Customers not shaken, or stirred, by churn debate
Widespread industry speculation suggests Partners Life - whose data is not included in the ISI figures - has been the main beneficiary.
Yet according to the main disputes resolution schemes and the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), while a hot button topic among advisers and insurers, the issue barely registers with consumers.
The FMA's head of primary regulatory operations, Sue Brown, said "we have had feedback from industry, and a few complaints" but that the topic is only an issue within the industry.
She said churn wasn't an issue picked up in the monitoring visits conducted so far by the watchdog but that insurance advice, including product replacement advice, "may be a theme or targeted area in the future."
Financial Services Complaints (FSCL) general manager Trevor Slater said it had only received one enquiry on the issue, which was resolved before reaching complaint status.
He said an adviser moved a client from one insurer to another with an increased level of cover. However, when the client wanted to cancel due to increased premiums they discovered they would have to pay a "substantial" fee to the adviser.
He said that while the fee had been disclosed, FSCL deemed it inappropriate to the level of service and believed the new policy provided more cover than required.
No further action was taken after the adviser agreed to a settlement on a lower fee.
Financial Disputes Resolution (FDR) said they had received no complaints and Insurance Savings Ombudsman (ISO) Karen Stevens said that while problematic in the past, "it hasn't really been an issue recently."
She doesn't believe the lapse in churn complaints is linked to new adviser regulations.
"There hasn't been any noticeable change at all because of the new adviser regime," she said.
Stevens conceded the debate can get complicated when the term churning - which she describes as "conveying the worst aspect of changing a customer from one policy to another for the wrong reasons" - is used to describe legitimate policy replacement.