Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited

Allianz Partners New Zealand is excited to announce our strategic partnership with Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited. This relationship will enable us to strengthen our commitment to delivering exceptional products and customer service while also providing greater scope to diversify our product offering, and will take effect from 1st April 2025.

Like Allianz, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group is a global leader and carries out international business through an international network.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group has a strong appetite for innovation and expansion, aligning perfectly with the Allianz growth and market diversification strategy. This relationship will allow us to introduce new, tailored solutions that meet evolving customer needs while enhancing our ability to respond to market trends.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited has a Financial Strength Rating of A+ issued by A.M. Best and A+ issued by Standard and Poor’s.  

As a part of this relationship, there will be some changes to policy wording and disclosure documentation to reflect this change and the new CoFi regime. In addition to this, if your website references our current / soon-to-be previous fronter, this will need to be updated, too.    

Below are some FAQs to answer any questions you may have.

Who is Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group (MSIG)?

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group was established in 1918 and is part of the MS&AD Insurance Group, one of Japan’s largest insurance groups. It offers a wide range of insurance products, including property and casualty insurance, life insurance, and health insurance, primarily for individuals and businesses.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited was formed through the merger of Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance and Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance in 2001. It is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and operates globally, providing services in various countries, including Australia, U.S., Europe, and parts of Asia. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance is known for its strong financial stability. 

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited is a subsidiary of MS & AD Holdings.

What is Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited's Financial Strength Rating?

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited has a Financial Strength Rating of A+ given by Standard and Poor’s and an A+ given by A.M. Best:        

How does this change impact me?

Nothing from a day-to-day perspective will change. However, policy wording and other disclosure documents will be updated to reflect the new insurer, and we will also make system changes to reflect this.  Where you have systems or a website that currently references Hollard, we will work with you to update these to reflect Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited details.  

Will my contract need to be updated?

Yes, we will provide you with a new contract that reflects Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited as the insurer commencing 1^st April 2025. 

Will there be a change to the Disputes Resolution Process?

No, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited is a member of the IFSO scheme, so there will be no change to our dispute resolution process.

What is the role of a fronter (insurer)?

Allianz operates in 73 countries around the world and where we provide a wide range of products, we also hold an insurance licence with the local regulator.  In countries like New Zealand, we partner with a fronter who holds a licence with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to issue insurance.  Under this arrangement, Allianz and the fronter (in this case MSIG), are equally responsible for legal obligations, such as Allianz issues and manages the policies, including facilitating the claims process.  Allianz also facilitates a 100% reinsurance of claims through the Allianz AWP P&C business.

Will this mean a price increase?

There is no specific change to pricing due to the change of insurer.  

Policy pricing is reviewed based on our expected future claims volumes and values.  With ongoing climate-related incidents and significant inflation over recent years, we expect to see an ongoing pricing review and some upward movement.  We will continue to provide advice on this as and when we are looking to make changes.  

Will this impact the booking systems?

Your day-to-day processes for issuing policies will remain the same.  Some changes will be made to policy wordings and disclosure documents to reflect the new insurer.  Wherever possible, we will complete this ourselves and communicate the change to you.  Where we require some changes or amendments to your own systems, we will identify these and work with you to get them completed.  You should plan on completing any changes so they can go live on 1st April 2025. 

Will this impact the SLAs for claims, payments and refunds?

There will be no direct changes to our service levels.   

The CoFI (Conduct of Financial Institutions) regime is focused on ensuring that our processes are customer-centric and have a strong focus on good customer outcomes.  As a result of this new regime, starting from 31^st March 2025, we will continue to review our processes and services provided to ensure they meet the requirements of CoFI and evolve to meet the needs and expectations of you and our customers. 

What is CoFI?

CoFI (Conduct of Financial Institutions) is a new regulatory regime that takes effect from 31^st March 2025, requiring registered banks, licensed insurers, and non-bank deposit takers in New Zealand to comply with the fair conduct principle. This principle mandates that financial institutions treat consumers fairly, act ethically and in good faith, and avoid unfair pressure or tactics.

Under CoFI, affected institutions will need to obtain an FMA licence to continue to operate and will need to establish, implement, and maintain a fair conduct programme (FCP). The FCP includes policies, processes, systems, and controls to ensure compliance with the fair conduct principle throughout the customer journey.

Will we need to change policy wordings?

Yes, policy wordings will need to be updated to reflect the new insurer.  We will work with you on this, with all policy wordings having an in market, effective date of 1^st April 2025.

What happens if we have not transitioned by the set date? 

We are focused on the transition by 1 April 2025 and will work closely with you to ensure that we are ready to go by then.