“We’ve sold more health insurance this year than any other year, and that’s on the back of 2016 which was a good year,” IC Frith Life and Health general manager Bernard McCrea says.
“More people are buying, and group business has really picked up. We’ve put in a couple of small schemes, and we’re talking to some bigger ones. The Aons and Marshs have put in some very big schemes this year, group health schemes - look at the numbers in the health fund stats and they’re just huge, a massive amount has increased for health.
“It was going the other way, it’s now 33% in health insurance. The time I went out broking (in 2012) it was 30% and starting to trend below that. So, that’s a big turnaround.”
Last month, Health Funds Association of New Zealand (HFANZ) announced private health insurers had paid out $1.2 billion in total claims for the 12 months ending September 30, up 6.7% or $74 million on the September 2016 figures.
The data also revealed that the September quarter had been a bumper month for claim payouts with a record $321 million being paid out, up 7.3% on the same period for 2016. HFANZ chief executive Roger Styles said last month that much of this year’s growth in the health insurance sector had come from an increase in the numbers of people with employer-subsidised health insurance.
McCrea said 2017 had been generally good for insurance, with a lot of clients topping up their cover or taking out new products.
“It’s been good for partnerships this year,” he explained. “We’ve completed deals that have been a few years in the making. It’s been a really good year on that side of it. For insurance, the numbers are really good, we’re finishing (the year) really well.”
McCrea has a lot of experience in the industry having worked for TOWER, and in various roles at
AIA - he was their general manager from 2002-2005 - as well as several roles at Sovereign. He is also the chairman of the Rosebank Business Association.
He moved into broking in 2012, and flies around the country to meet and advise clients, spending a lot of time in Christchurch. His tip for anyone wanting to make their mark on the industry is to have “really good friendships in business, and have a big network” and have a passion and a love for the profession.
“I love helping customers,” he said. “I enjoy meeting people and solving their problems, getting involved in their lives, helping them out, and building relationships that are really deep and meaningful.
“You just meet a lot of good people, who all have different things going on in their lives and all doing different things, all in different spaces. You get out of bed, and it’s exciting thinking about the people you meet.”
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