Disclosure Statement

1 April 2025

This Disclosure Statement provides important information about the financial advice services provided by The New Zealand Automobile Association (Incorporated) (NZAA, we, our, or us). This information is also available in writing, on request.

NZAA is a Financial Advice Provider (FAP), and holds a licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) to provide financial advice. You can verify this information by checking the Financial Service Providers Register at www.fspr.govt.nz by entering our name or FSP number, which is 41189.

Products where we can provide financial advice

We engage Nominated Representatives, who are trained to provide financial advice on our behalf. The FAP licence that we hold means that our Nominated Representatives do not have to be individually registered with, or authorised by, the FMA. Our Nominated Representatives only provide financial advice about AA Insurance Limited (AA Insurance)’s Home, Contents, and Vehicle Insurance policies.  

We and our Nominated Representatives, when providing financial advice to you, are bound by certain duties under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 and the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Services (the Code). These duties include:

·   meeting the standards of competence, knowledge and skill set out in the Code,

·   giving priority to your interests,

·   exercising due care, diligence and skill, and

·   maintaining standards of ethical behaviour, conduct, and client care set out in the Code.

You can find a copy of the Code at www.financialadvicecode.govt.nz.

We are unable to provide financial advice in relation to any other products or offer comparisons with the insurance cover anyone else offers or provides, and any advice we provide will only consider the information you provide us at the time.

This means the scope of the advice we provide is limited. It is designed to ensure that any insurance you arrange through us as a result of our financial advice is suitable for your needs, as communicated to us when we provide our advice, without going any further.

Products where we do not provide advice

The following types of insurance policies are available on an information only basis:

Our Nominated Representatives will not make any recommendations or give any opinions in relation to purchasing, cancelling, or retaining, any of the above insurance products. Instead, we can provide you with information about their features to help you make your own mind up about what cover you think is right for you.

Reliability History

Neither we, nor any of our Nominated Representatives, have been subject to a reliability event. A reliability event is something that might materially influence you in deciding whether to seek financial advice from NZAA and our Nominated Representatives. As an example, it would include a successful regulatory action against us or our Nominated Representatives relating to the financial services we provide.

Fees

Our Nominated Representatives do not charge a fee for any financial advice or other services provided.  

Remuneration

Our Nominated Representatives are employees, so they receive a salary and do not receive a bonus for the sale of insurance products. We require our Nominated Representatives to follow an advice process that ensures our recommendations are made based on your goals and circumstances. All our Nominated Representatives also undergo training about how to manage conflicts of interest.

We do not receive a commission from AA Insurance, although we do receive a share of any profits that AA Insurance might make each year.

For all non-AA Insurance policies, we generally receive a commission when a customer is referred to and takes out insurance through an insurer referred to in the table above. The commission will be payable to us by the insurer and is generally a percentage of the premium you pay.

We have several systems and controls in place to ensure that the conflicts of interest inherent in commissions and profit sharing are managed. For example, we regularly review the products we distribute to customers to ensure they remain fit for purpose, and our employees receive training on insurance products to ensure it is sold appropriately.

To ensure our Nominated Representatives prioritise your interests above their (and our) own when advising on AA Insurance policies, we also follow an advice process that is designed to ensure any financial advice we provide is suitable for the circumstances in which it is given, recognising the very limited nature and scope of the advice we provide. This advice process does not apply when we are assisting with non-AA Insurance policy enquiries, as we only provide information about these policies to help you make your own properly informed decision about them, and do not provide any financial advice.

Complaints handling and dispute resolution

We define a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction made by customers about an insurer’s products, us, our services, staff, and our handling of an individual complaint or the overall complaint handling process itself, where a response is explicitly or implicitly expected or legally required.

Our internal complaints process:

If you are not satisfied with our financial advice service, you can make a complaint in one of the following ways:

·       Online: Via our online complaint form at www.aa.co.nz/contact-us/making-a-complaint/

·       Phone: 0800 500 444 Monday to Friday, 9am- 5pm

·       Mail: Att: Customer Advocacy Manager, The New Zealand Automobile Association (Incorporated), Head Office, PO Box 5, Shortland Street, Auckland, 1140 (Please include your contact details, so we can respond).

Our dispute resolution scheme:

We are a member of the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman dispute resolution scheme. If you’re not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint under our internal complaints process, this free and independent service may help investigate or resolve your complaint.

You can contact the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman in one of the following ways:

·       Phone: 0800 888 202

·       Website: www.ifso.nz/complaints

·       Mail: Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman, PO Box 10 845, Wellington 6143

The information provided in this Disclosure Statement applies to complaints in relation to insurance products distributed or referred by NZAA and any related services we provide.

For further information on our complaints handling procedures, including our Dispute Resolution Service, please see our Insurance Complaints Handling and Dispute Resolution disclosure statement by visiting:

https://www.aa.co.nz/contact-us/insurance-complaints-handling-and-dispute-resolution-disclosure-statement/