Pinnacle Life has launched a new online tool designed to help Kiwis access personalised advice around life insurance, and general manager Amy Cavanaugh says it will aim to address financial literacy and underinsurance issues among the general public.
The tool asks customers about what matters to them in terms of financial protection, their income, and their biggest worries. It then generates an estimate of what others in their situation pay for insurance, and provides the option of receiving more personalised advice.
Pinnacle Life was granted a digital exemption license by the FMA in 2019, and Cavanaugh says that investing in digital advice has been key to preparing for the requirements of the Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act (FSLAA).
“Getting that digital exemption license allowed us to go ahead and develop the tool, and, since then, we’ve been working with some independent advisers and our development team to get the platform up and running,” Cavanaugh said.
“We’ve also been looking at changes we need to make to our business to meet the standards of the FSLAA, and digital advice has really set us up well to be prepared for that.”
“We are predominantly a direct insurer through online channels, and this platform sits really well alongside the online underwriting that we do for customers,” she added. “But we do have a portion of our policies that are sold through the adviser network, and we’ll be looking at how we can leverage that with this tool.”
Cavanaugh said the platform has already been receiving praise from customers, and said the ultimate goal is to increase awareness among Kiwis of the benefits of life insurance.
“We’ve just been in the ‘soft launch’ phase, but we’ve been receiving some really positive feedback around how easy the tool is to use,” she said. “We really see an opportunity to make insurance more accessible, and to make it easier for customers to understand what it means for their financial situation.
“The first piece is around helping customers make those informed decisions, and to really help build up that financial literacy and start to address some of the underinsurance issues that we’ve seen over the last few years.”
