Rising insurance premiums spur Consumer NZ call for regulators to seek greater transparency

Consumer New Zealand is calling for regulators to run the ruler over insurance companies, arguing there isn’t enough transparency around soaring premiums.

The organisation notes home insurance premiums have increased tenfold over the past 25 years – much more than contents insurance premiums, which rose three-fold, and the price of milk, cheese and eggs, for example, which only doubled over this time, according to Statistics New Zealand’s consumers’ price index.

Consumer NZ, in a new report, recognised the Canterbury earthquakes and Cyclone Gabrielle caused reinsurance costs to shoot up, which pushed premiums materially higher. Building costs also soared with general inflation post-Covid.

However, it believed the Financial Markets Authority should investigate whether insurers’ approaches to using increasingly granular earthquake, flood and slip risk data to price premiums were fair.

It credited the New Zealand insurer, Tower, for giving customers breakdowns of how various risks affect their premiums. But insurers don’t share the data they buy from third parties with expertise in mapping, etc that underpins their pricing, arguing this is commercially sensitive.

Consumer NZ questioned: “At what point does a customer’s right to know override commercial interests?”

The organisation said the issue was that some policyholders were being priced out or reducing their insurance cover to dangerously low levels.

With Australian giants IAG and Suncorp accounting for 92% of the general insurance sector’s revenue, Consumer NZ said the Commerce Commission should carry out a market study to interrogate the sector’s competitiveness.

It said insurers’ profit margins had rebounded strongly after increasingly costly and frequent weather events, and claimed Kiwis were paying more than Australians for policies underwritten by the same insurers.

Suncorp New Zealand’s chief executive earlier this month told the Herald he expected premium rises to abate over the next year and broadly increase in line with the general inflation rate.

Consumer NZ noted New Zealand’s industry-funded dispute resolution schemes can’t investigate complaints over whether premiums are fair, as they can in Australia.

It suggested the Government create an avenue for policyholders to air these concerns, through the existing dispute resolution schemes or another independent service.

It recommended the Government develop an independent national switching and comparison platform to make it easier for consumers to change insurer.

Consumer NZ noted it could be tricky to compare cover on offer by different insurers.

It also pointed to a Treasury report that found it had become harder to find insurance online in areas that had high flood and earthquake risk.

Consumer NZ gave the Government a hurry-up, in terms of putting together a framework to identify homes at risk of the effects of climate change, and outlining mitigation or retreat options.

It also said the Government should ensure the Natural Hazards Commission, formerly known as EQC, is fit to serve communities facing challenges related to climate change.

It supported a proposal to increase levies homeowners pay to help fund the scheme.

The Government is soon expected to reveal whether levies will rise, and by how much, following a routine review.

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.