The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) has appointed well respected New Zealanders to monitor compliance with its new Fair Insurance Code (FIC).
Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, Hon David Caygill and Dr David McGee CNZM QC have accepted membership of the committee, which will be chaired by ICNZ CEO Tim Grafton.
The revised FIC, comes into effect on 1 January 2016, aims to set high standards for ICNZ member companies to uphold including timeframes for addressing claims and complaints.
It also requires insurers to respond reasonably to any non-disclosure of material information by the insured.
The committee’s role is to monitor breaches of the Code, report data on the number of breaches to the ICNZ board, investigate unresolved significant breaches and make recommendations to the board regarding those breaches.
Caygill, who acted as a peer reviewer for the FIC, retired from politics in 1996 and has held a range of senior governance roles since including chair of the ACCD and chair of the Electricity Commission. In 2010 he was appointed as one of the commissioners at Environment Canterbury.
Satyanand is a former governor-general, judge, ombudsman and legal practitioner with extensive governance experience. He reviewed the Banking Ombudsman scheme that led to the independent framework it operates under today and until recently was a patron of the New Zealand chapter of Transparency International.
McGee served as ombudsman from 2007 to 2013 after 22 years as Clerk of the House. He is the author of Parliamentary Practices in New Zealand, a guide to parliamentary procedure in New Zealand.
Grafton said: “I am delighted that such high calibre individuals who bring a vast amount of skills and experience have joined the Code Compliance Committee.”
