Claims rises outstrip premium increases

Life insurance premiums rose to $3.24 billion in calendar 2024 from and $3.16 billion in 2023, a 2.5% increase, and from $2.69 billion in calendar 2019, according to data from the Financial Service Council NZ.

The data shows that claims paid out jumped by $102.4 million to $1.32 billion, an 8.4% increase in the latest year.

The data shows a jump in quarterly claims to $354.4 million in the December quarter from $326.8 million in the September quarter and from $304.4 million in the December quarter last year.

The most common type of policy remained term life/accidental death with almost $1.6 billion in premiums written, up from $1.56 billion in 2023.

Trauma policies were the next most common with $649 million in premiums written in the latest year compared with $621 million in 2023, followed by income protection at $521 million, up from $507 million the previous year.

Whole life, unbundled and endowment policies continue to fade, dropping to $39 million in 2024 from $42 million the previous year, as did guaranteed acceptance policies, down at $118 million from $120 million.

The number of lives covered by insurance dropped to 4.15 million in 2024 from $4.2 million in 2023 but was up from 3.91 million lives in 2019.

The population grew from five million in 2019 to 5.32 million in 2023 and to 5.46 million in 2024.