Product News: Sovereign

Highlights from Sovereign’s latest product release include; new Disability Income Protection benefits, Mortgage and Income Protection, Loss of Earnings and Redundancy Cover.

Friday, March 8th 2013, 2:40PM

Sovereign now offers 10 disability income protection options, to meet the increasingly diverse needs of New Zealanders.

Sovereign general manager, marketing and product, David Drillien, says the changes recognise that New Zealanders need a range of insurance options that reflect the varied ways we run our lives.

“The traditional nine-to-five order of life can no longer be relied on as a model for mapping financial needs. We understand the many changes that can occur during a lifetime and our products and support must be relevant and practical throughout these changes.

“New Zealanders are growing more independent in the way we shape our lives. We no longer follow a traditional blueprint. We’re becoming parents before considering marriage. We’re setting up businesses and starting retirement savings before we buy our first home. Our incomes are increasingly coming from fluctuating sources, such as contracting, self employment and entrepreneurial start-ups.

“As well as providing for people with more traditional work patterns and lifestyles, Sovereign is continually introducing new options to cater for alternative choices.”

Drillien says New Zealand insurance companies must work hard to ensure their relevance to 21st century life, especially in light of new Financial Services Council (FSC) statistics that reveal 60 percent of New Zealanders find the thought of personal insurance “all too hard”.

“The FSC’s report tells us that while more than 95 percent of homes and cars are insured, only 57 percent of New Zealanders insure their lives and barely 20 percent have income protection insurance.”

Drillien says it is vital that the industry works together to demystify personal insurance for New Zealanders and provide education on the importance of not only insuring their bricks and mortar, but protecting their biggest asset – themselves and their ability to generate income.

“We must continue to innovate to meet the needs of the full spectrum of New Zealanders, no matter how they choose to work and live.”

For more information and an update on changes made to other life products see the March issue of ASSET Magazine - Out Soon

Sovereign's new products