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.
If you have an adviser – you tend to get better claim outcomes
Jon-Paul Hale questions the use of automated portals when it comes to claims time.
Regulatory reviews in Australia have found the claims acceptance rates for the life insurance industry between distribution channels. The difference is marked – claims acceptance rates for advised retail policies was 92.1% compared to 87.8% for direct policies. For a good review check out Jack Howitt’s article here.
Jon-Paul Hale emphasises the importance of advisers at claim time, which perhaps provides an explanation for part of the gap: Hale has questioned the use of automated portals when it comes to claims time. From his experience, there are plenty of claims where, had the clients claimed through the portals without his involvement, the clients wouldn’t have had such good outcomes. He gives a range of examples and cautions that clients can forget what cover they have and how it works – all at a time when they may be feeling overwhelmed from the medical situation they are facing.
On the other hand, the difference between group and retail policies in Australia leans back the other way – more towards how the policy was underwritten as a potential cause for the difference in outcomes. Group insurance policies have some of the highest claims acceptance rates at just over 95%. Howitt’s explanation is compelling:
“This is likely due to the fact that group life insurance policies are typically underwritten on a group basis, which means that insurers have less risk associated with each individual policy. Retail advised policies may have lower claims acceptance rates due to the fact that they are typically more complex and may involve higher risk individuals. Direct policies may have lower claims acceptance rates due to the fact that insurers have less information about policyholders.”
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FSCL sees significant increase in complaints over the past year
Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) has revealed that complaints rose by 6% in the last year, to 1,426.
Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) has revealed that complaints rose by 6% in the last year, to 1,426. Of these, complaints against financial advisers were up by 18% and complaints against insurers were up by 14.5%. The biggest driver of complaints was against lenders, particularly involving car, personal and small business loans. In all, new disputes involving formal investigations by FSCL increased by 10% to 359.
FSCL Financial Ombudsman Susan Taylor has said
“We expect this high level of complaints to persist as long as economic conditions remain difficult. The new rules increasing our financial loss compensation to $500,000 (previously $350,000), which took effect in July, could also lead to a further rise.”
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Quotemonster has added a KiwiSaver comparison and research service
Russell Hutchinson writes about issues insuring those with complex incomes
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'How the latest Dispute Resolution Scheme rules affect you' 14 August
MAS Annual General Meeting 2024 is on 21 August
Asteron Life offers four $5,000 grants to advisers who attended MDRT annual meeting
ANZ has announced that Nagaja Sanatkumar will join its board
ANZIIF has released an IT outage preparedness video
Gallagher Insurance support the Poipoia te Kākano Programme
Westpac announce their first third party Open Banking integration is live
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
Commerce Commission’s preliminary view on Payments NZ developing framework relating to provision of API; ASIC issue Cost recovery Implementation Statement; XRB publish interim report on Climate-Related Disclosure Framework evaluation; maximum compensation for complaints to rise; APA & ASIC publish info to help insurers prepare for the start of the Financial Accountability Regime; Privacy Commissioner publishes Statement of Performance Expectations and launches free online toolkit.
1 Jul 2024 - The Commerce Commission has reached a preliminary view that it should grant conditional authorisation to Payments NZ Limited to work with current and future API providers (i.e., banks) and third parties (e.g., fintechs) to develop and apply a partnering framework relating to the provision of API services by API providers to third parties. https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/media-releases/2024/commerce-commission-issues-draft-determination-on-payments-new-zealands-application-to-further-develop-its-open-banking-framework
8 Jul 2024 - ASIC issued its 2023-24 Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS). The CRIS outlines estimated regulatory costs and levies for each industry subsector to help entities plan and budget for levies and fees to be charged. https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/news-items/asic-releases-estimated-industry-funding-levies-for-2023-24/
11 Jul 2024 - The External Reporting Board publish an interim report on New Zealand Climate-Related Disclosure Framework evaluation. https://www.xrb.govt.nz/news/insights/aotearoa-new-zealand-climate-related-disclosure-framework-evaluation-interim-report-published/
11 Jul 2024 - Financial limits for complaints are being raised across the four approved financial dispute resolution schemes from 18 July 2024. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme, the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme, Financial Services Complaints – a Financial Ombudsman Service, and the Financial Dispute Resolution Service will have the same thresholds for complaint values and compensation, providing consistency for consumers across the sector. The key change is raising the maximum compensation to $500,000 +GST. https://fdrs.org.nz/resources/news/increased-compensation-limits-for-financial-disputes/
11 Jul 2024 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have published new information to help insurers and superannuation trustees prepare for the commencement of the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR). The FAR already applies to the banking industry and takes effect for the insurance and superannuation industries from 15 March 2025.
New information includes:
an amendment to the Regulator rules, which prescribes key functions information for inclusion in the FAR register of accountable persons for insurance and superannuation industries; see Financial Accountability Regime Regulator Rules Amendment Instrument No. 1 of 2024 and Financial Accountability Regime Act (Information for register) Regulator Rules 2024; and
a joint ASIC and APRA letter summarising key issues raised during consultation and their response, including the concept and application of key functions.
12 Jul 2024 - The office of the Privacy Commissioner has published their Statement of Performance Expectations 2024-2025. https://privacy.org.nz/publications/corporate-reports/statement-of-performance-expectations-2024-2025/
15 Jul 2024 - The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has launched a free online toolkit today to help businesses and organisations do privacy well. https://privacy.org.nz/publications/statements-media-releases/new-privacy-toolkit-set-to-support-business-and-organisations/
Government has repealed parts of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act
The government has repealed some parts of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA). Commerce Minister Andrew Bayly said of the affordability regulations introduced to the CCCFA in December 2021
“These regulations created unnecessary compliance costs and are an excessive barrier for lending. And worse, the regulations failed to protect the most vulnerable Kiwis – the very people they were intended to safeguard”
The time to process loans increased substantially, with Minister Bayly saying some lenders had told him small loans that used to take two hours to process took up to eight hours to process under the new regulations.
Additional reforms to the act include:
Improving dispute resolution to better protect consumers.
Exempting councils from the CCCFA so they are able to offer low-risk financial products to help households improve their energy efficiency by installing heat pumps and insulation.
Removing duplicate reporting requirements.
We hope that the relaxation on small loans flows through to banks being able to offer more flexibility to people with what amounts to a timing issue, rather than a lending issue. But we know that lending rules are notoriously difficult to manage. This is one of the reasons why aspects of the wider programme are of more interest.
Minter Ellison puts the changes into context within a program of changes to financial law and regulation which the government has planned.
Of particular interest are the changes in supervisions structures with the responsibility for administering the CCCFA moving from the Commerce Commission to the Financial Markets Authority. Lending is a financial product, and we think the Financial Markets Authority, with conduct supervision responsibilities and, essentially, all the other financial products, is probably a good home for this law from an ongoing regulation perspective.
More daily news:
Jon-Paul Hale highlights issues with digital documents
The Ombudsmen FSCL and the IFSO Scheme are in merger talks
Empower Women breakfast at the National Strategy for Financial Capability Partners Conference
Andrew Dentice urges more discussion on the benefits of open banking
Pharmac outlines funding plans for continuous glucose monitors for type 1 diabetics
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
23 Apr 2024 - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand released its submission on the Commerce Commission’s draft report from its market study into personal banking services. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2024/04/rbnz-releases-submission-on-draft-commerce-commission-market-study
23 Apr 2024 - The Financial Markets Authority has published its guide for Managed Investment Scheme managers and their supervisors for effective liquidity risk management, following consultation. https://www.fma.govt.nz/news/all-releases/media-releases/importance-of-effective-liquidity-risk-management/
23 Apr 2024 - Commerce Minister Andrew Bayly is planning to align the rules of the four approved financial dispute resolution schemes - Banking Ombudsman, the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman, Financial Services Complaints Limited, and the Financial Dispute Resolution Service – and raise the maximum amount the schemes can award to $500,000. The government aims to have the regulations providing for the changes in place by July 18. https://www.goodreturns.co.nz/article/976523065/aligning-disputes-resolution-schemes.html
23 Apr 2024 - The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released a consultation on proposed enhancements to the content and presentation of its suite of quarterly insurance statistical publications. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-consults-on-enhancements-to-quarterly-insurance-publication-suite
Chubb Life increase their Lifetime Reward discount and enhance commission offering
Chubb Life have increased their current 10% Lifetime Reward discount to 15% for all new business issued from 16 April to 30 June 2024.
Chubb Life have increased their current 10% Lifetime Reward discount to 15% for all new business issued from 16 April to 30 June 2024. The discount is available on Life and Trauma covers on Chubb Life’s Assurance Extra and Assurance Extra Business policies for customers who have a BMI measurement of between 18.5 and 24.9 and who have been a non-smoker for at least 12 months. Clients can combine this offer with the current 2 months’ free and multi-benefit discount offers.
Chubb have updated their scenario videos to help you explain how different customers can make the most of the offers.
From 30 April, Chubb Life are increasing their pendulum commission offering for new business, providing an up-front component when you choose either the 15%, 20% or 30% renewal option. They will pay renewal commission from Month 2. Chubb Life have also increased their Disability Income upfront rate and pendulum options.
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nib Group's Brendan Mills talks about the challenges in migrating to the cloud
Steve Wright gives his views on statements of advice
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'When Clients Claim' 1 May
Jon-Paul Hale talks through the problem of digital document insecurity
The Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association of New Zealand (FAMNZ) opens up membership
Q&A with Akira Yamashita and Satoshi Shimasaki from Partners Life
We’ve had the pleasure of talking to Akira Yamashita, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Satoshi Shimasaki, Deputy Chief of Finance who were both integral to the sale of Partners Life to Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc.
Q&A with Akira Yamashita Partners Life Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Could you outline the path your career has taken?
I joined Dai-ichi Life over 25 years ago. I have worked in various companies and countries but I have always worked for the Dai-ichi Life group. My career started in the sales branch office where I was part of the sales promotion team for 3 years. This is where I learned the basics of insurance sales activity. For the next 5 years, I worked as an economist. I forecasted the upcoming economic conditions and researched and analysed certain economic topics. This gave me good experience and the skill set to understand macro-economic insights which is still useful for me when considering various strategies.
In the last 20 years, I’ve been engaged in overseas (from Japan) business. This started from New York for 3 years as corporate administrator, Mumbai (India) for 4 years as the head of financial planning & budget control, Sydney (Australia) for 4 years as manager of the Finance team to support the implementation of strategic initiatives and development of a sound business plan. I also spent time in the head office in Tokyo working on the preparation and implementation of further global governance structure development. In addition, I established an intermediate holding company to create strategic proposals for both the business and talent strategies.
Now I am here in Auckland as Deputy CEO of Partners Life, to bridge the various interactions/relationships between shareholder “Dai-ichi Life Holdings” and Partners Life.
What attracted you to the insurance industry?
I want to spend my working days feeling fulfilled from being engaged with helping people. There are many jobs that can provide this, but I believe more in the business that can provide support in a timely manner when people are struggling or need help. What I like about the Life Insurance industry is that people’s lives might move along with nothing to worry about, but life insurance comes into play when they suffer financially if the person responsible for the household income and expenses has fallen ill or died. Also, these days I’ve found that “health and wellbeing” initiatives are an attractive addition by industry players.
Tell us about your time at Partners Life so far.
It has been almost half a year since I joined Partners Life. I still feel fresh to this organisation and excited to catch up and try new things. The operating and management style of the company is very efficient and effective overall, and this could be worth sharing with our Dai-ichi group companies.
How would you describe the culture at Partners Life?
The decisions we make are always based on “Do the right thing”, which is one of our corporate values. People in Partners Life use their energy to help provide the appropriate outcome to our client, rather than just aiming for our company growth. There is no strong hierarchy but a flat open forum to discuss and decide things, and I see this as a strength of this organisation.
What is one thing you wish someone had told you when you were younger?
No one had told me how much our daily lives would be driven by technology, such as online transactions, and AI coming in to play. I would have been grateful if someone had told me to study science when I was considering my major in university.
Q&A with Satoshi Shimasaki Partners Life Deputy Chief of Finance
Could give us an overview of your career to date?
I’m currently working for the Post Merger Integration at Partners Life, as a liaison officer. Before joining Partners Life, I was the head of M&A at Dai-ichi Life Holdings, responsible for strategic planning and executing M&A in overseas business.
I started my career in international legal practice. After experiencing an internship program at Prudential Financial (US), where I learned the US life and annuity operation, I joined the Planning and M&A team at Dai-ichi HQ. As a core member of the transaction team, I helped achieve multiple deals. My role in the early days was legal/documentation and negotiation, then I gradually expanded my playing field to accounting, finance, and finally, entire project management. I was one of the three negotiation members of Dai-ichi’s iconic M&A in the US back in 2014, and after completing that I spent three years with the M&A team of the US subsidiary. I have a strong connection with the Australian subsidiary’s transaction team, with whom I accomplished two joint M&As in Australia recently. I graduated magna cum laude from Columbia Business School in 2017.
What attracted you to the insurance industry?
While I was at university, the insurance industry seemed to be complicated and this stimulated my passion.
Tell us about your time at Partners Life so far.
Since day one, I’ve been enjoying working with my amazing colleagues. Personally, I love being in Takapuna, which is far different from where I came from (Tokyo & New York).
How would you describe the culture at Partners Life?
Always restless and generous by nature, as shown in the company values. It is like a Cessna plane with a jumbo jet engine.
What is one thing you wish someone had told you when you were younger?
Make a side trip on the way. Don’t rush. Detours sometimes make your life better.
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Complaints to FSCL rose by 25% to 1,349 in the year to 30 June 2023
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Microinsurance continues to grow globally
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The role of FAPs in building consumer confidence in the professional advice sector
On Wednesday I had the pleasure of listening to industry professionals discussing ‘The role of FAPs in building consumer confidence in the professional advice sector’, a lunchtime event sponsored by Chatswood Consulting, at the Financial Services Council's Building Consumer Confidence Conference.
Chatswood Consulting would like to extend our thanks to the speakers on the panel for their time and sharing their insights with us:
• Michael Hewes - Director of Deposit taking, Insurance & Advice, FMA
• Susan Taylor - CEO, FSCL
• Hannah McQueen - Author & Founding Director, AdviceFirst / Enable.me
• Ryan Edwards - Managing Director, The Adviser Platform
• Trecia Brown - Head of Customer Outcomes, New Zealand Financial Services Group
Michael spoke about how we have 1407 licenced FAP’s, and how the FMA has around 40 new licences on the go at any time. He mentioned that as advisers you might be helping vulnerable people and to try and make communications as easily understandable as possible, everything from making sure the font size is large enough to be easily read to using simple language.
Trecia spoke about how we need to use systems and processes to keep customer data safe, keep our language positive, build a risk aware culture and how we can manage complaints and use them to improve service. Trecia also spoke about the need to work together as an industry to promote the value of advice.
Ryan spoke about a shift in language from compliance to governance. This helps to change our view from one of merely achieving a base level of compliance to a wider vision of compliance assurance, and leadership by using customer focused principles to guide development of a culture – more like ‘how we do things here’ rather than meeting an externally imposed requirement.
Susan spoke about how we should be talking with customers about our complaints processes and how we have an independent, external complaints process before there’s ever a cause for complaint, so we can build confidence that should anything go wrong customers know what to do about it and are confident it will be handled fairly and well. Susan recommends that advisers put themselves in the shoes of the reader of their communications – would they understand it? Will it have jargon in it they may not understand? Susan mentioned the possibility of using alternative communication forms, such as videos, to help get your message across clearly.
Hannah spoke about how when you have a product you’re proud of you have to be able to articulate it to customers in a way they can understand. It was interesting to hear her expand by talking about ways to track how well the client is on track: are they achieving what they set out to achieve in the plan? Keeping these in view, checking in, and seeing how to course correct to achieve them is a good guide to ensuring they stay customer focused.
More daily news:
Official Cash Rate remains unchanged at 5.5%
All Covid-19 requirements, including 7-days mandatory isolation, removed
Changes to IFSO terms mean more consumers will be able to access free dispute resolution
Effective 1 September 2023, changes to the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO Scheme) and its terms of reference (TOR) and constitution will mean more consumers will be able to access IFSO services.
Once the changes take place, IFSO will be able to investigate insurance claims complaints and financial services’ products complaints up to $350,000+GST, or $2,625+GST per week for regular payments. This is an increase from current limits of $200,000+GST and $1,500+GST respectively.
Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Karen Stevens said
“Previously, anyone with a claim over the limit of $200,000 would have had to pay for legal representation to take their case to court.
Court proceedings are not cheap and they’re certainly not free – like the IFSO Scheme process. The changes bring us into line with some other dispute resolution schemes in the financial sector, and will mean a number of extra cases are now eligible for us to look at.”
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Justine Gilliland appointed to Unimed's board
Chubb Life release claims statistics for 2022: 93% of all claims received were paid
Katrina Shanks writes about side hustles to boost income during a cost of living crisis
Kate Dron believes there will still be more mergers and acquisitions in NZ insurance space
Financial Advice NZ webinar 'Navigating the world of digital currencies with confidence' 16 August
Linley Wood appointed as an Independent Director on the Chubb Life NZ Board
Official unemployment rose to 3.6% in the June quarter
Hospital ED shuts doors due to ‘doctor shortages’
Calls for bowel cancer screening age to be lowered
Government has made some progress on reducing health waitlist times
Fidelity life appoints Giselle Baker as Head of Data and Analytics
Fidelity Life has appointed Giselle Baker as Head of Data and Analytics. Chief Financial Officer Simon Pennington says
“Giselle’s experience in leading and developing advanced analytics and reporting for some of the world’s biggest consulting and financial services entities will be invaluable as our new data platform nears completion. Under Giselle’s leadership, our Data and Analytics team will deliver improved insights for the entire business and ultimately help us fulfil our purpose to give New Zealanders certainty to enjoy a more rewarding life.”
Giselle has been working overseas for the last 20 years, most recently as Director, Data and Analytics at FTI Consulting, and Senior Vice President, Global Management Information (MI) and Data Analytics at Citigroup.
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Partners Life introduces pricing changes
Partners Life introduce series of short guides for FAPs to manage their licencing obligations
Fidelity Life launch Insurance 101 toolkit
Chubb Life introduce Assurance Extra Business product and introduce 10% lifetime discount
AIA is calling on advisers to take part in the 2023 New Zealand Adviser Wellbeing Research
Katrina Shanks writes about how businesses can pivot in face of consumer confidence crisis
Ian Clancy talks of how NZ has an underinsurance problem
Southern Cross placed ninth on Kantar’s Corporate Reputation Index 2023
CERT NZ reports 66% increase in direct financial loss from cybercrime compared to Q4 2022
Report finds more seniors in New Zealand are expecting to delay retirement due to the cost of living
Financial Advice NZ’s Out Of The Box seminars tickets offered at a $40 discount until 30 June