Prudential has revamped its critical illness, or trauma insurance, policies to maintain its position in what is currently a competitive and growing market.
Risk and lending marketing manager Leon Beale says Pru has the most in-force trauma policies of any of the life offices in New Zealand, and it has been one of the biggest writers of new business.
Beale says trauma insurance is going through a growth phase at present and sales volumes are relatively quite high.
Pru had decided to revamp its product as competitors had improved their policies.
"Over the last couple of years we have drifted off," Beale says. With the revamped product the policy is right up the front again.
He says Pru's critical illness policy ranks highly compared its competitors in terms of commissions, price and comprehensiveness of cover.
Initial commissions have been raised from 65 per cent of the premium to 75 per cent, while renewal commissions remain unchanged at 5 per cent.
Also Pru has increased the number of illnesses covered by the policies. The basic "essential" policy now covers 14 conditions, compared to 10 previously, and the "premier" policy which has all the bells and whistles covers 13 more conditions to bring its total to 31.
While trauma insurance is a relatively small part of the risk market in New Zealand that is expected to change over time and mirror other countries, such as Australia, where it accounts for a significant portion of risk business.
Prudential has revamped its critical illness, or trauma insurance, policies to maintain its position in what is currently a competitive and growing market.