and shows how important it is to let us know if there is something we can do to increase your user experience. 

What is the Healthy Lifestyle (HLR) Reward?

The Healthy Lifestyle Reward is a 10% discount on premium for new members who meet certain healthy lifestyle criteria and applies for up to two years.

(i) To qualify the client must be aged 21 or older and answer yes to:

• Are you a non-smoker?

• Do you eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day?

• Do you do 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most of the days of the week?

• Women: do you drink 2 or less glasses of alcohol a day?

• Men: do you drink 3 or less glasses of alcohol a day?

How to include the HLR on Quotemonster

Add in your client and health benefit details as normal, then click the company’s logo in your Result window, ensure Healthy Lifestyle Reward is selected, click Re-Crunch and your premium for Southern Cross will now include the 10% discount.

If you have any questions or feedback on this updated feature, please reach out to us on info@quotemonster.co.nz

Happy Crunching!