Total claims accepted is at its highest since 2020, showing a general increase and recovery from its dip in 2022, says the Financial Services Council in its latest quarterly spotlight on life insurance.
The FSC says its latest data snapshot, for the quarter to December 31, 2024, saw quarterly claims totals for the period at $354.35 million, whereas in the previous quarter the total sat at $326.81 million. For the June 2024 quarter claims totals were $325.6 million.
Other key insights and trends the FSC highlights include total growth remaining consistent at 2-5% year-on-year since 2015 “…while impact of seasonality on new business appears to have reduced since 2021.” (Also see: Population Rises, Life Policies Down).
For this latest quarter, it says that Accidental Death continues to be the largest product by covers “…although Trauma and Group are showing significant increases.”
The split by gender remains consistent at 60% male and 30% female and more than 50% of premiums can be attributed to ages 46 to 65.
The number of life insurance covers remains unchanged from the previous quarter at 4.15 million while annual life insurance premiums have risen slightly to $3.24 billion from the $3.21 billion in the September 2024 quarter.
However, the FSC estimates the number of residents in New Zealand has grown to 5.46 million in this latest quarter from 5.42 million in the September 2024 quarter.
