Pro Risk

The risk of using generative AI at work

Ask around the office and you’ll find that many of your people have used an AI chatbot to generate a document for work purposes. But is this putting your business and client data at risk? Here are a few things to consider with your employees using these applications, along with what you can do to help mitigate these risks. Risk...

Rising insurance costs and difficulty getting cover – especially in flood-prone areas

Why are insurance costs going up? Over the last 18 months insurance premiums have gone up by nearly 30%, with significant increases in high flood risk areas, such as the Hawkes Bay. Whilst pricing is starting to stabilise, it is still a large cost for many people whether it comes to their home, business or both. Why have costs risen...

Whether it’s rising costs or claims an insurance broker is your best bet

Let’s be honest, insurance premiums are going up and for many businesses and homeowners already feeling the pinch it is not easy to absorb the cost. If you have your insurance direct with insurers, do you have the time to be going around the traps and getting quotes? Not only that, but to compare each of the policies they provide...

12 months on from Gabrielle – the impact on claims and insurance premiums

It is hard to believe that a year has already passed since Cyclone Gabrielle devastated our region. What has happened a year on regarding insurance claims, and how will it affect your premiums moving forward? As at 13 December 2023, insurers had settled 99,798 of 115,353 claims (about 87%) from the Cyclone Gabrielle and Auckland Anniversary events, according to the...

How medical insurance can support worker productivity

In July 2023, it was reported in the media that many patients were waiting up to a year for basic medical procedures at Hawke’s Bay Hospital when the target wait is six weeks. These procedures included ultrasound and CT scans, MRI’s and steroid injections. The wait to get a routine examination for these patients was one of the factors (along...

150 years of insurance events in Hawke’s Bay

As this July marks 150 years since the founding of Hastings, we thought it would be interesting to take a journey through some of significant events in the region during this time and see how insurance played a part in them. Has much changed since 1873 and what have we learnt? Fire Hastings first major fire occurred in Heretaunga Street...

What did we learn from disaster

It’s been a tough couple of months for many with Cyclone Gabrielle having wreaked havoc across our beautiful region. Over 40,000 insurance claims have been lodged. The cost attached to these claims is around $890 million of which around $70m has been paid, according to The Insurance Council of New Zealand at 20th March. This only covers insurers who are...

Employee Benefits How do you measure the health & wellbeing of your team?

There has been a lot of talk lately around employee health and wellbeing, especially with the struggle for employers to attract and retain staff and recent initiatives such as Mental Health Awareness Week. We all know that a healthy workforce leads to a healthy business but what is the right approach for employers to health and wellbeing and, if the...

In a Volatile World – Make Sure You Have the Right Values Insured

The world is increasingly volatile with newspapers being filled with stories of economic doom and gloom. Continuing issues with supply chains are impacting the availability of all imported goods including building materials, replacement parts, and machinery. Inflation is set to hit levels not seen since the late 80’s and early 90’s.The consequence of this is that prices continue to rise...

Navigating the fast-moving world of cyber risks

Commentary on cyber risk seems to be in the news almost every day. With good reason. Many organisations from the Government, through to consulting firms, business associations and insurers are all trying to raise awareness of the risks that SME businesses face. The simple fact is that cyber risk and threats are developing and changing. It is a fast-moving area that...

William joined the insurance industry in 2000 as a commercial underwriter with NZ based insurers before moving into broking in 2013. He now specialises in brokering and risk management, with a depth of expertise in most areas of insurance. William has a focus on transport, forestry, manufacturing, engineering, food processing and expanded polystyrene risks in the Hawkes Bay and East Coast regions. He is passionate about customer service and delivering the best possible outcomes for his clients, regardless of the complexity of their business risks.

E:william.horvath@icib.co.nz