German insurance company Allianz's subsidiary Allianz New Zealand has announced that it will stop selling commercial motor and fleet, public and products liability and property insurance products in New Zealand.
Image: Allianz to stop selling three insurance products in New Zealand. Photo: Courtesy of frederik danko/Unsplash.
Allianz New Zealand will not underwrite new policies the three business lines starting from June 2019. Existing customers in these insurances will not be able to renew their policies from July. However, the company will continue to manage existing and future claims and policy servicing queries.
The decision to stop selling these products is expected to result in a loss of annual gross written premium (GWP) of N$40m (£21m) and will be equivalent to about 20% of the company’s underwriting amount in the country, Interest magazine noted.
The company wrote to its business partners that the move was taken after a review of its New Zealand business operations.
Allianz New Zealand CEO Marc Guppy said: “After much consideration, and following a review of the strategic opportunities available to our business in New Zealand, Allianz has made the difficult decision to exit the three lines of business – Commercial Motor & Fleet, Public & Products Liability and Property Insurance – currently underwritten and distributed by the Allianz Broker & Agency (B&A) business.”
Guppy said that the change relates to the Allianz B&A division and does not have an impact on global lines, including Euler Hermes, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty or Allianz Partners.
He said: “We will also retain our premium funding operation Hunter Premium Funding, along with specialist agencies Club Marine, Allianz Marine & Transit and Primacy. As a result of this change, there will be no impact to services or products for customers of these remaining businesses.”
The impact of the decision is not known yet on the already concentrated insurance market. According to Stuff magazine, earthquakes in the recent years in the country have made it a less attractive market for insurers selling property insurance products.
Recently, Allianz X, part of the Allianz Group and Power Financial agreed to invest CAD100m (£59m) in Wealthsimple, a financial technology company offering online investing service and commission-free trading app in Canada.