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.
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
RBNZ’s Assistant Governor/General Manager Strategy, Engagement and Sustainability is leaving; CoFR releases a joint Issues Paper on Access to Basic Transaction Accounts; FIU release The CASH Report for March; Banks update code of practice to better protect consumers from scams; FMA release latest podcast.
17 Apr 2025 - RBNZ’s Assistant Governor/General Manager Strategy, Engagement and Sustainability Simone Robbers will be leaving at the end of May 2025 after six years in the role. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/04/ag-gm-strategy-engagement-and-sustainability-leaving-rbnz
23 Apr 2025 - CoFR has released a joint Issues Paper on Access to Basic Transaction Accounts. CoFR is seeking feedback on the proposed introduction of basic transaction accounts to better support customer groups that are currently excluded. The consultation will remain open for eight weeks and will close on 18 June 2025. https://www.cofr.govt.nz/news-and-publications/cofr-seeking-feedback-on-access-to-basic-transaction-accounts.html
23 Apr 2025 - NZ Police Financial Intelligence Unit release “The CASH Report” for March 2025. https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/fiu-monthly-report-mar2025.pdf
23 Apr 2025 - Banks are updating their Code of Banking Practice with five new commitments to better protect customers from scams. The five commitments introduced to the New Zealand Banking Associate Code of Banking Practice include:
a Confirmation of Payee service for customers to check that the name of the person they are paying matches the account number, which has already commenced roll-out
pre-transaction warnings to consumers based on the payment purpose
identification of and response to high-risk transactions or unusual account transaction activity, and the ability to block or delay transactions in some cases
providing a 24/7 reporting channel for customers who think they’ve been scammed, and responding to protect accounts
sharing scammer account information with other banks to help prevent criminal activity, and freezing funds where appropriate
The updated Code comes into force on 30 November 2025.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/better-compensation-scam-victims
23 Apr 2025 - The FMA release ‘5 mins with the FMA’ podcast #12: Access to Financial Advice Review. https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/podcast/5-mins-with-the-fma-podcast-12-access-to-financial-advice-review/
Proposed changes to Health and Safety Laws
We take a look at the proposed changes to Health and Safety laws, whereby the government wants to reduce compliance costs and provide greater certainty for businesses.
You may have seen the proposed changes to Health and Safety laws, whereby the government wants to reduce compliance costs and provide greater certainty for businesses. Bell Gully have a good summation of the proposed reforms here, but basically the Government is endeavouring to reduce the compliance burden, clarify health and safety duties (including limiting obligations for small, low-risk businesses) and clarify the distinction between governance and operational health and safety responsibilities.
There are many opposing points of view on the changes. Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff has said
"It's disappointing to see the minister has ignored the widespread consensus on what New Zealand needs to do to improve its poor track record and instead has chosen to carve out small businesses from good health and safety practices.
Exempting small businesses from best practice health and safety makes no sense when we know that small business are riskier and need more support."
Institute of Directors general manager Guy Beatson said
"Clarifying that boards are accountable for risk management and safety culture - not hands-on management - will mean directors can better focus on their core governance role without inadvertently overstepping."
Mike Cosman, chair of the Institute of Safety Management said
"The reforms are focused instead on costs to businesses of prevention and not the much greater costs of harm.
This seems to be looking through the wrong end of the telescope to us because the cost of our poor health and safety record is north of $4.9 billion per year to say nothing of the impact on workers and their families."
Russell Hutchinson has taken a look at the proposed regulations and put in his two cents.
As a country we have a not-terrible, but not-so-good track record on health and safety. One measure is fatal accidents, here I have selected countries we often use in comparisons:
Clearly, we are not as bad as, say, the United States. If we delved into that we would see significant variation on a state-by-state basis – but let’s not worry about that for now. Compared to Australia, for roughly every three people who die in a workplace accident there, four will die here. Not so good. What’s surprising is how well the UK performs – better than France and much of the EU, and better than Japan, places I normally consider to be better organised and more prescriptive in terms of employee protections. Not so! I like it when we find good data which challenges my pre-existing view. It’s a reward for paying attention to the data.
Are the proposed changes to governance liability right or wrong? One argument could be that by reducing liability on directors the workplace will become less safe. Another view is that by ensuring we place responsibility on the people who are closest to the problem we will better target the point at which better decisions can be made. Probably we will not know which until we have seen this operate for some time. Progress always seems to be so slow. Incentives also count – and the role of ACC, which has many benefits to our economy, also has some negative effects, somewhat masking the price signal in this case. I wonder if that will also get talked about.
More news:
Russell Hutchinson explains Non-Pharmac medicines coverage
AIA introducing a new excess option to AIA Private Health
AIA have updated Rules to Reinstate Policies
FSC Workplace Savings Half-Yearly Function 2025 is on 21 May
Financial Advice NZ are holding a 'Community of Practice: Central District' on 29 April
How to reduce chronic inflammation in your body
Eating well and getting regular exercise are most effective longevity tactics
Report finds deposit insurance scheme could see deposit interest rates fall significantly
Commerce Commission puts banks’ clawbacks, conversions and disincentives under scrutiny
Quality Product Research: Research Advisory Board – Northern
Last month we held our first Research Advisory Board meeting of the year and got lots of valuable feedback on items ranging from ratings for rural key person to proposed rating of disclosure.
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 research finds more adults are staying on top of essential health screenings
Recent nib research has found that more adults are staying on top of essential health screenings, but costs remain a barrier.
Recent nib research has found that more adults are staying on top of essential health screenings, but costs remain a barrier. The research was carried out in February 2025 and surveyed 1,010 Kiwi, building on the last survey conducted in December 2023. Some of the key findings include:
An increasing number of adults are keeping up with necessary health screenings - up to date with eye checks (45% up from 43%), dental check-ups (36% up from 35%), and heart health screenings (31% up from 28%).
30% believe their health is better than their peers, up from 25% in 2023.
Financial concerns are increasingly preventing Kiwi adults from accessing health checks, with 36% citing cost as a barrier (up from 29%).
80% of those with health insurance are committed to health screening checks (vs 72% overall).
More parents feel clear about which screening checks their children need (72% up from 58% in 2023).
More parents believe an annual health check is essential for their children (84% up from 75% in 2023).
More children are staying up to date with common screening tests - hearing checks (54% up from 48%), dental check-ups (66% up from 55%), eye checks (57% up from 50%) and general health exams (59% up from 57%).
Rob Hennin, Chief Executive Officer at nib New Zealand, said
“Proactive health screenings can be lifesaving and it’s really encouraging to see that Kiwi are taking the reins when it comes to their wellbeing. It’s clear to see that accessibility and cost issues continue to be barriers.”
More news:
Jason Gunn announced as new AIA Vitality Ambassador
Gallagher introduce new fundraising initiative, Gallagher Club Kickback
Partners Life go live with “no signature required” for majority of policy administration processes
mySolutions roadshows run across May in Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland
mySolutions webinar 'Exclusive Small Business Group Health' is on 23 April
Financial Advice NZ are holding an Ethics Workshop on 8 May
TAP webinar 'Ready to see TAP in action?' 8 May
Westpac launches a pilot for a basic transactional bank account
Legal and regulatory update for the life and health insurance sector
RBNZ publish Paul Conway speech; APRA release Life Insurance Claims and Disputes Statistics publication; RBNZ Five Year Funding Agreement published; ASIC to launch a new digital portal for licensing; The Takeovers Panel publish Regulatory Alignment and Deal Protection Devices.
15 Apr 2025 - RBNZ publish Chief Economist Paul Conway speech 'Forecasting: (conditionally) charting the path forward'. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/04/forecasting-conditionally-charting-the-path-forward
15 Apr 2025 - APRA has released its Life Insurance Claims and Disputes Statistics publication, covering a rolling 12-month period from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-and-asic-publish-latest-data-on-life-insurance-claims-and-disputes-10
16 Apr 2025 - The Minister of Finance has published the RBNZ Five Year Funding Agreement (FYFA). The FYFA sets the RBNZ’s core operating expenditure from 1 July 2025 through to 31 June 2030. The FYFA has been set at $750m, with some elements of RBNZ’s spending excluded from the agreement. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/2025/04/rbnz-five-year-funding-agreement
16 Apr 2025 - ASIC is launching a new digital portal for licensing on 5 May 2025 to apply for, vary and cancel an Australian financial services (AFS) licence. https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/news-items/asic-to-launch-new-portal-for-australian-financial-services-licensees/
16 Apr 2025 - The Takeovers Panel publish Regulatory Alignment and Deal Protection Devices, recommendations that have been made to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. https://www.takeovers.govt.nz/assets/LawReform/Recommendations/Revised-Recommendations-to-Minister-March-2025.pdf
Naomi Ballantyne honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award
Naomi Ballantyne, chair of The Adviser Platform, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Financial Advice New Zealand Conference.
Naomi Ballantyne, chair of The Adviser Platform (TAP), was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Financial Advice New Zealand (FANZ) Conference.
“Her commitment to making financial advice accessible to more New Zealanders is evident in her continued efforts towards driving the importance of advice and innovation…Her tireless advocacy for the importance of financial advice is sure to inspire the new generation of advisers, leaders and entrepreneurs to walk in the path she has carved.”
Naomi’s career in the life insurance industry spans more than 40 years and includes founding two insurance companies, advocating for making financial advice more accessible for all New Zealanders, and spearheading initiatives aimed at supporting advisers through technology-driven solutions.
At TAP, Naomi has worked on embedding fintech solutions to streamline compliance and administrative processes, freeing up members to have more time to focus on clients; shares her invaluable expertise through TAP’s Insider Insights series; leads initiatives designed to empower and inspire female advisers; and is a regular presence at TAP events and conferences.
Ballantyne will lead TAPs inaugural Women in Advice event being held in July in Auckland, a full day event to empower, connect, and inspire female advisers and staff within the TAP community.
More news:
Swiss Re to exit Australia life market, Hannover Life Re to take over portfolio
Medicines Amendment Bill passes first reading
WellSouth encourages NZers to include Advanced Care Plans in their personal planning portfolios
Website and research upgrades: what you need to know – website version v4.6.8 / QPR v16.5 and v16.6
We’ve released two database updates over the past two weeks in response to recent market changes, here are the changes we’ve recently made on Quotemonster.
We’ve released two database updates over the past two weeks in response to recent market changes, here are the changes we’ve recently made on Quotemonster:
Researchmonster updates:
- Pricing and research available for Rural Key Person
Rural Key Person is available in our Advicemonster subscription, and the companies currently included in this comparison are:
- AIA Rural Continuity
- Asteron Life Farmers Disability
- Chubb Life Monthly Disability: Revenue Replacement (For Farmers)
- Fidelity Life Rural Key Person
- Partners Life Loss of Revenue (For Farmers)
- Pricing and research available for nib Ultimate Life & Living
nib’s Ultimate Life & Living range launched on 2 April 2025 and offers cover for Life, Trauma, TPD, Income Protection and Mortgage Protection benefits. We also include pricing and research for their Early Cancer and Serious Condition Financial Support options, simply select these in your Product and Provider Settings.
- Pricing and research available for Chubb Life Moderate Trauma
Chubb Life’s Moderate Trauma Cover launched on 10 April 2025, it’s an affordable alternative to Trauma Cover and requires a higher level of severity to be met on eleven of the more common conditions to be eligible to claim. To include this product in your price and research comparisons, simply ensure they are selected in your Product and Provider Settings.
Research changes in response to Chubb Life’s trauma product enhancements are reflected in Quotemonster and we are working to update the relevant policy wording to align also.
- Product changes for Partners Life
The Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Benefit on monthly disability covers became optional on 15 March 2025.
Research changes in response to Partners Life’s trauma product enhancements are reflected in Quotemonster and we are working to update the relevant policy wording to align also.
- Pricing and research available for Booster SmartCover
Booster now offers cover for Life, TPD, and Trauma package.
- Updated wording for AIA Critical Conditions and Progressive Care
AIA enhanced their AIA Living trauma products where the three-month stand down will start from the date of receipt of application by AIA instead of the risk commencement date.
Other noteworthy updates:
- Recent rate changes
- Southern Cross Wellbeing 1 & 2 effective 1 March 2025
- nib Ultimate Health and Ultimate Health Max effective 1 April 2025
- Fidelity Life effective 1 April 2025
- Chubb Life specific injury effective 10 April 2025
- Partners Life private medical effective 22 April 2025
- Updated research infographics
The following infographics have also been updated:
- Personal Product Rating Map
- Business Product Rating Map
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 – Monday, 28 April 2025 2:00 pm-3:00 pm
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 April 2025 9:30 am-10:30 am
In this session, we will demonstrate how to use our needs analysis and statement of advice (SOA) tools.
Business Risk Research and SOAs with Quotemonster – Tuesday, 29 April 2025 11:30 am-12:15 pm
In this session, we will demonstrate how to use our business risk pricing, research, and SOA functionality.
Introduction to Kiwimonster - Wednesday, 30 April 2025 9:30 am-10:00 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!
Product changes at Chubb Life
Chubb Life introduce a Moderate Trauma Cover option, make enhancements to Assurance Extra Trauma Covers and Assurance Extra Business Life, Trauma, Complete Disablement and Monthly Disability Covers and change underlying premium rates.
Chubb Life have introduced a Moderate Trauma Cover option under Assurance Extra. Offering coverage for the same critical illness conditions, it is a more affordable alternative to Trauma Cover. Moderate Trauma Cover requires a higher level of severity to be met on 11 of the more common conditions to be eligible to claim. Customers have the option to take Moderate Trauma on its own or mix and match their cover level across both Trauma and Moderate Trauma Covers. They’ll also have the option to take out Continuous Trauma on both covers.
Chubb have also made enhancements to Assurance Extra Trauma Covers and Assurance Extra Business Life, Trauma, Complete Disablement and Monthly Disability Covers. Assurance Extra Trauma Covers have added a Newborn Children’s Benefit, Complimentary Children's Benefit conversion enhancement and added a feature allowing policyholders to convert Trauma Cover to Moderate Trauma Cover. Assurance Extra Business policies have had to Age 65 and to Age 70 level premium review periods added and the payment term options have been extended to include a two-year payment term for Replacement Labour.
Chubb Life has made changes to the underlying premium rates on their Specific Injury Cover under Assurance Extra, Assurance Extra Business, Business Assurance and Agribusiness Extra. The new underlying rates come into effect on 8 May 2025 and will see the average Specific Injury premium increase by $3.10 per month depending on gender, occupation and cover level.
They have also updated their non-medical codes and associated limits – reducing the number of medical code categories and removing several mandatory testing requirements, and making some improvements to limits.
Chubb Life have also extended their 15% Lifetime Reward and 2 months’ free cover for new policies or cover increases under an existing eligible policy until 31 March 2026.
More news:
Rob Hennin to step down as nib CEO
Steve Wright writes of how advisers need a mindset change away
Naomi Ballantyne to lead TAP's inaugural Women in Advice event
Fidelity Life offers drought-affected customers premium relief
Fidelity Life has announced they will offer drought-affected Northland, Waikato, King Country, Horizons (Manawatū-Wanganui) and Marlborough-Tasman customers premium relief.
Fidelity Life has announced they will offer drought-affected Northland, Waikato, King Country, Horizons (Manawatū-Wanganui) and Marlborough-Tasman customers premium relief. Fidelity Life customers who are facing financial hardship as a direct result of the drought in these regions who are eligible can apply to have their premiums temporarily waived for up to 3-months, with the potential to extend for up to a further 3-months, without affecting their insurance protection.
Fidelity Life’s Chief Commercial Officer Bronwyn Kirwan said
“We recognise how tough it’s been for these regions as the dry weather continues and we want to show our support in a meaningful way. Our premium relief offer is a way we’re trying to help ease the burden and be there for our customers when they need us most.”
More news:
Collaboration between Retirement Commission and FANZ announced
The FMA to introduce a new newsletter for Financial Advice Providers
mySolutions webinar 'Keeping it as simple as 1..2..3' is on 16 April
Haven announce partnership with Whānau Āwhina Plunket
Dr John Mayhew has died
We were saddened to hear that Dr John Mayhew, known to many as ‘Doc’, has passed away. Our deepest sympathies are with his family during this difficult time.
We were saddened to hear that Dr John Mayhew, known to many as ‘Doc’, has passed away. Our deepest sympathies are with his family during this difficult time.
Throughout his career, Dr Mayhew was involved in numerous national and international sports events, but his most recognised were being All Black team medic for almost two decades and club doctor at the Warriors for 14 seasons. He played a crucial role in advancing the field of sports medicine in New Zealand, contributing to research, education, and the overall development of medical practices tailored for athletes. In 2016 he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services in sports medicine.
Dr Mayhew spent 21 years at AIA NZ & Sovereign and was most recently the resident medical expert at AIA in his role of Chief Medical Officer. A message from AIA said,
“Doc was always ready to share his knowledge with our people, from answering complex medical questions, providing advice on claims, helping to decipher doctor’s handwriting, or just taking the time to talk all things rugby & the Warriors.”
A message from the FSC said,
“Dr. Mayhew will be remembered by the FSC team for his balanced perspective and insight, and his commitment to prioritising positive outcomes and the wellbeing of patients.”
Russell Hutchinson remembers him warmly as being part of the team at Birkenhead Family and Sports Medicine before he left to focus on sports medicine and the insurance industry.