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Photo: 123RF AA Insurance (AAI) has been ordered to pay a multimillion-dollar penalty for misleading customers and overcharging them to the tune of $11 million. The High Court imposed a near $6.2m penalty on the insurer for failing to apply multi-policy and membership discounts, as well as guaranteed no-claims bonuses. The Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which took action against the insurer, said the breaches primarily arose out of poor systems and processes. The High Court ruled that between 2015 and 2020, AA misled customers about its multi-policy discount offer and misrepresented that certain eligible customers would receive its guaranteed no-claims bonus for life. "While [AAI's] marketing material represented existing policyholders who added another policy would receive the disco...

Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas Forget arguing about whether the Reserve Bank will cut the official cash rate (OCR) by 25 or 50 basis points (bps) this week. It should go for a full 75bps and reduce the rate to 3.75 percent - from 5.25 percent at the moment - by Christmas, one fund manager says. Greg Smith, head of retail at Devon Funds, said it was not what he thought the Reserve Bank would do, but what it should do, given the state of the economy. Inflation was already back at the Reserve Bank's target midpoint and was likely to be below 2 percent by the end of the year. "There is therefore a strong case for official rates to already be at neutral, which the Reserve Bank estimates to be 3.8 percent in their short-run horizon. "With the official cash rate at 5...

TVNZ in Auckland. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi TVNZ is planning to scrap its 1News website next year under a proposal to save the struggling state-owned broadcaster's finances. A whole staff meeting was called on Monday to go over the proposal, aiming to find $30 million in savings. The broadcaster earlier this year cut a number of news and current affairs shows, including Fair Go and its midday and late night bulletins. The proposal presented to staff at the meeting included: Closing the 1News website from February next year Outsourcing some content workflows and technology Consolidating business areas "to align with our strategy" Investing more in TVNZ+, its on-demand platform, and establishing a new team Changing roster patterns Changing its youth-oriented platform Re: News to focus "s...

TVNZ in Auckland. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi A whole staff meeting has been called at TVNZ as the broadcaster tries to find $30 million, RNZ understands. The broadcaster earlier this year cut a number of news and current affairs shows as it tries to reduce costs and increase revenues. Sources at TVNZ have confirmed an invite was sent to all staff to a meeting on the proposed structure changes, for between 1pm and 3pm on Monday. "This consultation is focused on how we might achieve our $30m target and deliver our Digital+ strategy. Proposals relating to individual roles are not part of this consultation." "Our priority is to share proposals with our people first. We will not be commenting further at this stage." In a statement, TVNZ says it is entering into consultation on the proposed "s...