Proposed changes should help industry, insurers say

Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi this week announced plans that he said should give consumers more certainty when it came time to claim.

Among them was a requirement for insurers to ask the right questions to obtain necessary information from applicants – not put the duty of disclosure solely on clients – and to deal with customers who do not disclose something material "proportionately".

They will also have to present information in a way that customers can understand.

Naomi Ballantyne, managing director of Partners Life, said the proposals would not change a thing for her company as they currently stood. Some details are still to be worked through.