The Insurance Council of New Zealand is encouraging people experiencing financial hardship to contact their insurer to discuss options to keep their insurance in place.
A priority for customers is to keep their assets protected and insurers are there to help them do that. Insurance reduces financial shocks when the worst happens, and even in these hard times it is vital that you keep you and your family protected.
Floods, fires, earthquakes and accidents still happen. If you have a mortgage or have taken a loan to buy your car, banks will still need you to have insurance in place.
People can contact their insurer who will review their individual situation and discuss the ways they can help in these tough times.
Separately, ICNZ has worked with FinCap, an organisation that supports advisory services to some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable people, to ensure they have a point of contact with each of our insurers should financial hardship cases come to their attention.
All insurers have processes in place to identify people experiencing vulnerability or financial hardship. They have been working around the clock in recent weeks designing dedicated teams and processes to ensure they continue to assist with claims, sales and support and payment queries. The industry is guided by these principles, developed as a result of COVID-19.
Some of the things that you might consider:
- Is my insurance fit for purpose? Do I have the right level of cover? Are there additional benefits that could be temporarily dropped? Do I have the right sum insured?
- Could I take on more share of the risk by increasing my excess? Increasing an excess will mean reduced premiums. Before deciding to do that, you need to be sure you can afford to pay the excess should you need to make a claim.
- Could I change my premium payment frequency or due date to ease immediate cashflow?
Each insurer is taking a different approach and will listen to your situation. The links below give you information on your own insurer and how to contact them.
IAG (brands are State, AMI, NZI, Lumley)
