Unkovich TanyaTANYA UNKOVICH (NZ First): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak to and support the Contracts of Insurance Bill which has been proposed by the Hon Andrew Bayly. This bill is a significant piece of legislation and it's aimed at reforming modernising and consolidating insurance contract law. Currently insurance contracts are governed by the number of pieces of legislation and case law and as already mentioned some of them are as old as 100 years.Hon Dr Duncan Webb: Have you got the same notes?TANYA UNKOVICH: No not at all not at all. Even you mentioned it right? So why not mention it again?Katie Nimon: You can't change the facts.TANYA UNKOVICH: You can't change the fact so why not repeat it. This bill is going to address some longstanding issues from very old legislation which have been identified through consultation review and other discussions with stakeholders. The overarching goal of this bill is to ensure that insurance contract law operates effectively which will benefit both insurers and policy holders. It seeks to promote well-functioning insurance markets by enabling consumers and businesses to protect themselves whilst also minimising costs. There are insights from similar reforms in Australia and the United Kingdom legislation which have also been informed in this bill.This bill addresses many issues one of them being about disclosure. Being the daughter of immigrant parents who really did struggle to understand when they were paying various bills I didn't like it when my father would ring and say Tanya what am I paying this insurance for?" and I'd go "Oh my God I've got to go and read his bill." and even I struggled. So as I'm reading this bill I'm thinking this will be so beneficial to people who really struggle including myself. So this is going to be a good thing. I think of my parents' friends who are still alive. I'm friendly with their children and they have the same problems now when they're having to go through some of this and they're having to employ people to help them understand what the documentation says. So amending the law pertaining to disclosure will simplify the insurance process and remove the scope for miscommunication which can disadvantage many people in the sector.For consumer insurance contracts which is more of a domestic type of contract policy holders have a duty to take reasonable care not to misinterpret information. And once again I have had an instance when my father didn't quite explain things when he was trying to explain them and it was simply a language thing. So now if someone innocently makes a mistake and does not disclose or just gives incorrect information then they are not going to find themselves out of cover.For non-consumer insurance contracts which are more of a business-type contract policy holders will need to make a fair presentation of the risk before the contract is entered into or varied. Now as already mentioned in Part 2 there are clauses that are relating to remedies. Now remedies are separated between consumer and non-consumer contracts and I see as I read the bill that it is very specifically itemised on what the remedy would be dependent on whether it was a reckless an intentional or just an innocent mistake. I felt that this was a very good thing so that there was clarity and specificity around what the remedy would be. It would create stronger boundaries when making decisions on the remedy.New Zealand First is very much a party that believes in levelling the playing field and we feel that this bill will do that between consumer and business and also we feel that it will support people in this process. Often it is something that many struggle to do and so it will be an opportunity for people to have that certainty when they're entering into contracts.New Zealand First is very keen to see this bill move to the select committee. We support this bill to the House."