Reporting resources for insurers
Licensed insurers in New Zealand must submit regular data returns to us to support our prudential supervision of the insurance sector under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010 (IPS Act). This page provides the reporting timeframes for insurers, the forms they must use and instructions for submitting returns.
Overview of reporting requirements
Insurers need to report information in a consistent presentation format to:
- help with interpretation
- enable comparisons between insurers
- provide a sector-wide view.
We publish some of the information such as aggregated data on income statements and balance sheets.
Insurance income statement (J10)
Note: We only publish aggregate data. We do not currently publish data on individual insurers.
This reporting is additional to other information required from insurers by legislation, licence conditions or notices (for example, annual financial statements and auditor report, annual financial condition report, copies of solvency reporting to home supervisor).
We expect insurers to be fully compliant with the reporting requirements on this page and we may take enforcement action against insurers who do not meet their obligations.
This page sets out generalised reporting requirements and does not override any specifications contained in legislation, regulation, licence conditions, Section 121 notices, other notices, forms, definitions or other instructions.
Table 1: General guidance on the frequency of reporting
| Form | Frequency | Due date | Brief description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurer Return(IR) | 6-monthly or annually | 4 months | Information from insurer balance sheets and income statements. |
| Quarterly Insurer Survey | Quarterly | 40 working days | As for Insurer Return but generally reduced detail. |
| Insurer Solvency Return (ISR) | 6-monthly | 4 months | Information on the solvency position of insurers required to comply with NZ solvency standards. |
| Insurer Solvency Exempt Return(ISER) | 6-monthly | 4 months | Information on the solvency position of insurers required to comply with solvency standards in their home jurisdiction. |
| Insurer Foreign Business Return (IFBR) | Annually | 4 months | Information on the foreign business undertaken by NZ incorporated insurers. |
| Catastrophe Claims Return | Quarterly | 2 weeks | Information on claims from catastrophe events. |
Explanatory note to table 1:
Six-monthly and annual financial data is generally based on full-year and interim financial statements. More frequent financial data (for example, QIS and catastrophe claims) is generally based on management reporting.
Table 2: General reporting requirements for insurers
| Category of user | Description | IR | ISR or ISER | QIS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large | Insurers with gross annual premium $50+ million at financial year end or total assets $500+ million at financial year end, but excluding reinsurers with no NZ primary insurance | 6-monthly | 6-monthly | Quarterly |
| Reduced requirement |
1. Small insurers with exemption under IPSA regulation 11(1)(a)(ii) 2. Reinsurers with no NZ primary insurance 3. Captive insurers under IPSA section 6 |
Annually | 6-monthly | Not applicable |
| Default | All other insurers | 6-monthly | 6-monthly | Not applicable |
Table 3: Other surveys required from certain classes of insurers
| Survey | Criteria | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Insurer Foreign Business return | NZ-incorporated insurers with gross annual premiums from foreign business greater than $10+ million and where their business is more than 10% of total annual premium | Annually |
| Catastrophe Claims Return | Property insurers with significant outstanding claims relating to large catastrophes as determined by us. Currently this is limited to the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes and the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. | Quarterly |
Explanatory notes to table 2 and 3:
- Frequent changes in reporting requirements due to fluctuations in insurer size in successive financial years are undesirable. To manage this issue, we will apply a lower threshold to exit rather than to enter the category row of ‘Large’.
- When an insurer has specific risks or issues that need more frequent monitoring, we may vary their requirements from this general guidance.
- We require a reasonable assurance audit of the annual Insurer Solvency Return (ISR). We do not currently require the other regular data returns to be audited. However, if we are concerned about the quality and accuracy of other information provided by an insurer, we may (by formal notice) add an audit requirement for other data returns.
Legal authority
We collect data under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010 – Section 121 notices issued to licensed insurers.
Reporting requirements for each insurer are specified in their Section 121 notice(s). These apply until we give notice to an insurer of variation or revocation. Penalties may be made for non-compliance.
All information collected in these returns is subject to Section 135 confidentiality provisions.
Forms and guides
Our insurance returns and survey template page contains the current forms that are referenced in the Section 121 notices. You must use these forms and the definitions provided in the instructions to complete the returns.
We also provide a guide for some of the returns.
You should regularly check this section for a later version of any forms you are required to use.
Table 4: Versions and guidelines
| Document | Form | Guide | Version | Report date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitions for Insurer Return and Quarterly Insurer Survey |
— | Definitions for Insurer Return & Quarterly Insurer Survey |
V1.2 | From March 2016 |
| Insurer Return (IR) |
Insurer Return 2020 xls | Guidance for Insurer Return and Quarterly Insurer Survey V1.3 pdf |
V1.1e |
From December 2020 |
| Insurer Return for Lloyd's (IRL) |
Insurer Return for Lloyd's V1.1c xls |
— | V1.1c |
From February 2019 |
| Quarterly Insurer Survey (QIS) |
Quarterly Insurer Survey V1.2g xls |
— |
V1.2g |
From December 2020 |
| Quarterly Insurer Survey for Lloyd's (QISL) |
Quarterly Insurer Survey for Lloyd's V1.1b xls |
— |
V1.1b |
From February 2019 |
| Insurer Solvency Return (ISR) |
Insurer Solvency Return V5.3a xls |
Guide to Completing the Insurer Solvency Return V5.3 pdf |
V5.3a |
From December 2020 |
| Insurer Solvency Exempt Return (ISER) |
Insurer Solvency Exempt Return V2.1c xls |
— |
V2.1c |
From December 2020 |
| Insurer Foreign Business Return (IFBR) |
Insurer Foreign Business Return V1.1b xls |
— |
V1.1b |
From February 2019 |
| Insurer Catastrophe Claims Return (ICCL) |
Insurer Catastrophe Claims Return VB xls |
— |
VB | From December 2016 |
Explanatory notes to the versions table 4:
- This table includes current versions of the reports required from insurers, as well as those that have been revised the last year. Earlier versions of these reports can be found in our data collections archive.
- Because of the unique way the Lloyds of London insurance market operates, specific templates have been developed to better reflect the information limitations/availability for Lloyds' activity in New Zealand.
- Previous versions of returns are available.
Instructions for submitting returns
You must submit returns in Excel format using the Reserve Bank Secure Upload Facility selecting the relevant submission type from the drop-down options (this is generally the name of the return), unless we have specifically agreed in writing to a different approach.
You must not submit returns by less secure methods (such as email), or as paper documents, or in other formats (such as PDF).
You must upload other required documents (such as annual financial statements) or optional documents (such as working files) separately from the associated returns, selecting the relevant subject.
In future, we will add a login and update these instructions.
If you have questions
Email your questions to [email protected] and we will respond shortly.
For urgent enquiries, call during working hours: Phone +64 4 471 3799
Catastrophe claims return
The 2010/11 Canterbury earthquake sequence highlighted the importance of regularly monitoring claims and reinsurance positions for significant catastrophe events as part of prudential supervision.
In 2016, we added the Kaikoura earthquake to our existing reporting for the Canterbury earthquakes to our monitoring of relevant insurers. We issued property insurers with a Section 121 notice for the updated reporting requirements for this return.
We tailor the frequency of reporting based on the stability of claims estimates and the actual or potential significance of each event. There is provision for resubmission if a valuation results in a significant movement in estimates after the original submission. We think this provides a balance between compliance costs and our prudential monitoring needs.
If there are further significant catastrophe events in future, we will update the reporting requirements. This includes updates to insurers that are required to report based on the relevancy of each event.
Download the Catastrophe claims return (XLS 165 KB)
Changes and updates to documents
11 December 2020
There are new insurer data collections with the following changes:
- Insurer Return V1.1e – updated list of insurers and current financial year end date added to facilitate our processing when insurers have changed balance dates
- Quarterly Insurer Survey V1.2g – updated list of insurers
- Insurer Solvency Return V5.3a – updated list of insurers
- Insurer Solvency Exempt Return V2.1c – updated list of insurers.
There is no change to the information required to be reported, other than the addition of current financial year end date in the Insurer Return. The new version must be used for reporting dates from December 2020.
1 August 2020
There are new versions of two documents that should be used for balance dates from 1 September 2020.
- Insurer Solvency Return v5.3 – includes new fields for projecting solvency with and without capital movements.
- Guide to completing the Insurer Solvency Return v5.3 – instructions for projections:
- Handling of upcoming changes to accounting standards.
- Projections with and without capital movements.