Income protection: Lessons from over the ditch

At this morning’s session of the FSC Generations Conference, Australian representatives of Swiss Re offered New Zealand insurers some helpful lessons on avoiding unsustainable losses in income protection (IP).

In Australia, loose definitions and poor data have meant that IP has given unsustainable losses across the Australian insurance sector.

But before New Zealand insurers begin to feel too smug we should be aware that many of the issues Australia faces are present in our markets.

While our insurers do ask about investment income disclosure and offset claims for ACC, New Zealand IP claims also have benefits that do not conform to the principle of indemnity.