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Tower’s Consumer Risk Rating Tool Gets Innovation Nod For The Second Time
Kiwi and Pacific insurer Tower has once again been recognised by financial research and ratings firm Canstar for its property risk rating tool, taking home an Innovation Excellence Award for the second time.
The free online tool helps Kiwi understand their property’s natural hazard risks and Tower’s pricing model, which means customers only pay for the risk that applies to their home. Since updating the natural hazard risk ratings, over 90 per cent of Tower customers are receiving a reduction in the natural hazards portion of their premium.
The risk rating tool includes landslide, sea surge, earthquake and flood hazard risks and rates a property from very low to very high. It’s free to use for Kiwi, not just Tower customers, via Tower’s no-obligation home insurance quote process.
“As adverse weather events become more common, we know New Zealanders want more information about their property’s insurance profile – what risks they face, what cover they might need, and how much that will cost,” says Tower Chief Executive Paul Johnston.
Tower is at the forefront globally in developing this tool which uses a sophisticated data and analytics model, drawing from over 200 million data points to generate property-specific ratings.
Tower is also using its data to better match natural hazard premiums to the risk at an individual property level. Known as risk-based pricing, this approach means customers only pay for the risk that applies to their home, rather than having risk cross-subsidised across suburbs or regions.
“We believe risk-based pricing is a fairer way to structure insurance to ensure that customers don’t pay for risks they don’t have.”
Paul Johnston says that the team at Tower is thrilled to have been acknowledged for the Canstar Innovation and Excellence Award for the second time.
“We’re focused on using digital innovation to make insurance simpler. By working to reduce cross-subsidisation, increase customer understanding and share insights with government, we’re also helping to support national resilience and broader risk reduction efforts.
“This is just one example of how we are supporting New Zealand and New Zealanders to be future-ready for when the unexpected happens.”
Canstar’s Innovation Excellence Awards recognise the stand-out innovative financial products launched in the New Zealand market each year.
Bruce Pitchers, Canstar NZ Editor, says: “By harnessing the latest technology to the benefit of Kiwi home insurance customers, Tower is a very worthy recipient of Canstar’s latest Innovation Award. Congratulations to the whole Tower team."
To check the insurance risk of your home or a prospective property see the Tower website.
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