TIME Insurance

The Mount Everest base camp trek is on thousands of Kiwis' bucket lists. But here's what nobody talks about. 🏔️

Altitude sickness is real, it hits fast, and at altitude – there's no just "sleeping it off." One traveller found this out the hard way when their Nepal trek turned into a medical emergency requiring urgent evacuation to hospital.

The total bill? $18,280.

The amount they paid out of pocket? $0.

Why? Because they had the right travel insurance in place before they left – specifically an Adventure Activities add-on that covered high-altitude trekking, emergency evacuation, and medical expenses.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: standard travel insurance often doesn't cover adventure activities. If you're trekking, skiing, diving, riding motorbikes or doing anything that gets your heart rate up – you need to check the fine print before you board that plane.

Because $18,000 is a lot of money to find out you weren't covered.

🔗 Read the full story: https://nz.covermoreconnect.com/altitude-sickness-in-nepal/

What happens to your business if you have to recall your product? 😬

One contaminated batch. One malicious tampering incident. One packaging error. That's all it takes to trigger a product recall – and the costs that follow can be absolutely devastating for a New Zealand business.

We're talking about:
💸 The cost of pulling every product off every shelf.
💸 Replacing, refunding or reformulating the affected product.
💸 Lost income while your business grinds to a halt.
💸 Legal fees, regulatory fines and penalties.
💸 And the hardest one to put a price on – your reputation.

Most small and medium Kiwi businesses that manufacture, produce, or sell physical products have absolutely no cover for this. They assume it won't happen to them – until it does.

Product Recall Insurance from Delta Insurance covers exactly this. Whether it's an accidental contamination, a storage error, malicious tampering by an employee, or even a product extortion threat – you're covered. And critically, it includes crisis management and reputation support to help you navigate the fallout without your brand going up in smoke.

If you make it, package it, blend it, label it or sell it – this is a conversation worth having.

🔗 Find out more: https://deltainsurance.co.nz/products/product-recall

Had a great TIME at the Insurertech event last night hosted by the Natural Hazards Commision.

Good insight into the data strategy behind the latest version of Aotearoa's Natural Hazards Portal. How this will impact your premium in the future 🧐

Caught up with some of our partners Paul from Bounce Insurance and Dan and Brendon from Folio 🤝🏿

A Wellington worker fell six metres off a roof. He's been unable to work since. His employer is now $117,000 poorer. 😔

This is not a freak accident. This is what happens when a business doesn't have proper health and safety systems in place – and it's playing out in workplaces across New Zealand right now.

Here's what happened: a 38-year-old father of five, just two months into his roofing job, fell from a slippery commercial rooftop in Wellington. No edge protection. No harness training. No hazard identification process. Rainy conditions. Cleaning product on a brand new iron roof.

He spent six months in hospital with a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones. He still lives with continuous pain and hasn't been able to work since.

His employer was fined $40,000 and ordered to pay $77,456 in reparations.

And here's the question every business owner needs to sit with: if this happened in your workplace tomorrow, would your insurance cover it?

Statutory liability cover and employer's liability insurance exist exactly for situations like this. Without them, that $117,000 comes directly out of your business.

📩 If you employ people – even one person – message me. Let's make sure you're protected.

🔗 Full story: https://www.worksafe.govt.nz/about-us/news-and-media/workers-six-metre-fall-prompts-industry-call-out/

Insurance claims in New Zealand are getting more expensive, more complicated, and more frequent. And you're paying for it. 💸

NZ insurance industry experts just laid out exactly what's driving up your premiums – and every Kiwi needs to hear this.

🚗 Modern cars are becoming uneconomical to repair. Ten years ago, 3% of motor claims resulted in a total loss. Today it's 13%. Technology-packed vehicles cost a fortune to fix – so insurers write them off instead.

🔋 Lithium-ion battery fires are up 17% in one year. E-bikes, phones, drones, EVs – all potential fire hazards. Around 20% of these claims happen during charging. If you've got an e-bike charging in your garage overnight, this is worth knowing.

👔 Businesses are getting hit from the inside. Employment disputes, wrongful dismissal claims, and internal fraud are surging – driven by economic pressure and redundancies. Management Liability cover has never been more important.

💻 Cyber criminals are targeting professionals. Ransomware attacks on lawyers, accountants and doctors are rising. Attackers steal data, then use it to commit invoice fraud against the victim's own clients. A two-stage attack. Devastating if you're not covered.

The uncomfortable truth? These rising costs don't stay with insurers – they get passed straight to you in higher premiums. Which side of the gap are you on?

🔗 https://premium.insurancebusinessmag.com/nz-2025-roundtable-a-rising-tide-of-complex-claims/p/1

Running a business in New Zealand just got a little less risky. Here's why. 👔🛡️

Most business owners I talk to have heard of public liability insurance. Some have employment cover. A handful have directors and officers protection.

But almost none of them have all of it sorted – in one place, properly, without gaps.

That's exactly the problem that Ando's new Management Liability Suite is designed to solve.

Here's the simple version: it's 10 lines of liability cover bundled into a single policy. One proposal. One renewal. One document. Done.

It's built specifically for New Zealand limited liability companies turning over up to $20 million – which covers a huge chunk of the Kiwi business landscape.

Why does this matter for your business?

Because liability claims are the ones that catch business owners completely off guard. We're not talking about a broken window or a stolen laptop. We're talking about:
⚠️ A staff member claiming wrongful termination or constructive dismissal.
⚠️ A director being personally named in a legal dispute.
⚠️ An urgent legal situation that needs funding now — not after a lengthy claims process.
⚠️ Water damage from an external leak hitting your building.

Some of the standout features that caught my eye:
✅ Up to $25,000 for building damage from external water leaks.
✅ Separate defence costs module – with 10% accessible upfront for urgent legal expenses.
✅ Employment disputes cover – including wrongful termination and constructive dismissal.

That last one is huge. Employment disputes are one of the most common – and most expensive – liability claims small and medium businesses face. And most owners don't find out they're not covered until it's too late.

If you run a business and you're not sure whether your current liability cover actually has your back, let's have a conversation. This is exactly the kind of product that makes a real difference when something goes wrong.

43 workers a month are being trapped in moving machinery in New Zealand. Last year alone, 516 people lost more than a week of work because of it. 😔⚠️

Two recent prosecutions show exactly what happens when businesses don't have proper safety procedures in place – and the financial and human cost is brutal.

A Christchurch bakery was fined $200,000 and ordered to pay $45,500 in reparations after a worker's hand was pulled into a machine while cleaning it. A colleague turned it on while his hand was inside. His index finger was amputated, his thumb partially amputated, and his middle finger crushed.

The cause? No lockout/tagout procedure. A basic, inexpensive safety control that physically prevents machinery from being switched on while someone is working on it. Workers had never seen it used and didn't even know where the equipment was kept.

Across the Tasman, a mining company was fined AU$750,000 after a worker's sleeve caught in a conveyor belt during daily maintenance – a task performed every single day, with no specific safe work procedure in place.

Here's the hard truth for NZ business owners: documentation alone isn't enough. WorkSafe found the bakery had extensive paperwork – but workers had never been trained in it.

If your staff can't demonstrate your safety procedures, you don't have safety procedures.

And if something goes wrong – statutory liability and employer's liability insurance are the financial safety net that keeps your business standing.

Australia banned it. Workers are dying from it. And New Zealand is still consulting on it. 😤

Engineered stone – the popular material used in kitchen and bathroom benchtops across NZ homes – is at the centre of a growing workplace safety crisis.

Here's the brutal truth: when engineered stone is cut, ground or polished, it releases silica dust. Breathe that in repeatedly and you can develop silicosis – an incurable, potentially fatal lung disease. And engineered stone produces a particularly aggressive form of it.

Australia took action. Victoria banned all work involving engineered stone from 1 July 2024. A bathroom wholesaler has now become the first company charged under that ban – facing 22 charges for continuing to direct workers to handle the material after the ban took effect.

Meanwhile in New Zealand? The government opened a consultation in December 2024. The Council of Trade Unions has been pushing for an outright ban for years.

Workers are getting sick right now – while we consult.

For any business in construction, renovation, joinery or kitchen installation – this is a serious liability issue. If a worker develops silicosis and your business hasn't taken steps to manage the risk, you're exposed legally and financially.

Statutory liability and employer's liability insurance are critical here – but they work alongside safe systems, not instead of them.

📩 Work with engineered stone or employ people who do? Message me. Let's talk about your exposure.

The tragic death of a 15-year-old student at Abbey Caves and the devastating eruption at Whakaari White Island. Now WorkSafe has stepped in – and if you run any kind of outdoor activity, you need to pay attention. 🌋⚠️

WorkSafe has just released new guidance for adventure activity operators and outdoor recreation providers on managing natural hazard risks – and it's about time.

We're talking about floods, landslips, snowfall, volcanic activity – the kinds of hazards that don't announce themselves and can turn a routine outdoor experience into a tragedy in minutes.

This guidance applies to:
🏕️ Registered adventure activity providers.
🏫 Schools running outdoor programmes.
⚽ Sports clubs and recreation venues.
🧗 Any organisation taking people into the outdoors.

And here's the bit that affects businesses well beyond the outdoor sector – the guidance covers dynamic risk management and trigger points. In plain English: having a clear system that tells your staff exactly what to do when a hazard is identified, before anyone gets hurt.

If you can't show WorkSafe a documented hazard management process – you're exposed. Legally and financially.

Public liability and statutory liability insurance won't help you if you haven't met your basic duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act. But having the right cover in place is still a critical safety net when things go wrong despite best efforts.

📩 Run an outdoor business or manage a venue? Message me – let's make sure your cover matches your risk.

🔗 Read the WorkSafe guidance: https://www.worksafe.govt.nz/topic-and-industry/adventure-activities/adventure-and-outdoor-recreation-activities-managing-the-risks-from-natural-hazards/

There are two levies sitting on your insurance bill that most Kiwis have never questioned. It's time to change that. 💡

Let's talk about FENZ and NHI levies – because there's been a lot of confusion lately, and some of it has actually led to people being incorrectly charged.

🔥 FENZ Levy
This funds Fire and Emergency New Zealand and is legally required on all policies. Every insurer must collect it – no exceptions.

One important detail for landlords: if you have a rental property with a Landlord's Extension, the contents levy is only charged once per location – regardless of how many self-contained units are on the property.

🌊 NHI Levy (Natural Hazards Insurance)
This one has caused the most confusion. Under the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023, every self-contained home or unit on a property must be charged an NHI levy – full stop. It doesn't matter who lives there, whether it's family or tenants.

A previous industry guide got this wrong. And here's the kicker – if a secondary self-contained home isn't charged the NHI levy correctly, insurers can decline to cover it.

That's not a technicality. That's a claim denied when you need it most.

📩 Not sure if your property is set up correctly? Message me and let's check.