The Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the first reading of the Contracts of Insurance Bill, saying the overhaul of the legislation is well overdue. “This Bill has been long awaited and I congratulate the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Andrew Bayly, for his support and commitment to modernise New Zealand’s insurance law and bring it in line with international best practice,” ICNZ chief executive Kris Faafoi said. “The current legislation is widely acknowledged to be outdated, unwieldy and not fit for purpose in today’s world. The new Bil ..read more

The Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kahua Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has endorsed findings that New Zealand needs to act decisively around natural hazards risks to ensure insurance is affordable and available in the future. The Reserve Bank yesterday released an excerpt on insurance in its upcoming Financial Stability Report which noted that insurers, central and local government, home buyers and lenders all need to improve their understanding of natural hazards so that future insurance affordability challenges can be better managed. “By taking proactive steps to improve our understanding of ..read more

The Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kahua Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has introduced more detailed reporting about complaints in a commitment by the insurance industry to provide greater transparency and openness to New Zealanders. ICNZ currently reports on the total number of complaints dealt with by the industry and referred to independent external dispute resolution services in its Annual Review. It has been working together with the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO) and Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) – a Financial Ombudsman Service  to refine the ..read more

Insurers have fully settled 91% of all private insurance claims from the Auckland Anniversary weekend and Cyclone Gabrielle weather events. The two events are separately the two largest insurance weather events in Aotearoa’s history.   Insurers have settled 106,891, of 117,414 claims valued at $3.75 billion. By value, insurers have so far paid out $3.06 billion (82%) for both events, with residential house claims at 92%, and both contents and motor at 94% fully settled. “Insurers have made good progress in getting into the 90% range and providing those affected with some certainty after t ..read more

The Board of Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) has appointed former Cabinet Minister Hon. Kris Faafoi to be its new Chief Executive from April 2024. ICNZ President and IAG New Zealand CEO, Amanda Whiting said Kris will take over from Chief Executive Tim Grafton after he steps down on 7 April. “I’m delighted we are able to appoint someone of Kris’ calibre who has a track record of demonstrated leadership together with extensive experience and understanding of the machinery of government and the financial sector,” Amanda Whiting said. “Kris Faafoi is well kno ..read more

Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) has appointed the Chief Executive of IAG New Zealand, Amanda Whiting, as its new President and Adam Heath, Chief Executive of Farmers Mutual Group, as its Vice-President. “I feel honoured to have the confidence of my fellow Board members to take up this leadership role for general insurers and look forward to working with Adam to ensure New Zealanders continue to enjoy the strong protection our sector provides,” Ms Whiting said. Ms Whiting replaces Toni Ferrier as President who has stepped down from the role as she has move ..read more

Insurers have fully settled 87% of all private insurance claims from the Auckland Anniversary weekend and Cyclone Gabrielle weather events.  The two events are separately the two largest insurance weather events in Aotearoa’s history.  Insurers have settled 99,798 of 115,353 claims valued at $3.6bn. “Really good progress has been made on settling claims.  Insurers are committed to finalising the remaining claims with their customers.  We know some homeowners are waiting to settle until more is known about their local council voluntary buyout offer.  Our message to home ..read more

The Chief Executive of The Insurance Council of New Zealand, Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ), Tim Grafton, will step down from the role next year. After almost 12 years of service to ICNZ, he has signalled his desire to explore new opportunities following the organisation’s AGM in April 2024.   ICNZ’s President Toni Ferrier said Tim has capably led the industry body through 96 major insured events in the New Zealand general insurance sector ranging in size from just over $1 million up to the current weather events that are on track toward $4 billion in insurance payments. His tenur ..read more

Act now to protect yourselves and your property as a band of weather brings high winds and heavy rains, and in some places snow, up Te Waipounamu/the South Island and into Te Ika-a-Māui/the North Island as we go into the weekend. As usual, Metservice is doing a great job of issuing warnings and updating those as this weather transits the motu. Many Councils, our emergency services and Civil Defence offices are also looking closely at what this weather means for communities and are issuing advice accordingly. People should also be alert to likely problems with travel as this weather passes. “I ..read more

Insurers have so far paid out $2.053 bn of a newly updated estimate of the cost of general insurance claims for the twin climate disasters of the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle of $3.5bn across 112,812 claims. “Good progress continues to be made on settling claims, especially when compared to prior large-scale disasters, said Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) Chief Executive, Tim Grafton. “But there is much more to be done and insurers will stand by customers until the last claim is settled.”  The estimated value of claims for ..read more