More Kiwis Sign Up For Life Insurance In 2021 | Scoop News – Scoop.co.nz
The latest data
snapshot released today by the Financial Services
Council (FSC), shows another solid year of meeting customer
needs for the life insurance sector, with the number of life
insurance covers increasing by 92,000 to 4.2 million over
2021.
The data snapshot also shows that the sector
paid out $308 million in claims in the last quarter of 2021
and that 96% of claims made over the same period were
paid.
Richard Klipin, Chief Executive Officer of the
Financial Services Council, said “As we saw in the FSC
health insurance data released last week, Covid-19 looks to
be having a similar impact on families looking to protect
their financial wellbeing and better manage their risk with
insurance products through these uncertain
times.”
The changes by product type shows the
positive net growth and indicates active consideration of
changing cover needs by customers and their advisers, for
example the apparent movement from Total and Permanent
Disability (TPD) to broader and more comprehensive Trauma
covers.
Nick Stanhope, co-chair
of the FSC Life Forum, said “Of interest is the growth in
group insurance cover.”
“This is a similar trend
we have seen in other data, where employers are looking to
dodge the ‘Great Resignation’ trend across the world and
mitigate recruitment issues caused by New Zealand’s tight
labour market, by offering added incentives to retain their
teams,” added Stanhope.
Naomi Ballantyne, co-chair
of the FSC Life Forum, said “Life insurance is designed to
be there when unexpected events happen, and with 96% of all
claims paid in the last quarter of 2021 by FSC members, it
demonstrates the industry’s commitment to support
customers in some of the most difficult and challenging life
situations.
“I would like to thank all the FSC members
and their teams that have continued to support changing
customers’ needs, whilst themselves adapting to different
working patterns and the uncertainty of the pandemic,”
added Ballantyne.
“As we continue to move through
the latest Omicron surge, it is encouraging to see that more
New Zealanders are thinking about their financial resilience
and wellbeing.” concluded
Klipin.
© Scoop Media
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