Kiwi Insurance is a relatively new player in New Zealand’s insurance space, and is less well-known in the life sector compared to its big company counterparts – however, according to its acting CEO, it could be one of the best placed to deal with the intensifying regulatory scrutiny.
Kiwi Insurance is a sister company of Kiwibank and is part of Kiwi Group Holdings, which itself is ultimately owned by the Crown through NZ Post, ACC and NZ Super. Acting CEO of Kiwi Insurance Larissa Vaughan has been with Kiwibank for six years and stepped into the lead role of its insurance counterpart six months ago, and she says the insurer could be one of the “best kept secrets” in the industry.
“We have two main legs to our business – Kiwi Insure, which makes life insurance and has a life insurance license from the Reserve Bank,” Vaughan explained to Insurance Business.
“That is primarily sold through Kiwibank. The other leg is general insurance – house, car and contents, provided by Ando and Hollard and also sold through Kiwibank. We call that offering ‘you and your stuff.’”
“We think we’re one of the best kept secrets in the industry,” Vaughan said. “With the regulatory changes, there’s talk of needing to have a Crown-owned insurer…well, we’ve already got one! We’re just relatively low-profile, at the moment, as we’re still quite a new company.”
Vaughan says she is reasonably confident about Kiwi Insurance’s position throughout the conduct and culture review, noting that the company has never had the kinds of incentives, products and practices that are being so intensely scrutinised by the regulators and public.
“We’ve always been about helping Kiwis be better off, and we’ve got a reasonably simple product set which is well-priced and written in plain English,” she explained.
“We’ve never paid huge upfront commissions or had any incentive trips to Hawaii! Our process through the programme has really validated that, and it’s been more about refining our processes and record keeping. We’re very confident and comfortable with our programme, and that we’re on the right track.
“Overall we’re small and growing, and very keen to grow more.”
