At the end of 2019, NZI (the iag Group) decided to exit the specialised travel area of insurance. Their long-term backing for more than 15 years has been exceptional, but our move to Zurich is very much a positive step in the inbound travel insurance market.
Zurich is one of the world’s leading multi-line insurers with about 54,000 employees. The group provides property and casualty, and life insurance products and services in more than 210 countries and territories. Zurich’s customers include individuals, small businesses and mid-sized and large companies, as well as multinational corporations.
How would the insurer change affect you?
In New Zealand, Zurich’s general insurance products are underwritten by Zurich Australian Insurance Limited (ZAIL), trading as Zurich New Zealand. ZAIL has an insurer financial strength rating of A+ from Standard & Poor’s (Australia) Pty Ltd. This rating shows that the company has strong financial security characteristics. An overseas policyholder preference applies.
Under Australian law, if ZAIL is wound up, its assets in Australia must be applied to its Australian liabilities before they can be applied to overseas liabilities. To this extent, New Zealand policyholders may not be able to rely on ZAIL’s Australian assets to satisfy New Zealand liabilities. For more information: https://www.zurich.co.nz/about-us/financial-strength.html
NZI, a business division of IAG New Zealand Limited which received a Standard & Poor's (Australia) Pty Ltd financial strength rating of AA-. For more information about NZI please visit http://www.nzi.co.nz
The rating scale is:
AAA Extremely Strong |
AA Very Strong |
A Strong |
BBB Good |
BB Marginal |
B Weak |
CCC Very Weak |
CC Extremely Weak |
SD Selective Default |
D Default |
R Regulatory Supervision |
NR Not Rated |
The ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories. The rating scale above is in summary form. A full description of this rating scale can be obtained from www.standardandpoors.com.