Delta Insurance NZ and Delta Property to merge into single entity

The amalgamation is set to take effect on March 31 and will position the company for significant growth as a unified organisation. Delta Property Insurance managing director Andrew Beaton will become the CEO of Delta Insurance New Zealand under the new structure. Delta Insurance New Zealand managing director Dinesh Murali, meanwhile, will move into the newly created role of portfolio and distribution general manager.

Greater cohesion

Kent Chaplin, chief executive officer of the Delta Insurance Group, said that there are several key outcomes of the merger between the two businesses, with the most important being the greater cohesion within the internal team of more than 45 employees, which will ultimately result in an improved customer experience.

“The merger will unite the businesses under our common brand, linking them with a unified strategy and service proposition under a single leadership and management team,” Chaplin said. “This has a number of positive outcomes for the business as well as customers, including an increased ability to scale up our services as the business grows, greater internal efficiencies and the amalgamation of boards into a single committee with reduced governance and operational costs.”

As for the firm’s coverholding partners, the unification will see reduced reporting requirements, and fewer but larger and more diversified transactional aspects. In turn, Chaplin said that this will provide the newly structured Delta Insurance New Zealand with the ability to diversify and expand to offer a broader range of cover policies and products under a single entity.

“Ultimately, it’s our customers and partners who will benefit most – as it should be,” Chaplin said. “There will also be benefits for our employees, who will see new opportunities and career pathways open to them. This will provide the chance for secondment and professional growth within a larger organisation with a wider range of specialities.”

A seamless amalgamation will mean customers and brokers will notice little difference in the way they work with the new entity in the short term, Delta Insurance Group underwriting executive director Craig Kirk said. All contact points for the firm’s customers and brokers will remain the same for its existing customers and policyholders in the short term. Kirk also said that brokers will no longer be required to submit multiple closings or send premium remittances, reducing their back-end administrative requirements.

“The change will also make it easier for customers with multiple policies: as the amalgamation matures, our existing customers and policyholders will be pleased with the shift to a single point of contact across our insurance product lines. Once that has been introduced, our customers will only need to contact one person if they want to make a claim or discuss their policies. Effectively, the amalgamation will establish a multi-line underwriting capability,” Kirk said.

For the underwriter, Kirk said, the amalgamation is about greater organizational cohesion. Operating under a single administrative team and a single claims team increases the firm’s internal efficiencies and will enable it to diversify its product lines into new areas, he said.

“This makes it easier for us to scale in the long term, and it makes it much easier for our partners and customers to transact with us. Ultimately, that is what has driven the change – one vision, one team,” Kirk said.

Chaplin recently spoke to Insurance Business on the firm being awarded a performance assessment (PA) granted by global credit rating agency AM Best.