Exclusive: How Partners Life is simplifying the journey to life insurance

In a world where life insurance is often seen as complex and difficult to navigate, Tim von Dadelszen, Head of Digital Innovation at Partners Life, is on a mission to change that.

Having spent over two decades working at the intersection of insurance, customer experience, and technology, von Dadelszen brings a wealth of experience to his role.

"My role is quite a broad role, exploring customer pain points in the life insurance space and finding ways to offer more channels for customers and advisors, making it easier to do business," he explained to TechDay.

His focus is clear: simplifying the customer journey through the use of digital innovation.

Von Dadelszen acknowledged the challenge, as the insurance industry has historically lagged behind in meeting customer expectations.

A tech-driven career

Before joining Partners Life, von Dadelszen co-founded several insure-tech businesses in New Zealand. These ventures included Life Direct, an online insurance comparison website, and QuoteMonster, a platform for independent financial advisers to compare quotes and product quality.

"My career has really been in that kind of intersection of the dark arts of all things life insurance, customer experience, and technology," he said.

Despite not being a coder, von Dadelszen has always been driven by the complexities of insurance distribution.

"I started out as a face-to-face advisor about 25 years ago when the web was just transitioning from being a digital brochure to something people actually interacted with," he said.

He explained that his early adoption of online advertising, including being one of the first in New Zealand to use Google AdWords, played a pivotal role in driving his career toward digital transformation.

The 'trigger points' for life insurance

When asked about the target market for life insurance, von Dadelszen noted that it is often driven by life's trigger points.

"Life insurance is not about you; it's about the people left with your financial responsibilities in the event of your death," he explained. "Typically, those taking out life insurance are between 30 and 45 years old, often at a time when they are purchasing their first home or starting a family."

Although Partners Life's products are broad, catering to a wide range of needs, von Dadelszen admitted that younger customers are more likely to take out health insurance.

"However, it's that young Kiwi families' demographic that is most typical."

Unveiling the Evince platform

At the core of Partners Life's digital transformation is their platform, Evince.

The platform, von Dadelszen explained, was initially built as a tool for independent financial advisers, allowing them to streamline the advice process.

"Evince takes the customer through their financial information and projects their financial future, introducing the concept of scenario analysis," he said. This analysis includes two key scenarios: death and being too sick to work.

Evince enables customers to understand the financial impact of these scenarios, using Ministry of Health statistics to highlight the likelihood of such events. "This is the penny drop moment we aim for," von Dadelszen explained. "

When customers see the big red shortfall on the graph, they realise the importance of life insurance."

One of the platform's key strengths is its focus on making these scenarios visual and easy to understand. "With car insurance, the loss is right in front of your face—a dent in your car. But with life insurance, the loss happens over time, making it harder to visualise," von Dadelszen added. Evince bridges that gap, helping customers understand the long-term impact on their financial wellbeing.

The importance of feedback

Feedback has been crucial to the platform's development. "We've had really tight feedback loops with advisers," von Dadelszen said. "Almost all enhancements have come from advisor feedback or customer research." The platform has evolved significantly since its launch, making it more robust and capable of handling complex customer needs.

Though the first version of Evince was launched about four years ago, Partners Life has since developed Evince 2.0. "We overhauled the platform two years ago, making it even more capable for our internal advisor team," von Dadelszen explained.

Aiding financial advisers and customers alike

The platform also aims to ease the burden on financial advisers. Recent regulations in New Zealand have made it more time-consuming for advisers to ensure their advice is compliant. "If an advisor spends four hours a day writing reports and worrying about compliance, that's four hours they can't spend talking to Kiwis and helping them through the advice process," von Dadelszen noted.

Evince takes care of much of this administrative burden, allowing advisers to focus on their clients.

For customers, the platform helps demystify life insurance and offers protection tailored to their needs. "Evince helps customers understand the range of insurance products available, from life insurance to income protection and trauma insurance," von Dadelszen said.

"The hope is that customers who use Evince end up with cover that fits their needs across a broad range of risks."

Innovation within Partners Life

Von Dadelszen was quick to point out that innovation at Partners Life is not limited to the digital realm.

"We're still a relatively small company, but we have an innovation framework in place," he said. This framework ensures that good ideas, no matter where they come from in the business, are given the chance to be developed. "If it's a good idea, it will go somewhere," he added.

Partners Life's parent company, Dai-ichi Life, also plays a role in supporting innovation. "We can apply for funding from Dai-ichi Life for initiatives that could benefit the wider group," von Dadelszen explained. Earlier this year, a proof-of-concept for AI was funded, and the learnings were shared across the group.

Tackling underinsurance in New Zealand

Von Dadelszen is deeply aware of New Zealand's issue with underinsurance. "The average Kiwi doesn't think or care enough about it," he said.

"Our goal is to change that through education." He believes that the Evince platform plays a significant role in helping customers understand the risks they face and the importance of protecting their future.

"At the end of the day, it's about giving Kiwis the information they need to make informed decisions about their financial future."