Insurance Advice You Can Trust

Trust. Advice. Choice. Value.

New Zealand’s insurance landscape has never been so complex or so heavily scrutinised. Yet with so many insurers, policies, and choices – including an abundance of generic ‘direct’ insurance offers – it’s also never been harder to know which option is the best for you and your business. That’s why there’s never been a more important time to partner with a specialist Insurance Broker who works for you.

What does an Insurance Broker do?

Insurance Brokers are highly qualified insurance and risk management specialists. Just as you rely on your Solicitor for legal matters and your Accountant for financial advice, they act on your behalf to provide expert advice, insurance solutions and claims support to protect you and your business. An Insurance Broker works closely with you to help you identify the risks that you or your business may be exposed to. They will then advise you on what risks should be insured against, and then if you agree, the Broker will canvass the insurance market to obtain the best insurance protection to meet your needs at a competitive price.

Why Choose an Insurance Adviser

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A Broker provides advice and explains clearly what your insurance covers and what is not covered and will tailor an insurance programme best suited for your individual business needs. They act for you and have a legal duty of care in the advice and products they provide.

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New Zealand businesses are 97% less likely to have an insurance complaint when they work with an Insurance Broker.

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SOURCE: Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Annual Report 2022, Fire & General Insurance complaints made to the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO) Scheme between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022. 1,827 total complaints against Direct Insurers, of which 173 were accepted, 85 against Insurance Brokers, of which nine were accepted.

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In a positive sign for industry growth, 43% of direct buyers would consider using a broker, up from 41% in 2021.

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SOURCE: Vero 2022 SME Insurance Index found that 43% of direct buyers say that they definitely or might consider using a broker in 2022, an increase from 41% in 2021 and 34% in 2020. Conversely, in 2022 only 27% said they wouldn’t consider using a broker in the future, down from 29% in 2021 and 32% in 2020.

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Over half of the SME's say they used a broker to purchase their insurance.

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SOURCE: Vero 2022 SME Insurance Index

Find your local Insurance Adviser

Talk to your local Adviser to get advice about your insurance needs and to get a quote

Frequently Asked Questions

Why pay for an Insurance Broker when I can do it myself?

Rather than trying to juggle everything yourself, an Insurance Broker can save you time, frustration and money. They can help you quickly review and access different products from many insurers, whether they be locally based or via major global insurers such as Lloyd’s of London. Insurance Brokers are aware of detailed terms and conditions, benefits and exclusions and costs of a wide range of competing insurance policies, so they can help you find the most appropriate cover for your circumstances. Insurance Brokers also have access to up-to-date industry data that outlines the major risks your occupation or industry are exposed to, along with secondary data outlining the natural hazards specific to your business location.

Can an Insurance Broker assist you with claims?

Absolutely. In fact, claims support is one of their most important services. Your Insurance Broker will act as your dedicated claims advocate in the event of a claim, working closely with you and your insurer to ensure the smoothest possible process, the best possible outcome, in the shortest possible timeframe.

Why should I trust an Insurance Broker?

Insurance is all about trust and confidence. 334 General Insurance complaints were made to the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO) Scheme for the period between 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021. Of these, just 9 were made against Insurance Brokers – compared to 199 against direct insurance companies. In other words, only 2.7% of complaints came against Insurance Brokers. There’s a powerfully simple reason for this sizeable discrepancy, the key role of an Insurance Broker is to give you professional expert advice, not simply sell you a policy. Providing a personal service rather than generic automation, they seek to understand your unique insurance needs and approach to risk, long before putting together your individual insurance programme. The algorithm-driven direct insurance business model, on the other hand, makes it heavily focused on offering the same core solution/s to all customers, with little – if any – consideration given to the nuances of your unique needs. If you want insurance advice and solutions you can trust, the choice couldn’t be any clearer.

How are Insurance Brokers paid?

An Insurance Broker may charge you a fee for their services. Or they may receive a commission from the insurance company. Either way, your Broker will work with you to find the most appropriate solution for you. Fees and other charges will be disclosed in the documentation provided by your Insurance Broker. As always, this can also be discussed directly with your Insurance Broker.

What about emerging digital/direct models of insurance advice?

There is a real risk that improving technology may not necessarily achieve the greater transparency and trust required for financial services of the future. In particular, regulators in the United Kingdom have identified many of the same challenges in regulating digital advice, as they have when advice is given by humans. This is because algorithms operate within design parameters, many of which may codify bias, taking many forms:

limiting the compared set of products, often with the result of showing one product to be much better than the others compared, when a wider market comparison would be less flattering.
excessive focus on price or brand to the detriment of considering fundamentals – such as suitability, coverage, and the value created by how these interact with price.
dictating the criteria for comparison and selection – with the result that the consumer may not be aware of how the product would perform if different criteria were used.
limiting the ability for the customer to define their own vision, goals, and needs – defining the goal can skew the question of suitability.
not offering alternatives if a customer falls outside the criteria of an online service customer can form the view that they cannot be insured, rather than not meeting the requirements for just this particular product.

Often the effect of these limitations may not be clear to clients. Some may suffer from poor advice. Others may have claims declined, having not understood the conditions of the policy that they signed up for. Consumer rights advocates will seek to highlight unfairness and poor outcomes, while commercially-operated review sites and further innovations will scan offers, testing them, rating them and seeking to become the new ‘trust engines’ on all things insurance.

Who monitors Insurance Brokers?

All Insurance Brokers in New Zealand must operate under a Financial Services License, either as a Financial Advice Provider (FAP) or as an Authorised Body of a FAP License holder. The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is the industry regulator that monitors the conduct of all financial brokers in New Zealand.

Insurance Brokers must also adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct which states that they must:

Act in your best interests
Provide you with appropriate advice
Warn you if their advice is based on incomplete or inaccurate information
Prioritise your interests where there is a conflict with their own interests (or interests of a related party)

What if something goes wrong with my Insurance Broker?

Insurance Brokers are required to belong to an approved external dispute resolution service that resolves complaints and issues between them and the insurer. It is also important to look for an Insurance Broker who is a member of the Insurance Brokers Association of New Zealand (IBANZ) and follows the terms of the IBANZ Code of Professional Code of Conduct, which sets out the standards of professional practice and levels of service that are expected of Insurance Brokers in New Zealand.

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Information & Downloads

From policy documents and claim forms, to the very latest Insurance industry insights and news from around the world, Insurance Advisernet produces a range of free downloadable brochures and reports each year that you may find useful.

GENERAL INSURANCE landscape

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Why Choose Insurance Advisernet?

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Insurance Advice You Can Trust

Trust. Advice. Choice. Value.

What does an Insurance Broker do?

Why Choose an Insurance Adviser

Find your local Insurance Adviser

Frequently Asked Questions

Why have General Insurance?

Why pay for an Insurance Broker when I can do it myself?

Who does your Insurance Brokers work for?

Can an Insurance Broker assist you with claims?

Why should I trust an Insurance Broker?

How are Insurance Brokers paid?

What about emerging digital/direct models of insurance advice?

Who monitors Insurance Brokers?

What qualifications should an Insurance Broker hold?

What if something goes wrong with my Insurance Broker?

Latest News

Information & Downloads

GENERAL INSURANCE landscape

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