Asteron Life profit drops
Asteron Life experienced a $4 million profit drop in the year to June, its parent company has reported.
Friday, August 21st 2020, 2:13PM
Suncorp New Zealand announced an overall profit for the full year of $259 million.
Of that, the life insurance business delivered $40 million.
It said the lower result was driven by adverse claims experience, lower investment returns, customer remediation provisions, and project costs relating to implementing the new IFRS 17 accounting standard.
This was partially offset by the impact from ongoing low rates of cancellations.
In-force premium grew by 3.7%, supported by CPI and age-indexed premium growth.
Suncorp New Zealand acting chief executive Jimmy Higgins said the result reflected a strong performance across the entire business.
It had announced up to $30 million worth of customer support options in response to Covid-19 related impacts, ranging from premium waivers and discounts for customers experiencing financial hardship, through to premium rebates.
Asteron Life is providing premium waivers to customers, both through in-built policy benefits and as Covid-19 specific support for customers who do not have a benefit available. Asteron Life had provided more than $3 million in premium waivers that do not need to be repaid.
Suncorp surveyed New Zealanders and found that 60% preferred company savings to be passed back to those most in need, while 21% wanted to receive refunds themselves.
Higgins said: “In situations where customers have an intermediary to support them, it’s possible to offer more tailored options to help ensure those who are most affected keep their insurance cover in place and don’t expose themselves to unnecessary risk.”
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