Southern Cross Health Society is to return $50m to its members and business customers as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The initiative is designed to assist the health insurer’s 880,000 members and 4,000-plus business customers during a challenging time for New Zealanders.
The CEO of Southern Cross Health Society, Nick Astwick, says the society is essentially owned by its members and so wants to support them.
The plan will see a credit based on a percentage of each policy’s premium applied as soon as possible.
Astwick said Southern Cross was able to move quickly to provide support in the face of the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The plan will see a credit based on a percentage of each policy’s premium applied as soon as possible…
“We’re constantly monitoring the situation and will continue to review our position regularly in terms of the ways we can help our members and business customers. We are with them every step of the way,” says Astwick.
The $50m plan is in addition to financial support measures announced by Southern Cross in early April.
These include the ability for members who have experienced a loss of income and are no longer in paid work to put their policy on hold for up to six months, while members who have not lost their income but are otherwise experiencing financial hardship can put policies on hold for up to three months. Members cannot make claims while their premium payments are on hold.