Setti Mulari What the face scan decides Chubb Life brought Life Lens to the New Zealand market in May 2026 and says it is the first life insurer in the country to use the technology in a new business application. An adviser sends a link, th... Life insurance 18/08/2026
When the best advice is to leave things alone A review of existing cover can end in one of three places. Something is missing and should be added. Something has changed and the structure no longer fits. Or everything is where it should be, and th... Life insurance Regulation 12/08/2026
What we are protecting The sum insured is the last number to be worked out. Before it comes the list of what is actually exposed, and for an established household that list runs well past the mortgage. An income, while it i... Claims Health insurance Life insurance 10/08/2026
Asteron Life becomes Acenda Life Asteron Life will trade as Acenda Life from 2027. The name is the visible part of the change. Underneath it sits a transfer of policies from one licensed insurer to another, and that is a regulated pr... Life insurance Regulation 6/08/2026
Who can ask for your policy documents The policy owner and the life assured are not always the same person, and almost nobody is told which one they are. When documents were needed at short notice, that distinction was the whole difference. It is the kind of thing an adviser is supposed to have settled years earlier. Life insurance Regulation 6/08/2026
Setti Mulari Later, when things settle down Two-thirds of younger New Zealanders have deferred a major life decision because of money. The events that used to prompt a conversation about cover are arriving late, or not at all. That is a different problem from the one the industry usually describes. Life insurance 28/07/2026
Setti Mulari Who pays for regulation Budget 2026 signalled a prudential levy on insurers under the Reserve Bank Act. Consultation runs from late July to October 2026, with the levy taking effect around August 2027. Levies do not stay where they are placed. Regulation 28/07/2026
Setti Mulari Why your health premium rose faster than your salary Medical inflation is forecast near 18% this year while general inflation sits in the low single digits. The reasons are structural, and cancelling is the most expensive response available to you. Health insurance 21/07/2026
Setti Mulari The four-month target Only 60% of patients were being treated within the four-month target in early 2026, while the waitlist grows by roughly 15,000 people a year. The gap between the promise and the arithmetic is where private cover earns its keep. Health insurance 14/07/2026
Setti Mulari Premiums up, cover down Total life premiums rose 2.7% to $3.31 billion while the amount of cover held fell across several key products. Nobody decides to be underinsured. It accumulates, one sensible trim at a time. Life insurance 7/07/2026
Setti Mulari The treatments Pharmac does not fund Unfunded cancer treatments can cost between $50,000 and $300,000 or more per course. Pharmac decides what the country funds; the gap it leaves is narrow, well-defined and insurable. Health insurance Life insurance 30/06/2026
Setti Mulari Genetic testing, and the order you do things in Australia bans genetic discrimination in insurance from 8 October 2026. New Zealand remains the only OECD country with no protection at all. If a predictive test is in your future, the order in which you do things matters enormously. Life insurance Regulation 23/06/2026
