NEW ZEALAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Aaron Sherriff, Tanya Wood and Nick Laing, Duncan Cotterill
the market, there is no impediment to mergers and acquisitions relating to insurance companies. The following occurred in 2025. • Resolution Life Australasia, a trans-Tasman life insurer, acquired Asteron Life from Suncorp Group Limited. This created one of New Zealand’s largest life insurance businesses. • Zurich Group finalised its acquisition of AIG’s Travel Guard business, reportedly doubling the size of the global group. Travel Guard was combined with Zurich’s existing travel insurance provider, Cover- More Group, and is part of the new corporate brand Zurich Cover-More. • nib NZ amalgamated its two operating entities, nib nz limited and nib nz insurance limited, into a sin- gle company, now operating as nib nz limited. This brings together their health, life and living insur- ance businesses. 5. Distribution 5.1 Distribution of Insurance and Reinsurance Products The distribution of insurance and reinsurance prod- ucts in New Zealand depends largely on the type of insurance product. Consumer insurance – including home and contents, motor, boat, health and life insurance – are offered both through intermediaries and directly to the public. Two unique forms of statutory insurance cover in New Zealand are as follows: • natural disaster cover under the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023, which provides cover for up to NZD300,000 plus GST, including for property damage caused by a natural hazard, such as flood, storm, earthquake, landslip, volcanic eruption or tsunami; and • personal injury cover under the Accident Compen- sation Act 2001, which also bars the bringing of legal proceedings for personal injury except in very limited circumstances.
Commercial insurance is heavily intermediated through larger broking houses. Home and Contents New Zealand home policies typically insure a prop- erty (and the contents within) for accidental loss or damage. These policies are typically written sub- ject to sum-insured limits on floor area and special features following the Canterbury Earthquakes (the former practice was indemnity value). This product is sold directly to the market by insurers, as well as through intermediaries and major domestic banks (but is underwritten by usual domestic insurers). Health New Zealand has a comprehensive public health sys- tem but also a network of private healthcare provid- ers. Policies offered typically provide cover for elective procedures that might otherwise require a lengthy wait for the same procedure in the public system. Motor Motor policies are offered for both domestic and busi- ness use. It is common for insurers to offer policies covering third-party liability, and optional fire, theft and windscreen replacement protection, for a substantially reduced rate compared to comprehensive replace- ment insurance. Life Life policies – including death, trauma, permanent dis- ability and income protection policies – are offered both through intermediaries and directly to the public. Corporate Many corporates in New Zealand avail themselves of various combined insurance products available from major insurers. These typically comprise: • broadform third-party cover;
• property damage; • employer liability; • directors’ and officers’ cover; • professional liability; • business interruption; and • contractors’ works insurance.
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