Extreme weather claims at IAG

Australian insurance group IAG, which owns State, NZI and AMI in NewZealand, has announced a profit of A$347 million (NZ$384m). The profit, for the 12 months to the end of June, turned around a loss of A$448m in the previous financial year. Last year’s losswas the result of its Australian businesses facing high Covid-related business interruption insurance claims, aswell as having to set large amounts ofmoney aside to make refunds to wronged customers and fix historic payroll failures. IAG’s managing director, Nick Hawkins, said premium increases had offset inflationary pressures. But higher claims for natural perils, including storms, had depressed IAG’s insurance margins. While premiums had increased for NewZealand policyholders, the profit from its NewZealand operations fell from A$305m to A$220m as a result of higher extreme weather claims. Cost-savings were sought through a simplification and automation project in NewZealand.