Latest news with #IAGNewZealand
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Insurance premium growth to finally abate if not fall, say Suncorp and IAG chief executives
Suncorp, which sells insurance via the Vero and AA Insurance brands, as well as banks, collected 8.3% more in home insurance premiums in the year to June, compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, IAG New Zealand, which sells insurance via the AMI, State, NZI, NAC, Lumley and Lantern brands, as well as banks, collected north of 10% more in home insurance premiums. The growth in both insurers' cases was driven more by them upping premiums than selling more policies. As for motor insurance, IAG's motor premium collection fell, while Suncorp's only inched up 0.5%. Both Higgins and IAG New Zealand chief executive Amanda Whiting suspected the cost-of-living crisis might have prompted people to cut back on the amount they drove. Higgins also wondered whether households reduced the number of cars they had. The chief executives of the two Australian-owned giants, which released their annual results this week, noted the story was quite different in the commercial insurance space. Indeed, commercial insurance premiums fell during the year – with Suncorp collecting 5.3% less in premiums. Higgins explained a number of new underwriters, including those part of the Lloyds of London network, entered the market after Cyclone Gabrielle and the floods. With the incumbents forced to raise premiums to cover higher reinsurance costs and recoup losses from the events, the new entrants seized the opportunity to undercut them. Higgins said there was a similar situation following the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes. The underwriters that didn't face the costs of those in the market during the disasters could come in and scoop up business by offering lower premiums. IAG New Zealand chief executive Amanda Whiting draws attention to the cyclic nature of commercial insurance. Photo / Supplied Whiting described the situation as being cyclic. Higgins said the value of the big incumbents was that they were in the market for the long haul. They had established networks and weren't going to exit the market after expensive events. He said businesses under pressure due to the tough economic environment were trying to save money by agreeing to pay larger excesses. He also noted Suncorp had taken a knock by government departments watering down their insurance cover to save money, but this exposed the Crown's balance sheet to greater risk. Despite the market being soft, a year of relatively good weather helped both insurers grow their profits substantially in the year to June. Suncorp reported a A$457 million ($501.6m) insurance trading result – a 95% increase from the previous year. IAG New Zealand reported an insurance profit of A$606m – a 33% rise from the previous year. Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald's Wellington Business Editor, based in the Parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
New Zealand's $64 Billion Spend On Natural Hazards Heavily Skewed To Recovery Over Resilience
Press Release – IAG New Zealand Amanda Whiting says: It is clear we need to do more to reduce natural hazard risk, especially when we know that there is a strong case for doing so. International research shows that a dollar invested in risk reduction can reduce spending on response and … Research commissioned by IAG New Zealand shows that the Government has spent at least $19 billion on responding to natural hazards since 2010, and a further $14 billion through its public insurance schemes. When the $31 billion spent by private insurers is included, the total cost of natural hazards since 2010 is $64 billion. Adjusted for inflation this equates to an average of $5.5 billion per year, of which the Government's share is about half. IAG New Zealand CEO Amanda Whiting says: 'This research highlights again the significant financial cost that natural hazards have on New Zealanders, and the urgent need to reduce their impacts. 'These costs represent a drag on our economy and work against the growth and financial strength required to support the needs and aspirations of New Zealanders.' The research also shows that 97% of the Government's expenditure was on responding to and recovering from natural disasters, with the response to the Canterbury earthquakes, Kaikoura earthquake and the North Island weather events of 2023 dominating spending. Only 3% was spent on risk reduction and resilience. The total amount spent, will in fact, be much higher. This is because this research does not include significant spending by local government, such as the $8.2 billion that the Christchurch City Council is projected to ultimately spend on recovery in response to the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes. It also does not include the wider social and economic costs which Deloitte suggests could account for at least 50% more cost [1]. Amanda Whiting adds: 'It is clear we need to do more to reduce natural hazard risk, especially when we know that there is a strong case for doing so. International research shows that a dollar invested in risk reduction can reduce spending on response and recovery by four dollars [2]. 'Reducing natural hazard risk is as much about improving the decisions we make as the money we spend to improve the safety and resilience of our homes, businesses and infrastructure. 'It is also clear from this research that New Zealand has an incomplete understanding of the costs of its natural hazards. Fixing this will enable better decisions to be made on when, where and how to reduce risk. This is becoming even more important as natural hazard events increase in frequency and severity. 'We need to prioritise improving how the actual costs of natural hazard events are recorded by central and local government, so that we know how much we are spending, on what and where. Alongside this, we must quickly move to understand the underlying trends, regularly model the expected financial impact of natural hazards, set relative benchmarks and closely monitor changes in risk over time. 'IAG continues to invest significantly in data and its application to improve decision making and is working with government and other partners to put this capability to use in improving how natural hazard risk is managed. This is a priority for us and must be a priority for New Zealand.' [2] Mechler, R. Reviewing estimates of the economic efficiency of disaster risk management: opportunities and limitations of using risk-based cost–benefit analysis. Nat Hazards 81, 2121–2147 (2016) About IAG: IAG New Zealand is the largest general insurer in the country, trading under the AMI, State, NZI, NAC, Lumley and Lantern brands, as well as providing the general insurance products sold by ASB, BNZ, Westpac and The Co-operative Bank. IAG New Zealand employs over 4,000 people, holds relationships with one in every two New Zealand households, and insures over NZ$1.07 trillion of commercial and domestic assets.
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
New Zealand's $64 Billion Spend On Natural Hazards Heavily Skewed To Recovery Over Resilience
Press Release – IAG New Zealand Amanda Whiting says: It is clear we need to do more to reduce natural hazard risk, especially when we know that there is a strong case for doing so. International research shows that a dollar invested in risk reduction can reduce spending on response and … Research commissioned by IAG New Zealand shows that the Government has spent at least $19 billion on responding to natural hazards since 2010, and a further $14 billion through its public insurance schemes. When the $31 billion spent by private insurers is included, the total cost of natural hazards since 2010 is $64 billion. Adjusted for inflation this equates to an average of $5.5 billion per year, of which the Government's share is about half. IAG New Zealand CEO Amanda Whiting says: 'This research highlights again the significant financial cost that natural hazards have on New Zealanders, and the urgent need to reduce their impacts. 'These costs represent a drag on our economy and work against the growth and financial strength required to support the needs and aspirations of New Zealanders.' The research also shows that 97% of the Government's expenditure was on responding to and recovering from natural disasters, with the response to the Canterbury earthquakes, Kaikoura earthquake and the North Island weather events of 2023 dominating spending. Only 3% was spent on risk reduction and resilience. The total amount spent, will in fact, be much higher. This is because this research does not include significant spending by local government, such as the $8.2 billion that the Christchurch City Council is projected to ultimately spend on recovery in response to the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes. It also does not include the wider social and economic costs which Deloitte suggests could account for at least 50% more cost [1]. Amanda Whiting adds: 'It is clear we need to do more to reduce natural hazard risk, especially when we know that there is a strong case for doing so. International research shows that a dollar invested in risk reduction can reduce spending on response and recovery by four dollars [2]. 'Reducing natural hazard risk is as much about improving the decisions we make as the money we spend to improve the safety and resilience of our homes, businesses and infrastructure. 'It is also clear from this research that New Zealand has an incomplete understanding of the costs of its natural hazards. Fixing this will enable better decisions to be made on when, where and how to reduce risk. This is becoming even more important as natural hazard events increase in frequency and severity. 'We need to prioritise improving how the actual costs of natural hazard events are recorded by central and local government, so that we know how much we are spending, on what and where. Alongside this, we must quickly move to understand the underlying trends, regularly model the expected financial impact of natural hazards, set relative benchmarks and closely monitor changes in risk over time. 'IAG continues to invest significantly in data and its application to improve decision making and is working with government and other partners to put this capability to use in improving how natural hazard risk is managed. This is a priority for us and must be a priority for New Zealand.' Research conducted by Sapere Research Group. [2] Mechler, R. Reviewing estimates of the economic efficiency of disaster risk management: opportunities and limitations of using risk-based cost–benefit analysis. Nat Hazards 81, 2121–2147 (2016) About IAG: IAG New Zealand is the largest general insurer in the country, trading under the AMI, State, NZI, NAC, Lumley and Lantern brands, as well as providing the general insurance products sold by ASB, BNZ, Westpac and The Co-operative Bank. IAG New Zealand employs over 4,000 people, holds relationships with one in every two New Zealand households, and insures over NZ$1.07 trillion of commercial and domestic assets.
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
New Zealand's $64 Billion Spend On Natural Hazards Heavily Skewed To Recovery Over Resilience
Research commissioned by IAG New Zealand shows that the Government has spent at least $19 billion on responding to natural hazards since 2010, and a further $14 billion through its public insurance schemes. When the $31 billion spent by private insurers is included, the total cost of natural hazards since 2010 is $64 billion. Adjusted for inflation this equates to an average of $5.5 billion per year, of which the Government's share is about half. IAG New Zealand CEO Amanda Whiting says: 'This research highlights again the significant financial cost that natural hazards have on New Zealanders, and the urgent need to reduce their impacts. 'These costs represent a drag on our economy and work against the growth and financial strength required to support the needs and aspirations of New Zealanders.' The research also shows that 97% of the Government's expenditure was on responding to and recovering from natural disasters, with the response to the Canterbury earthquakes, Kaikoura earthquake and the North Island weather events of 2023 dominating spending. Only 3% was spent on risk reduction and resilience. The total amount spent, will in fact, be much higher. This is because this research does not include significant spending by local government, such as the $8.2 billion that the Christchurch City Council is projected to ultimately spend on recovery in response to the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes. It also does not include the wider social and economic costs which Deloitte suggests could account for at least 50% more cost[1]. Amanda Whiting adds: 'It is clear we need to do more to reduce natural hazard risk, especially when we know that there is a strong case for doing so. International research shows that a dollar invested in risk reduction can reduce spending on response and recovery by four dollars[2]. 'Reducing natural hazard risk is as much about improving the decisions we make as the money we spend to improve the safety and resilience of our homes, businesses and infrastructure. 'It is also clear from this research that New Zealand has an incomplete understanding of the costs of its natural hazards. Fixing this will enable better decisions to be made on when, where and how to reduce risk. This is becoming even more important as natural hazard events increase in frequency and severity. 'We need to prioritise improving how the actual costs of natural hazard events are recorded by central and local government, so that we know how much we are spending, on what and where. Alongside this, we must quickly move to understand the underlying trends, regularly model the expected financial impact of natural hazards, set relative benchmarks and closely monitor changes in risk over time. 'IAG continues to invest significantly in data and its application to improve decision making and is working with government and other partners to put this capability to use in improving how natural hazard risk is managed. This is a priority for us and must be a priority for New Zealand.' Research conducted by Sapere Research Group. [1] Deloitte, The economic cost of the social impact of natural disasters (2016). Available on [2] Mechler, R. Reviewing estimates of the economic efficiency of disaster risk management: opportunities and limitations of using risk-based cost–benefit analysis. Nat Hazards 81, 2121–2147 (2016) About IAG: IAG New Zealand is the largest general insurer in the country, trading under the AMI, State, NZI, NAC, Lumley and Lantern brands, as well as providing the general insurance products sold by ASB, BNZ, Westpac and The Co-operative Bank. IAG New Zealand employs over 4,000 people, holds relationships with one in every two New Zealand households, and insures over NZ$1.07 trillion of commercial and domestic assets.
Scoop
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Scoop
More Than Half Of New Zealanders Anxious About Storms
Press Release – IAG New Zealand Amanda Whiting, CEO of AMI, State and NZI says the research shows that in the past two years natural hazards have impacted the lives of 54% of New Zealanders, with 41% feeling adversely affected. New research commissioned by AMI, State and NZI shows that over half of all New Zealanders have recently experienced anxiety and concern about storms and heavy rainfall, while 43% are concerned specifically about flooding [1]. The findings, published today in the seventh issue of the AMI, State and NZI Wild Weather Tracker, also show that half of the respondents are concerned about earthquakes. Amanda Whiting, CEO of AMI, State and NZI says the research shows that in the past two years natural hazards have impacted the lives of 54% of New Zealanders, with 41% feeling adversely affected. 'It is troubling that New Zealanders feel worried about going to bed when it's raining, or worry about their homes when storms, high winds and weather watches are issued.' The Wild Weather Tracker shows that New Zealanders had to endure 14 natural hazard events throughout spring and summer, six of which were significant storms causing millions of dollars in damage. 'We supported our customers with a total of 3,536 claims resulting from these events. This includes 908 claims from the Dunedin flood last October and 373 claims from a storm that occurred during Northland Anniversary weekend, almost 200 of which were from the devastating Mangawhai tornado.' Recent weather events, such as elongated periods of rain due to an atmospheric river and two tornadoes in Levin and Waikawa Beach, are stark reminders that these storms are not easing. To date, AMI, State and NZI have received more than 2,000 home, contents, commercial and motor claims due to damage caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam. 'As we respond to these events, our customers often tell us about the psychological and emotional impact of wild weather, and the effect of being displaced or losing their home on their wellbeing. These impacts can last far longer than physical damage, and raise concerns about the ongoing wellbeing of affected communities.' Research from the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand reveals that the most important thing helping people get through extreme weather events is their community [2]. 'While community solidarity and our immediate insurance response aids recovery, we need to be doing more to prevent communities from experiencing these devastating impacts in the first place. 'We will continue to play our part as a sustainable, reliable insurer ready to support our customers when they need us, but strong insurance support alone will not be enough. 'We urgently need the government to take steps that will better manage our natural hazard risks and reduce their impact on vulnerable communities.' 'Through smarter decisions about where we build, better protecting what we have built or moving people out of harm's way, we can help New Zealanders to feel confident that they will be okay when the next storm hits. 'No one should be left to feel anxious about making it through a storm. 52% of New Zealanders feeling this way is simply too many.' Please note: ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam occurred outside of the reporting period of this Wild Weather Tracker, which spans from 1 September 2024 to 28 February 2025. The data from this event will be included in the next issue of the Wild Weather Tracker. About IAG: IAG New Zealand is the largest general insurer in the country, trading under the AMI, State, NZI, NAC, Lumley and Lantern brands, as well as providing the general insurance products sold by ASB, BNZ, Westpac and The Co-operative Bank. IAG New Zealand employs over 4,000 people, holds relationships with one in every two New Zealand households, and insures over NZ$1.07 trillion of commercial and domestic assets.
