traded as nzx twr industry fire & general insurance founded 1869 headquarters auckland new zealand key people richard harding chief executive officer products house car contents rural boat & travel . website www.tower.co.nz tower insurance is a new zealand based insurance company which provides fire & general insurance . contents 1 history 1.1 diversification from plain life insurance 2 today 3 government life postage stamps 4 references 5 external links history edit in 1869 the new zealand government provided the capital for the creation of the new zealand government life insurance department better known simply as government life . it became tower corporation in 1987 at a time when several new zealand government departments and organisations were being corporatized or converted into state owned enterprises . three years later ownership of tower was transferred to policyholder as the business was mutualised . 1 being a mutual caused difficulties in raising capital and nine years later in 1999 tower demutualised and listed on the stock exchange . seven years later and further change as tower s australian and new zealand operations were separated . 1 diversification from plain life insurance edit in 1989 tower bought national insurance company of new zealand limited which from its head office in dunedin where it was founded in 1873 had spread its operations throughout the world . national insurance had bought the failed standard insurance company limited in 1961 . 2 3 these businesses provided tower s fire and general insurance divisions . today edit the company still trades today with a gross profit for the six months to 31 march 2013 of 44.2 million . 4 in line with many other new zealand insurance companies tower announced on 10 april 2013 that it was moving away from full replacement house policies towards nominated sum insured covers blaming international reinsurers . 5 tower is still in a state of change however and in 2012 tower sold both its medical insurance tower medical insurance limited and its investment tower managed funds limited divisions . 1 this was followed in 2013 with the sale of tower s life insurance business . 6 government life postage stamps edit a unique in new zealand feature of the government life office was its use of custom postage stamps first issues in 1891 . this was the result of a dispute between the office and the new zealand post and telegraph department over the correct calculation of postage costs . 7 all issues featured lighthouses either in abstract designs or specific lighthouses from around new zealand . new designs were issued in 1905 1947 surcharged at the time of decimalisation in 1967 1969 and 1981 . use of these stamps was finally withdrawn in 1989 . references edit a b c history financial services company online new zealand . tower . 2013 05 29 . retrieved 2013 09 07 . hocken collections ref arc 0488 wilson james oakley . standard insurance . te ara encyclopedia of new zealand . retrieved 11 april 2016 . half year result to march 2013 news company . tower . retrieved 2013 09 07 . to move to sum insured coverage insurance news new zealand online . tower . retrieved 2013 09 07 . tim hunter 2013 05 10 . tower sells life insurance business to fidelity . stuff.co.nz . retrieved 2013 09 07 . government life insurance new zealand post stamps . stamps.nzpost.co.nz . retrieved 2013 09 07 . external links edit official website v t e insurance in new zealand fmg iag ami lumley nzi state qbe insurance southern cross sovereign suncorp aa insurance vero insurance tower v t e nzx 50 companies of new zealand as of september 19 2016 a2 milk company air new zealand anz argosy property auckland international airport chorus coats contact energy ebos fisher & paykel healthcare fletcher building fonterra shareholders fund freightways genesis energy goodman property trust heartland bank infratil kathmandu kiwi property mainfreight mercury energy meridian energy metlifecare metro performance glass nuplex nzx new zealand refining orion health group port of tauranga precinct properties property for industry restaurant brands ryman healthcare scales skycity entertainment sky network television spark stride property summerset tower trade me trustpower vector vista vital healthcare property trust the warehouse westpac xero z energy former nzx 50 companies partial list affco amp apn news & media cavalier diligent corporation fisher & paykel appliances goodman fielder lion nathan michael hill oceanagold pacific edge pgg wrightson pike river coal pumpkin patch rakon skellerup steel & tube telstra tourism holdings retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title tower insurance & oldid 731252028 categories insurance companies of new zealandcompanies listed on the new zealand stock exchangehidden categories official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views 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