Best Insurance Companies for Claims in Australia and New Zealand

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Claiming the crown

From catastrophic weather events in New Zealand to regulatory reform in Australia, the 5-Star Claims insurers of 2024 navigated significant challenges with grit and determination.

Brokers were instrumental in identifying the critical factors that earned recognition for this year’s best claims insurers:

work quality

specialist expertise

client service

Claims leaders from two leading companies in Australia and New Zealand reflect on the key determinants that contributed to their 5-Star award: competitive advantage, partner relationships, brokers’ top priority of timely service and payments, and the innovations that will keep them ahead of the rapidly changing environment.

At Arch, its strong relationships with stakeholders, tailored service approach, and proactive stance on regulation have cemented its industry-leading status. The 5-Star claims insurer collaborates closely with its partners to understand expectations and service requirements, whether claims, portfolio or customer-specific.

“The high standard of claims service is our promise to our customers, and we have invested heavily in systems technology enabling transactions to be processed with speed”

Joe DonovanArch Insurance Australia

“We do not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach,” explains Donovan. “We offer flexibility to our stakeholders, particularly brokers, regarding client-specific service expectations.”

Meanwhile, the sheer volume and severity of claims in New Zealand created challenges for all insurers. This is where Tower stood tall. As of April 30, 2024, the insurer has settled 96% of customer event claims.

“With our core platform live across the Tower group, and our new Suva Hub officially opened, we can better flex resources up or down across Fiji and New Zealand – our two biggest markets – to meet demand peaks,” Wilson remarks.

“Since the weather events, our team in Fiji has grown further,” he adds. “We now have nearly 300 local staff across all business units, from underwriting and claims to marketing and customer care. As a result, our Fiji team is increasingly helping with New Zealand sales, service and claims tasks.”

Wilson adds that these weather events, coupled with inflationary and supply chain pressures in recent years, have been felt across the industry.

What sets the best claims insurers apart in a competitive market?

Donovan: Arch’s approach is defined by its Pursuing Better Together® ethos, which encompasses:

Wilson: Providing a simple and rewarding customer experience is paramount at Tower. It is achieved by:

leveraging digital technology and data to drive service innovation

automating claims processes to settle simple claims straightaway or route them directly to a repairer

“When the worst happens, we are committed to getting people back on their feet as quickly as possible, whether that be back on the road in their vehicle or back in their homes,” Wilson says.

5-Star claims insurers ensure timely responses and payments

Donovan: “We have stringent service level requirements across claims and finance functions, exceeding industry expectations. We also have staff supporting our claims team with payment processing, ensuring that our customers and stakeholders receive timely and efficient payments.”

Wilson: “Tower’s vision for the future is of a digitised end-to-end customer experience, where our customers can manage every aspect of their claim via My Tower, supported by automated internal systems and supplier networks.

“We’re on a journey to achieve this in 2026: improve customer transparency, reduce operating costs, increase efficiency and productivity, and continue delivering good, simple customer experiences.”

Expertise, efficiency and innovation in claims

Donovan: “We have carefully selected claims professionals with relevant technical expertise in each risk area we underwrite. This expertise and experience, combined with reliability and trust, gives our customers and stakeholders confidence that a knowledgeable claims professional will handle all claims with an understanding of our customer’s business and risk.”

Wilson: “In fiscal year 2023, thanks to our new repair partner network’s straight-through-repair model for simple repairs, we removed the need for 40% of our customers to wait for an insurance assessment. Already, 50% of our MyTower motor claims are lodged online through claims automation.”

The best claims insurers enhance policyholders’ and brokers’ experience

Donovan: “We have recently expanded the team to include dedicated accident and health claims professionals. We believe this experience will enable us to provide enhanced serviceability across our accident and health products and facilitate meaningful relationships with our customers and stakeholders.

“This aligns with our promise to consistently deliver a high standard of claims service across each product.”

“We’re continuing to invest in our internal processes and repair networks to streamline our operations, to help moderate the impact on customers as much as possible”

Steve WilsonTower Insurance NZ

Wilson: “We collaborate closely with like-minded partners and other industry stakeholders on all aspects of the claims journey.

“A prime example of this is our partnership with Hello Claims. As part of our claims transformation journey, in April 2024, we announced a partnership to integrate Hello Claims’ cloud-based repair management platform software into our customer platform and internal systems from July 2024, to be completed by the end of FY24.

“We expect this integration to reduce the time it takes to allocate a claim to a repairer, authorise repairs and process invoices from three to five days to a single day.

“We’re also proud to partner with a range of assessors who are experts in their field to ensure accurate and timely loss assessments and clear communications to customers. Building on this has been our key focus in the last 12 months.”