Suncorp boosts support ahead of ex-Cyclone Gabrielle

Suncorp sent an additional team of claims specialists and assessors from its Australian insurance operations to New Zealand as communities in the North Island dealt with more severe weather, including heavy rain and gale-force winds, off the back of ex-Cyclone Gabrielle.

The CEO of Suncorp Group, Steve Johnston, said the devoted resources would assist local teams in helping customers who were impacted by the country's weather system as well as those who were still recuperating from the recent flood event that affected Auckland and the surrounding areas.

“As a trans-Tasman insurance company with strong capability in responding to extreme weather events, Suncorp Group is well-equipped to throw its full support behind its customers in New Zealand,” Mr Johnston said.

“Our teams in New Zealand have been doing a fantastic job in assisting impacted Vero and AA Insurance customers at this challenging time. However, given the scale of the flooding event and the follow up rain and cyclonic winds, all available Suncorp Group resources will be deployed to speed up the claims process,” he said.

“We currently have a team of around 100 specialists from Australia dedicated to the New Zealand event recovery efforts, including resources based in Australia and on-the-ground support.

“Our thoughts are with all of our customers experiencing further adverse weather, and we urge all of our customers and team members to prioritise their safety and follow the advice of local emergency authorities.

“We encourage impacted customers to lodge their insurance claim once it is safe to do so and to also take photos of the damage when it is safe.”

Johnston confirmed that the Suncorp Group was well protected due to its robust reinsurance programme, which provided additional coverage for New Zealand losses.

“In addition to losses from the Auckland flooding event being capped at NZ$50 million, net of reinsurance cover, the retained cost of any potential second declared event in New Zealand is NZ$25m.”

As of February 13, Suncorp’s Vero and AA Insurance brands had received approximately 11,500 claims in response to the Auckland flood event that occurred at the end of January 2023.

Award-winning underwriting agency Delta Insurance Group is amalgamating its property business into Delta Insurance New Zealand, as it seeks to further its superior insurance services to its New Zealand-based clients and policyholders under a single entity.

Collectively, Delta Property Insurance and Delta Insurance New Zealand insure over 24,000 risks in New Zealand.

The amalgamation, which should take effect on 31 March 2023, will position the company for significant growth as a unified organisation, requiring new senior roles that play to the strengths of existing leadership. Delta Property Insurance Managing Director Andrew Beaton will become CEO of Delta Insurance New Zealand under the new structure, while Delta Insurance New Zealand Managing Director Dinesh Murali will move into the newly created position of General Manager, Portfolio and Distribution.

Delta Insurance Group CEO, Kent Chaplin says there are several key outcomes of the merger. The most important is a greater cohesion between the internal team of more than 45 employees, resulting in improved customer experience.

“The merger will unite the businesses under our common brand, linking them with a unified strategy and service proposition under a single leadership and management team,” he says.

“This has many positive outcomes for the business as well as customers, including an increased ability to scale our services as the business grows, greater internal efficiencies and the amalgamation of boards into a single committee with reduced governance and operational costs.

“For our coverholding partners, this will see reduced reporting requirements, and fewer but larger and more diversified transactional aspects. In turn, this will provide Delta Insurance New Zealand with the ability

become one: Delta Insurance

New Zealand and Delta property businesses become single entity

to diversify and expand to offer a broader range of cover policies and products under a single entity.

Ultimately, it’s our customers and partners who will benefit most – as they should,” he says.

“There will also be benefits for our people, who will see new opportunities and career pathways open to them. This will provide the chance for secondment and professional growth within a larger organisation with a wider range of specialities.”

Delta Insurance Group’s Executive Director –Underwriting, Craig Kirk says a seamless amalgamation will mean customers and brokers will notice little difference in the way they work with the new entity initially.

“In the short-term all contact points for our customers and brokers remain the same for our existing customers and policyholders. Brokers will no longer be required to submit multiple closings or send separate premium remittances, reducing their back-end administrative requirements. It will be easier for customers with multiple policies: as the amalgamation matures, our existing customers and policyholders will be pleased with the shift to a single point of contact across our insurance product lines. Once that has been introduced, our customers will only need to contact one person if they want to make a claim or discuss their policies. Effectively, the amalgamation will establish a multi-line underwriting capability,” says Craig Kirk.

“For Delta, this is about greater organisational cohesion with our singular goal to deliver exceptional customer service in new or specialised insurance areas, underpinned by transparency and integrity. Operating under a single administrative team and a single claims team increases our efficiency and enables us to diversify our product lines into new areas.

“This makes it easier for us to scale in the long term, and it makes it much easier for our partners and customers to transact with us. Ultimately, that is what has driven the change – one vision, one team,” he says.