IAG New Zealand’s insurance premiums topped $2 billion in the first-half of its 2025 financial year, the second consecutive time IAG has passed this milestone in the first-half of its financial year.
IAG NZ’s gross written premium (GWP) edged up almost 5% to $2.1 billion in the six months to December 31 2024, from $2 billion in the first half of the 2023 financial period.
GWP is the total amount of money customers are required to pay for insurance coverage on policies issued by an insurer. This $2.1 billion figure was made up of GWP from broker, bank partner and direct channels.
IAG is the largest general insurer in Australia as well as NZ. One in every two households in NZ holds an IAG insurance policy and it insures over $1 trillion of commercial and domestic assets in the country.
IAG NZ trades under the AMI, State, NZI, NAC, Lumley and Lantern brands, and also provides general insurance products sold by ASB, BNZ, Westpac and The Co-operative Bank.
Direct channel underlying GWP rose by 6% to $868 million in the 2025 half-year thanks to IAG NZ’s home portfolio experiencing strong premium growth, new business improvement and renewal rates holding steady.
“Private motor saw low single-digit growth, driven by modest rate increases. New business levels improved, and retention remained steady,” IAG said of NZ in its group results report.
Underlying GWP from IAG NZ’s bank partner channels’ jumped 15% to $306 million, while its broker channel underlying local currency GWP rose around 1% to $902 million.
“A softening commercial market impacted premium growth, but the business maintained its underwriting discipline and successfully leveraged NZI’s strong brand with value-added services including risk advisory,” IAG noted in its report.
Profit up 63%
IAG NZ reported a half-year net profit after tax of $346 million, 63% higher than the insurer's $211 million net profit in the 2024 half-year.
The insurer's underlying insurance margin for the 2025 financial half-year rose to 19.5%, up from 14.9% in the first half of the previous financial period. IAG NZ’s insurance margin for the six months to the 31st December rose to 30.5%, up from 22.3% in the 2024 financial half-year.
IAG NZ’s underlying insurance margin for the 2025 financial half-year rose to 19.5%, up from 14.9%. The general insurer said this reflected the “benign” perils experience it had during the financial period.
Like its rival Suncorp NZ which reported its 2025 half-year results on Wednesday, IAG NZ also zeroed in on NZ’s vulnerability to natural hazards in its latest results.
“In recent months we have seen local and international examples of the devastating impact that climate related natural hazards can have on people and the importance of having a sustainable insurance industry to support their recovery,” IAG NZ Chief Executive Amanda Whiting said
“New Zealand remains highly vulnerable to natural hazards and weather-related disasters which are expected to increase in frequency and severity. So, it is critically important that we take a longer-term view, recognising that today’s profit underpins access to the resources and capital which will be needed to help us recover from the next big event.”
Earlier this week at its AGM, Tower Insurance also warned that NZ needs to clarify climate adaptation funding as a country to avoid a California-style insurance crisis amid rising natural disaster risks.
“Increasing weather volatility, reinsurance costs, government levies and the industry’s move to more granular risk-based pricing will continue to affect customer premiums. Inflation, however, continues to ease, and this is being reflected in current premiums,” she said.
The IAG Group’s catastrophe reinsurance program for the 2025 financial year provides a main catastrophe cover for two events up to $11.1 billion (A$10 billion), with an attachment at $556.7 million (A$500 million).
The insurer has also secured reinsurance cover for long-term natural perils volatility protection starting from 2025 to 2029.
That extra reinsurance cover will provide an extra $1.1 billion (A$1 billion) in additional protection annually which will add up to around $4.4 billion (A$4 billion) over the five-year period for natural peril event costs under $556.7 million (A$500 million).
The IAG Group made $866 million (A$778 million) in net profit after tax and $9.3 billion (A$8.4 billion) in GWP in the six months to the 31st December.
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