Tower Insurance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
TOWER Limited
TypePublicly listed company
NZX: TWR
IndustryFire & General Insurance
Founded1869; 153 years ago (1869)
Headquarters
Auckland
,
New Zealand
Key people
Blair Turnbull, Chief Executive Officer; Michelle James, Managing Director
ProductsHouse, Car, Contents, Rural, Boat & Travel, Business.
Websitewww.tower.co.nz

Tower is a New Zealand-based insurance company which provides fire and general insurance.

History[]

In 1869 the New Zealand Government provided the capital for the creation of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department (better known simply as Government Life). It became TOWER Corporation in 1987 at a time when several New Zealand government departments and organisations were being corporatized or converted into state owned enterprises. Three years later, ownership of TOWER was transferred to policyholders as the business was mutualised.[1]

Being a mutual caused difficulties in raising capital and nine years later, in 1999, TOWER demutualised and listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges.[2] Seven years later, in November 2006, TOWER's Australian and New Zealand operations were separated.[1][3]

Diversification from plain life insurance[]

In 1989, Tower bought National Insurance Company of New Zealand Limited which from its Head Office in Dunedin, where it was founded in 1873, had spread its operations throughout the world. National Insurance had bought the failed Standard Insurance Company Limited in 1961.[4][5] These businesses provided Tower's fire and general insurance divisions.

In 2012, TOWER sold both its medical insurance (TOWER Medical Insurance Limited) and its investment (TOWER Managed Funds Limited) divisions. This was followed in 2013 with the sale of TOWER's life insurance business.[6]

In line with many other New Zealand insurance companies, TOWER announced on 10 April 2013 that it was moving away from full replacement house policies towards nominated sum insured covers, blaming international reinsurers.[7]

In August 2021, TOWER began offering boat insurance policies online[8]

Digital transformation[]

In 2015, TOWER announced an investment of $24 million to replace its IT systems through a five-year project[9] to automate everyday tasks in a consistent and standard way.[10]

In 2019, TOWER deployed a cloud-based digital insurance platform that replaced numerous legacy systems.[11] This introduction grew TOWER’s online sales from zero to 65 percent between 2019 and 2021.[10]

In June 2021, TOWER implemented a new system that automatically pulls publicly available sources and pre-populates information to cut down the number of questions asked for customers to get their insurance quotes.[12]

Today[]

Today, TOWER operates across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands,[2] providing personal lines insurance and SME insurance for ~ 300k customers and has ~9.2% market share of NZ personal lines market.[13]

TOWER’s 2020 full year results reported underlying profit excluding large events of 34.7 million. Tower’s reported profit of $12.3 million, includes the $9.5 million impact from the recently announced EQC settlement of $42.1 million.[2][14]

In August 2021, TOWER moved its headquarters to a new six Green Star-rated building on Fanshawe Street.[15]

Industry partnerships[]

In 2015, TOWER partnered with Trade Me Group to offer online home, contents and car insurance.[16] The partnership was renewed for further five years in August 2021.[17]

In 2020, TOWER partnered with the University of Auckland’s not-for-profit arm UniServices to analyse data on customer experience to improve insurance buying and claiming processes.[18]

In 2021, TOWER partnered with Australia-headquartered insurtech firm, Open, to launch AI powered personalised insurance service Huddle in New Zealand.[19]

Government Life postage stamps[]

A unique (in New Zealand) feature of the Government Life office was its use of custom postage stamps, first issued in 1891. This was the result of a dispute between the office and the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department over the correct calculation of postage costs.[20] All issues featured lighthouses, either in abstract designs or specific lighthouses from around New Zealand. New designs were issued in 1905, 1947 (surcharged at the time of decimalisation in 1967), 1969, and 1981. Use of these stamps was finally withdrawn in 1989.

References[]

  1. ^ a b "History - Financial Services Company Online New Zealand". TOWER. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  2. ^ a b c "NZX, New Zealand's Exchange". www.nzx.com. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  3. ^ "Tower : Everything you need to know - Insurance Business". www.insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  4. ^ Hocken Collections ref#ARC-0488
  5. ^ Wilson, James Oakley. "Standard Insurance". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  6. ^ Tim Hunter (2013-05-10). "Tower sells Life Insurance Business to Fidelity". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  7. ^ "to move to Sum Insured coverage - Insurance News - New Zealand Online". TOWER. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  8. ^ "Tower hits the water with boat insurance offering - Good Returns". www.goodreturns.co.nz. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  9. ^ Stepanova, Ksenia. "Tower Insurance announces $24 million digital investment". www.insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  10. ^ a b "Reaping the rewards of 'relentless simplification' – Peter Muggleston, Tower Insurance". FST Media. 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  11. ^ Paredes, Divina (2019-12-17). "Tower Insurance works with EIS Group to accelerate digital business transformation". CIO. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  12. ^ Stepanova, Ksenia. ""Some insurers still ask over 60 questions for a quote"". www.insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  13. ^ Regan, Zoie (15 March 2021). "Tower. A Tower of Strength" (PDF). New Zealand Equity Research. Forsyth Barr: 30.
  14. ^ "Financial reports | Tower Insurance | New Zealand". Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  15. ^ "Energy Star for Commercial Buildings", Guide to Green Building Rating Systems, Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 123–142, 2011-12-20, retrieved 2021-11-15
  16. ^ "TradeMe launches insurance offer in partnership with Tower". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  17. ^ Olano, Gabriel. "Tower reveals several partnership deals". www.insurancebusinessmag.com. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  18. ^ "Tower Insurance finding answers - and profits - in data". iStart leading the way to smarter technology investment. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  19. ^ "Door opens for 'pay as you drive' car insurance". Stuff. 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  20. ^ "Government Life Insurance | New Zealand Post Stamps". Stamps.nzpost.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-09-07.

External links[]

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