NM Report
Welcome to the latest edition of The NM Report.
Welcome to
The NM Report
March-May 2023
While Summer is officially over, the warmer weather most of us have been enjoying means asset usage remains high. This should continue over the next couple of months, especially heading into Easter.
For many of our customers, this means road trips, and adventures with family and friends. Let’s make sure that those customers who are purchasing assets around Easter are offered the opportunity to receive an insurance quote, so they can choose to cover their treasured new asset.
As we head into this busy time of the year, we thought it was timely to share a few key updates from the NM Insurance team.
Meet the Team
Meet Steve Cap
Meet Steve Cap, our new Head of Underwriting – Caravan and Motorcycles.
Steve joined the NM Insurance family this year after 13 years at Shannons Insurance, where he held numerous positions in underwriting and leading teams.
“My role at NM Insurance allows me to bring my passions for motorcycles and caravans into my work life on a daily basis,” says Steve. “I love being able to share my insurance knowledge and passion for the products we protect with my colleagues and our customers.” Away from work, Steve is a motorcycle enthusiast with a passion for collecting motorcycles. He is also the proud owner of a vintage 1960’s caravan.
Welcome back
Welcome back Shelly!
Welcome back Shelly Eshman-Myhill, Queensland BDM, who has recently returned from maternity leave. We are delighted to have Shelly back on board and have already recruited her to join the National Motorcycle Insurance mixed team for the upcoming Transmoto 8-Hour Enduro Miva event in June. Stay tuned for more updates on these Transmoto events in upcoming editions.
5 minutes with
Stratton Finance
Each edition of The NM Report we catch up with industry partners to learn more about their business.
For this edition, Tim Baker our Head of Development – Major Alliance Partners sat down with Nick Giagiopoulos, Operations Manager – Stratton Finance.
Give us a brief snapshot of Stratton Finance.
We are a finance company offering financial solutions to customers and dealers alike. We work with many dealers around Australia helping them with their customers journey through the purchase of an asset (be it a boat, caravan, motorcycle or car). We also supply finance direct to customers who contact us via email, our webpage or the phone.
What’s your role at Stratton Finance?
Operations Manager over seeing 11 internal brokers nationally focusing mainly on leisure products. My role has me based in Melbourne, however I have a relationship manager who is based in Sydney that travels extensively around the nation.
How do you partner with NM Insurance?
NM Insurance provides us with an insurance solution for our customers who are in the process of purchasing and financing a new asset. We utilise the following products as in our partnership with NM Insurance, Nautilus Marine Insurance, Let’s Go Caravan Insurance and National Motorcycle Insurance.
How do you partner with dealers to add value to their business?
Dealers often have customers wanting to purchase an asset but needing finance to do so. We act as the dealerships Business Manager (finance and insurance person). The dealer/salesperson contacts us and one of our team are assigned to the task of working with the client and dealership to make the purchase a reality through one of our many finance providers.
Do you have any tips or advice for dealers?
Utilising finance brokerages like Stratton not only helps a customer achieve the result they want but also brings income into the dealership as well. Don’t be afraid to mention finance options to clients, it could benefit all involved in the process. Also don’t be afraid to utilise a finance broker to help close a deal. Sometimes an approval up front is what it takes to get a purchase over the line.
How important is it to have a robust/serious approach to compliance to ensure you are meeting all your regulatory obligations?
Regulations and legislation are a big focus point at the moment. Like NM Insurance we take on these responsibilities with a great deal of focus. Dealers and customer alike should feel comfortable knowing our compliance obligations are at the forefront of everything we do.
We caught up with you at the Melbourne Caravan and Camping Super show. What insights or feedback has come forward from the conversations you’ve been having with both customers and members of the industry?
Interest rates have been the hot topic given the current economic environment. Conversations around this have become more of a focal point lately as the reserve bank continues to lift rates. We have a number of finance providers that support our business giving us many options in this area for our customers to consider.
Contact Stratton Finance:
Nick Giagiopoulos
Operations Manager – Stratton Finance
0411 459 161
nick.giagiopoulos@stratton.com.au
strattonfinance.com.au
Industry Events
Caravan and
camping shows
Caravan and camping show season is in full swing and it’s great to see so many people turning out in attendance.
Members of our NM Insurance team have been representing our caravanning insurance brands at a number of caravan shows including the Newcastle Caravan and Camping Lifestyle Show, The Let’s Go Caravan, Camping and Outdoor Show in Adelaide the Victorian Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow. It’s been great to support our dealers and manufacturers alike and chat to members of the caravanning community.
We typically see many quotes come through from these events. So please don’t forget to offer an insurance quote for any deposits. Several more caravanning shows are still planned for the rest of the year. Make sure to contact your local BDM should you require brochures or signs for your stand. Point of sale show signage is a great way to ensure customers are aware that you can arrange insurance through your dealership.
Tim Baker, Head of Development – Major Alliance Partners
Nautilus Marine Magazine
Promoting your dealership
to our audience
Nautilus Marine Magazine, is going from strength to strength, with a massive swell of support from advertisers, contributors and great feedback from the readership of over 47,000.
Our 100-page boating lifestyle magazine delivers a mixture of quality content creating market awareness, with scalable advertising packages, to suit your needs. Offering simple effective campaigns engaging actual boat owners. If you’re looking for a cost effective and efficient market promotion…let’s work together.
Dealership case study: Good Times Marine
We began to work with Derek from Good Times Marine, off the back of an introduction from Sam Palmiotto the NM Insurance BDM for NSW. We’ve since gone on to collaborate with Derek via a mixture of editorial features and advertising, including showcasing — and quoting him as an industry expert within a series of articles. This combination of advertising and editorial builds awareness with our community of boat owners, keeps your business top of mind and offers clear calls to action.
How we can work with you
Our community are better for the products and advice that Derek and Good Times Marine provide to the magazine. We would love to talk to more dealers about how we can work together.
We are looking to work with dealerships, to understand your products and businesses. How they stand out from a cluttered market, what makes them unique. What is your service offering, and Why do your customers come back.
Get in touch
Keen to expose your business to a wider audience of qualified boat owners? It starts with a chat with our Commercial Partnerships Manager Andrew Mulholland. Andrew will work with you to understand your business goals and areas of key focus. From there, we’ll present effective content campaign options across print, digital and social.
Andrew Mulholland – Commercial Partnerships Manager
AndrewM@nminsurance.com.au
0482 854 066
Compliance Corner
ASIC Breach Reporting
Did you know that as an Australian financial services licensee, NM Insurance needs to report certain issues to ASIC irrespective of how ‘innocent’ they may appear? In the first in our new series of case studies, we’ve created a scenario involving two fictional companies to explore the issue of product promotion.
Case Study – XYZ Boating
XYZ Boating Pty Ltd (XYZ) is a yacht dealer and authorised distributor of Sail-Away Boat Insurance, underwritten by Ever Protect Insurance Ltd (Ever Protect). As a distributor, XYZ can provide factual information about insurance and arrange for customers to buy it when they’re buying a yacht, but can’t promote the insurance or influence customers to buy it.
XYZ’s marketing team places the following advert on the XYZ website:
As innocent as it may seem, in publishing this advert XYZ breaches the terms of its distributor agreement and commits an offence under financial services laws.
Ever Protect monitors distributor websites regularly, identifies the advert and refers it to its Compliance Team. Given the nature of the financial services offence, XYZ agrees to immediately remove the advert from its website, and Ever Protect reports the issue to ASIC to comply with the conditions of its financial services licence.
Ever Protect also raises the issue with the Responsible Director at XYZ and arranges additional monitoring in respect of XYZ’s website and distribution activities.
If XYZ had committed prior similar breaches or been uncooperative in the investigation and rectification process, Ever Protect would have been required to terminate its distribution agreement.
The example company XYZ Boating, Ever Protect Insurance and events depicted herein this case study are fictitious. No association with any real company, or events is intended or should be inferred.
Have a compliance question?
If you have any questions about the regulatory issues raised in this edition, please reach out to your local BDM. They’ll be happy to consult with our Legal & Compliance Team and provide assistance or guidance where required.
Securing the journey together.
NM Insurance is a business name of NM Insurance Pty Ltd ABN 34 100 633 038, AFSL 227186 (NM Insurance). NM Insurance is an underwriting agency with binding and claims authorities from Zurich Australian Insurance Limited. These allow it to enter into and arrange policies of insurance and handle and settle claims made under them. NM Insurance acts on behalf of the relevant insurer and not you when providing these services but does so under its own AFSL.
Products are issued by NM Insurance. Advice on this website is general so consider whether it suits your objectives, financial situation and needs. Always consider the relevant Target Market Determination and Product Disclosure Statement / Policy wording before buying or renewing insurance. These are available from the relevant branded website.
We comply with the General Insurance Code of Practice which is designed to raise standards of practice and service in the general insurance industry. The Code Governance Committee (CGC) is an independent body that monitors and enforces compliance with the Code. For more information about the Code or the CGC, visit www.codeofpractice.com.au.
Steadfast Group Ltd (ABN 98 073 659 677) (‘SGL’) has a majority shareholding in NM Insurance. SGL may receive a professional services fee (PSF) from insurers, premium funders and underwriting agencies such as NM Insurance (Partner) for access to regulatory and compliance support; marketing and communications; data insights; and access to technology platforms. The PSF is an agreed amount between SGL and the relevant Partner, usually annually. The PSF is not determined by the volume of the business that the Steadfast Network brokers place, nor is the amount of the PSF known to the Steadfast Network Brokers, so it is not able to influence recommendations to their clients.
NM Insurance may have access to shared services from SGL, including: compliance tools; procedures; manuals and training; legal; HR banking; and group purchasing arrangements. These services are funded by SGL, subsidised by SGL or SGL receives a fee for them.
SGL’s FSG is available at www.steadfast.com.au or on request by telephoning SGL’s Company Secretary on +61 2 9495 6500.
For information about interpreting services please contact the Australian Government’s Translating and Interpreting Service.
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