nib has published the findings from its State of the Nation Parenting Survey. The survey looked into the concerns of parents in 2020. Behavioural issues was identified as the top health related concern. This concern was raised by 34% of all participants. While parents with young children reported that their biggest concern was children experiencing extensive episodes of irritability, anger and short-temperedness. Nathan Wallis, nib parenting expert, commented saying that the shift during lockdown added to an already emotional stage for toddlers. When discussing lockdown experiences, participants noted that prolonged negative behaviour were common occurrences.

“Leading health insurer, nib New Zealand, has released the findings from its second annual nib State of the Nation Parenting Survey, shedding light on the concerns that have been top of mind for Kiwi parents during a year unlike any other.

 

Behavioural issues are the number one health concern Kiwi parents have for their children, cited by more than a third (34%) of respondents, up 13% from 2019. Last year’s biggest health-related concern, sleep, still features prominently, as do stress levels and diet and exercise.

 

Taking a closer look at families’ lockdown experience, the number of respondents reporting sustained episodes of negative behaviour from their children (lasting two weeks or longer) grew significantly during the nationwide lockdown period. Concerningly, this increase has been largely sustained since lockdown ended.

 

Parents of younger children reported prolonged episodes of irritability, anger and short-temperedness as their biggest concern, while among parents of high schoolers, the sharpest increase came in levels of concern around changes to children’s motivation.

 

nib parenting expert, Nathan Wallis says, “Lockdown saw most families dealing with added stress as they adapted to new and novel experiences. Toddlers may in many ways have felt this most acutely as they are already in a very emotional stage of development - it’s called “Terrible Twos” for a reason. Toddlers are also just beginning to learn how to manage their emotions, so it’s mum and dad who have to do most of it for them. This was understandably compounded by lockdown, so many parents of toddlers had it quite hard.””

The study also found that parents struggled. Participants reported that their motivation, energy levels, and performance at work decreased during lockdown while feeling overwhelmed increased. Parents reported that their biggest source of stress was financial uncertainty which impacted 39% of participants. The study found that only 8% of participants didn’t feel any stress.  When discussing the future, 70% of participants reported that they felt positive and 67% believed that lockdown helped to solidify their family unit.

“The findings also clearly demonstrate the toll 2020 has taken on parents themselves. Lockdown saw sharp increases in the number of respondents suffering from decreased motivation, decreased energy levels, a sense of feeling overwhelmed, and declining performance at work. Any subsequent reduction since lockdown ended has been limited to just one or two percentage points.

 

The biggest source of stress reported by parents this year was financial uncertainty, impacting 39% of respondents – followed closely by the impact of COVID-19 on the world, general job-related stress and the economy. Fewer than one in 10 respondents (8%) reported not feeling any particular level of stress over this period.

 

For the 42% of respondents who saw their financial situation worsen due to COVID-19, the impact of this was reflected in general stress levels, and also felt in terms of quality of sleep and relationships.

 

Despite an undeniably tough year, it’s not all bad news. When asked about the outlook for their family, 70% of respondents reported feeling positive about the future and 67% believe lockdown strengthened their family unit, with many reporting a greater sense of happiness, and better communication as a result.”

Here is a list of the key findings: 

Parents’ biggest health-related concerns for their children:

·       Behavioural issues – 34% (up 13% from last year) 

·       Diet and exercise – 33% 

·       Sleep (lack of, too much, pattern changes) – 31% 

·       Stress levels – 31%

Biggest behavioural concerns, with episodes lasting two weeks or longer (as experienced pre-, during and post-lockdown): 

· Pre-school children – prolonged episodes of irritability, anger and short-temperedness. 

§  12% pre-lockdown, 28% during lockdown, 25% post-lockdown

· Primary and intermediate children – prolonged episodes of irritability, anger and short-temperedness. 

§  17% pre-lockdown, 32% during and 28% post-lockdown

·       High school children – prolonged episodes of decreased motivation. 

§  12% pre-lockdown, 37% during lockdown, 23% post-lockdown

 

Biggest personal impacts of lockdown – experienced by parents themselves: 

·       Decreased motivation – 13% pre lockdown, 29% during lockdown, 28% post-lockdown

·       Decreased energy – 14% pre-lockdown, 29% during lockdown, 30% post-lockdown

·       Feeling overwhelmed – 19% pre-lockdown, 33% during lockdown, 31% post-lockdown 

·       Declining performance at work – 5% pre-lockdown, 14% during lockdown, 13% post-lockdown

 

Parents’ biggest sources of personal stress: 

·       Financial uncertainty - 39% of respondents

·       The impact of COVID-19 on the world - 36%

·       General job-related stress - 34%

·       The economy - 34%

 

Impact of lockdown on family unit: 

·       Greatly strengthened family unit – 24%

·       Somewhat strengthened family unit – 43% 

·       Made no difference to family dynamics / relations – 28%

·       Somewhat weakened family unit – 4%

·       Greatly weakened family unit – 1%

 

Parents’ outlook for the future of their families: 

·       Very positive – 22%

·       Positive – 48% 

·       Neutral – 18%

·       Concerned – 2%

·       Extremely concerned – 2%

·       Don’t know / unsure – 8%

In other news: 

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Southern Cross has announced the launch of Cancer Cover Plus. The new cover is intended to give members broader chemotherapy options. Cancer Cover Plus will give members the option to upgrade to Chemotherapy 100, which has a benefit limit of $100,000 or Chemotherapy 300 which has a benefit limit of $300,000. Additionally, members will have the choice to access non-Pharmac cancer drugs.

“Southern Cross Health Insurance (SCHI) is launching competitive cancer care cover to give members more choice when it comes to chemotherapy, including increased access to cancer drugs not subsidised by Pharmac.

SCHI’s new Cancer Cover Plus has two optional upgrades - Chemotherapy 100 (benefit limit of $100,000) and Chemotherapy 300 (benefit limit of $300,000) – to help members during their cancer treatment journey. This covers the cost of Pharmac and non-Pharmac, Medsafe indicated chemotherapy drugs and their administration for the treatment of cancer.”

Nick Astwick has said that the new cover has been designed with the needs of members in mind. Cancer Cover Plus has been developed to complement the unlimited surgical and radiotherapy benefits. Astwick notes that the cover was created so more New Zealanders have faster and more access to affordable cancer treatment options.

“We understand that a cancer diagnosis, or the fear of one, can be scary for people so we wanted to give members peace of mind by providing them with more cancer cover options.

 

“We have developed them to complement the unlimited surgical and radiotherapy benefits we offer in most of our plans, and this will help to provide a comprehensive package to the vast majority of our members who have these products and also tell us their main concern is cancer care,” he said.

 

The Southern Cross Healthy Futures Report 2020 revealed that 79 per cent of New Zealanders are concerned about not having access to cancer treatment services and 59 per cent are worried about experiencing or developing an illness or disease.

 

“Not all cancer drugs are funded by Pharmac which makes them unaffordable for many people. We created this new cancer cover so Kiwis could have faster access and more treatment options to receive potentially lifesaving chemotherapy drugs if they need to,” said Astwick.” 

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At goodreturns: Adviser consultancy firms say full licensing provisions bring mandate for change

From Partners Life: Do your self-employed clients have the right income cover? 

Various insurers have confirmed that terminally ill customers who choose to undergo assisted dying will be eligible for claim payouts. Before the referendum AIA was the only insurer to state that it would pay if the referendum passed. Recently, Cigna has said that it would pay out if assisted dying became legal and customers decided to end their life. Jane Barron, Pinnacle Life spokeswoman, noted that customers with a terminal illness are entitled to claim if it has been stated by a doctor that they have 12 months or less to live; so those that would have an assisted death are already entitled to claim.

“AIA, New Zealand’s largest life insurance company, said it could still settle claims if ACT MP David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Act became law, but others were yet to settle on their stance at that time.

 

With preliminary figures from the Electoral Commission on Friday showing 65 per cent of New Zealanders voting in favour of the End of Life Choice Act, terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live will be able to request assisted dying.

 

One of the life insurance companies contacted by Stuff this week, Cigna, said it would pay out if assisted dying became legal and policy holders took up the option of dying with assistance. Cigna chief executive Gail Costa said the End of Life Choice Act stated that a person who died as a result of assisted dying would be taken to have died as if assisted dying had not been provided, or have died from the terminal illness from which they suffered.

 

“Provided a policy holder who takes up the option of dying with assistance meets all terms and conditions, they will be entitled to claim.”

 

And Pinnacle Life spokeswoman Jane Barron said people with a terminal illness were entitled to claim on their Pinnacle life insurance policy if their doctor said they had 12 months or less to live.

 

“Therefore, anyone who is in the situation where they are considering an assisted death is already in a position to be able to make a claim.”” Click here to read more

Chatswood thinks it likely that all the providers of the best life cover will include payment on this basis, as they already make advance payments for terminal illness, which is decided on terms that probably include more cases that those envisaged by the End of Life Choice Act, based on modelling shared in our recent Quarterly Life and Health Sector review. 

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In the most recent update to our medical premium comparison database (v83) we have the details of medical insurance premium rate changes by AIA and Southern Cross, both implemented on 1 November. Subscribers to the medical insurance premium comparison database will see that while AIA's increase is fairly uniform, the Southern Cross changes are more varied. One group of coverage has got cheaper, with a very small decrease. That was the rating for basic policies with no additional features (the most common example being specialists and tests). Even within this group for a few ages the premium rose, a few rates were very minor adjustments, but for a good slice of the most basic cover there was a small reduction in price. The reasons for the price change in this particular group will be explored in more detail in our Quarterly Life and Health Sector review, which we plan to have available to subscribers in the week before Christmas.  

Fidelity Life chairman Brian Blake noted that the Government missed an opportunity to reduce life insurance policy commissions through CoFI. In a market that is highly competitive, Blake says that a voluntary reduction in upfront commission is unlikely, although Blake said that Fidelity Life is confident that it has adopted changes that meet guidelines. Fidelity Life is set to launch an online adviser product accreditation programme and an adviser quality assurance programme. Similarly, it has developed good customer outcomes principles to ensure compliance.

“Fidelity Life chairman Brian Blake says the government has missed an opportunity to force down commissions on life insurance policies.

Blake says: "The failure to address high upfront commissions in the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Bill was a missed opportunity in our view.

"In a highly competitive market like ours, without regulatory intervention it’s unlikely anyone will significantly reduce upfront commission levels and risk losing market share," he says in the company's annual report

He says Fidelity Life is confident it has adopted conduct and culture changes which meet the requirements of the Financial Markets Authority/Reserve Bank of New Zealand conduct and culture review.

The company will shortly be introducing an online adviser product accreditation programme, an adviser quality assurance programme and it has also developed good customer outcomes principles to help ensure Fidelity continues to meet the needs of its customers.

Further enhancements to its adviser proposition will be announced from early 2021, including some digital initiatives resulting from its Project Watson IT development.”

Although total comprehensive income and commission payments decreased, Fidelity Life experienced premium revenue increased. Fidelity Life has noted that it is looking to comply with RBNZ’s guidelines on prioritising capital protection. To comply, Fidelity Life would not be paying dividends this year.

“In the year to June 30, total comprehensive income fell from $20.7 million to $17.9 million. However, profit rose from $11.6 million to $17.0 million.

Insurance premium revenue increased from $275.47 million to $269.49 million and claims paid out rose from $125.7 million to $139.7 million.

However, commission payments fell from $57.37 million to $53.42 million.

The company’s earnings per share increased just over 10% from $8.73 to $9.62.

Fidelity says because the Reserve Bank has clearly advised all insurers that protecting capital should take priority over paying dividends, no dividend would be paid this year.

The Reserve Bank "expects insurers to take steps to protect, if not build, their capital positions to ensure the industry remains in a strong position to support New Zealanders through Covid-19 and this time of economic uncertainty."” Click here to read more

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FSC: Generations Digital Conference now available on demand

Southern Cross: Southern Cross have moved from Level 1 EY Building to Level 1 Te Kupenga, 155 Fanshawe Street

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FMA: Consultation: Recognition of Australian adviser qualifications

Southern Cross: Hip replacements add to health insurer's bill

Fidelity Life has announced the appointment of Melissa Cantell as the new CEO. Cantell is set to come into the role on 25 January 2021. Cantell will leave her current role as Chief Operating Officer at IAG NZ. Cantell has held various managerial roles and has experience in different areas of business. Until Cantell’s appointment, Simon Pennington and Adrian Riminton will continue as acting CEOs.

“Melissa Cantell has been appointed chief executive at Fidelity Life, replacing Nadine Tereora who left in May 2020.

Cantell has strong executive leadership experience running successful commercial operations across a range of industries. She joins us from IAG NZ where she held the role of Chief Operating Officer, and prior to that was the Executive General Manager Transformation.

She has accumulated a broad range of experiences over her career, from mergers and acquisitions strategy and business transformations to senior general management roles with Fonterra and Coca-Cola Amatil. She loves building great customer, adviser and people experiences, especially in times of change, and is passionate about the role insurance plays in the New Zealand community.” Click here to read more

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FSC: Understanding conflicts of interest and managing gifts and incentives webinar

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The role of a CEO in driving diversity and change

Recently we reported that Income Protection prices are on the rise as a result of the Australian market and COVID-19. New Zealander insurers are now being urged to amend processes and premiums before regulators intervene and introduction mandatory guides. Partners Life begun the conversation when revealing that it has increased IP premiums by 12% and made policy changes. Kris Ballantyne, chief marketing officer, has said that Partners wishes to offer affordable policies that customers can maintain for as long as they need. AIA and Cigna have both noted that they aren’t looking to introduce significant premium increases.  

“It took insurer Partners Life to break the silence last month when it revealed a brave plan to start publishing the content of discussions with the Financial Markets Authority.

 

In doing so, it revealed it lifted its income protection premiums by 12 per cent in the past year, and had made policy changes, including not allowing self-employed people to any longer select an “agreed value” of income to be covered, instead limiting cover to actual loss of earnings.

 

Partner’s Life’s chief marketing officer Kris Ballantyne said the company was a “first mover” on income protection, driven by wanting to provide policies they [consumers] could afford to keep as long as they needed it.

 

It was a big challenge as there were a lot of agreed value policies covering self-employed people, and owners of small businesses.

 

Neither of its two big rivals, AIA nor Cigna, was expecting to make such large premium increases, though AIA had stopped selling new policies in which the income covered automatically increased by 5 per cent a year.

 

AIA chief product officer Len Elikhis said that over time, “the insured’s benefits would creep up and approach the insured’s income”.

Shane Burdack, senior underwriting consultant as Swiss Re Australia highlighted that customers with significant wealth had very little incentive to return to work when on claim, resulting in increased premium prices.

“Swiss Re senior underwriting consultant in Australia, Shane Burdack, said that in New Zealand insurers gave little thought to the net wealth of policyholders.

 

Yet people with significant wealth – sometimes through investments, sometimes because of payouts from other insurance policies – had a low incentive to go back to work, and stayed “on claim” for longer driving up costs.” Click here to read more

In other news

nib: nib takes place among top 100 most diverse firms worldwide

Southern Cross: Southern Cross is offering members a $149 voucher when they join Snap Fitness on a minimum 12-month term

Southern Cross: Southern Cross is offering members 10% off the retail price of a monthly LES MILLS On Demand subscription

Pinnacle Life has published tips on how to discuss life insurance with a significant other. Pinnacle Life begins by encouraging those that have never discussed money or life insurance with their partners to do so as it is an important part of planning for the future.

“Talking about life insurance means talking about death. No-one finds that easy. Pinnacle Life has some tips to get you started with talking about money and life insurance with your partner.

Not many of us have been taught how to have conversations about financial decisions. In fact, financial literacy hasn’t been on the school curriculum for very long at all – at best, it’s still optional for most schools today. There seems to be an underlying assumption that financial literacy is something you can learn yourself or pick up from your parents. But evidence suggests it’s not that easy; New Zealanders are notoriously underinsured and ‘under-saved’.

In a time when the news is filled with death rates, recessions and industry failures and many of us are facing reduced incomes, it’s a reminder that it’s never too soon or too late to start having conversations about our finances and insurance. We know that it's not easy to talk about money openly and honestly; talking about life insurance can be even harder because it means talking about what will happen if you die.”

Tips include:

1. Conducting independent research
2. Choosing the right time to have the discussion
3. Taking your time to plan and execute
4. Start by looking at the big picture before honing down to the details
5. Embrace the emotions that arise
6. Discuss your money objectively
7. Seek advice from a professional

Click here to see all the details

In other news

nib: new customers that sign up for Ultimate Health Max, Ultimate Health and Easy Health policies using nibAPPLY will have 2 months free until 31 January 2021

Southern Cross: 72% of all claims were paid out in 2020

82% of customer channels are now fully digitised and over 96% of claims now submitted digitally

The power of social media- Russell Hutchinson writes on goodreturns

Asteron Life has made changes to premiums effective 21 September 2020. The introduction of premium increases has been in response to claim costs being higher than expected. The premium increases will only impact customers on a stepped premium. Depending on customer segments, increases will be between 0% - 6%. Please refer to the table below. 

“These increases are in response to higher than expected claim costs observed in our most recent claims experience review. Based on this, we have adjusted our long-term claims outlook and updated premiums to ensure that our business will remain sustainable to support our customers both now and in the future. We perform regular reviews to keep any increases small, and as manageable as possible for customers.”

The new rates will not apply to quotes created before 21 September, but the quotes will be valid for only 30 days. The premium changes will affect existing customers after their next policy anniversary or after 21 October 2020.

“The new rates will apply for new customers from 21 September 2020 and will be reflected in policy documents. Quotes created before 21 September will be valid for 30 days.

The changes will apply for existing customers from their next policy anniversary on or after 21 October. Customers will not see any specific reference to the change in rates, but renewal notices will continue to mention that premiums can increase due to changes in market conditions.”  

The increases are higher, generally, for female lives than for male lives in trauma. They are also higher for both younger lives and older lives, across all product types, while the changes for lives at the main ages of acquisition (between about age 35 and 50) are more limited, probably constrained by competitive pressures. More details will be given in the forthcoming quarterly life and health report. 

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Southern Cross has reported a surplus of $32.4 million for the year ended 30 June 2020. This financial reporting comes after the $50 million return to members. $972 million was returned in claims in the last financial year, this equals to 85 cents in claims being returned for every dollar received in premiums.

“Southern Cross Health Society Group has today released its annual financial results, posting a surplus of $32.4 million for the year ended 30 June 2020.

The announcement follows Southern Cross Health Society’s pledge during the Level Four lockdown in April to return $50 million to its members.

In the last financial year, the Society returned $972 million in claims and received $1.138 billion in premiums.

For each dollar received in premiums, it returned 85 cents in claims to members, compared with an average of 62 cents in the dollar among other New Zealand health insurers.”

“The business paid out 72 per cent of all private health insurance claims, significantly more than its 62 per cent market share based on Health Funds Association of New Zealand data.

Nick Astwick said that Southern Cross was focused on members during the last financial year. This included pledging to return $50 million, setting up employees to effectively working from home and ensuring the business digitisation process is on track.

Chief Executive Nick Astwick said the Society’s focus during the last financial year was on taking care of its members: “We were with our members from the start of the pandemic, returning $50 million to them, and introducing a significant range of options for those in need of hardship relief.

“At the same time, our workforce was very quickly set up to work remotely, ensuring service levels were seamlessly maintained.”

Astwick said cost-saving digitisation of the business had continued at pace, with 82 per cent of customer channels now fully digitised, and more than 96 per cent of claims submitted digitally.” Click here to read more

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AIA: Depressed man wins $173,000 battle with insurer AIA - there will be more discussion of media claims coverage in the forthcoming quarterly life and health sector report.