Partners Life tells advisers more about the ‘claims squeeze’

Kris Ballantyne, Partners Life chief marketing officer, says after reviewing and analysing customer and product data built up during its 11 years in business, the company had been able to identify pockets of risk where customers were being under-charged in comparison to the number of claims they were generating.

“Effectively, these customers were being subsidised by other customers,” Ballantyne says. But the firm now has the data and tools to “reshape” its pricing and set premiums at a level that’s fairer for all customers. “This is a reshaping,” he says. “It’s not a price increase across the board.”

Premium will now depend upon customer profiles and for some, the increase will be more “pertinent” than for others. For example, 20% of policies have seen increases of less than 10% and only 10% of policies faced the steepest premium rise (20%).

“But even in the most extreme scenarios, we’re not talking about the difference between a Toyota and a Maserati. We’re talking about a relatively close gap. It means that Partners Life is sometimes at the top of the market but not by an insurmountable percentage.”