Our responsibility

The part Vero plays in the wider community

At Vero we embrace the opportunity to play our part in the wider community. We aspire to work in a way that makes a positive impact on the people who work with us: staff, customers, suppliers and the community as well as the environment in which we operate.

We know that it is crucial for us to be able to pay claims and provide support in times of crisis – when our customer needs us most. We take our need to be a socially responsible organisation seriously and it begins with the very essence of what we do. Insurance.

Vero has a World Class Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme which aims to achieve commercial success in ways that honour ethical values and respect people, communities and the natural environment.

Vero’s CSR programme covers five categories – corporate governance, workplace, marketplace, community and environment. For each of these areas, strategies have been developed, initiatives are being implemented, and robust measures have been put in place to check that progress, impact and success are underway.

  • Corporate governanceProcesses, policies and procedures in place to ensure the sound administration of Vero and the Suncorp Group.

In recent years there have been a number of spectacular collapses of global organisations. In many instances these collapses could have been averted through the use of good Corporate Governance practices.

The Suncorp Group Board of Directors recognises its duties and responsibilities to its various stakeholders and strongly advocates sound corporate governance. Significant emphasis is placed on corporate governance and transparency throughout the Suncorp Group, which includes Vero New Zealand.
As part of an ongoing programme, the Suncorp Board has embraced the Australian Stock Exchange’s Best Practice Corporate Governance Guidelines. Full details of Corporate Governance and Compliance are covered in the 2007 Suncorp Annual Report (pages 50 – 54).

Underpinning this approach are a range of rules, regulations, policies, practices and tools that Vero uses to ensure we fulfil all elements of Corporate Governance. This includes

    • All relevant New Zealand Company law
    • Other Industry Bodies requirements
    • NZX Listing rules
    • ASX Corporate Governance Council - Best Practice Recommendations
Vero uses a holistic Risk Management Framework and System for implementing and assessing the effectiveness of risk management strategies and internal controls. This ensures that we address our responsibilities to the public through the assessment and management of any risks associated with our products, services and operations that could have an impact on society.
  • WorkplaceA fair and supportive workplace environment for all our staff.

Our definition of Corporate Social Responsibility in the workplace is:


Creating a partnership between Vero and it’s employees, by understanding our employees as individuals, and then providing an ethical, supportive and caring environment which will allow them to be at their best, while achieving our goal to be World Class.

As a socially responsible organisation, we know that our people are what make us who we are. The Vero Leadership Team is committed to making the organisation one of New Zealand’s best places to work. Our support of employees is based on the creation of a culture based on our values of integrity, expertise, customer focus, and excellence. To achieve this we are focussing on six key areas; workplace culture, health and well-being, staff benefits, diversity and work-life balance and employee learning.

Read more about how Vero is such a Great Place to Work.
  • MarketplaceWe have a responsibility to act ethically in the marketplace.

In all of our business activities, we have a responsibility to act ethically while ensuring we maintain our business focus. One of Vero’s core values is Integrity and nowhere is this more important than in our customer relationships. The principle goals of CSR in the marketplace are sustainability and ethical business conduct. To achieve this we focus on six key areas:

    • Business conduct and ethics
    • Product development and service delivery
    • Selling practices
    • Broker relationships
    • End customer relationships
    • Supplier relationships
Vero has already made significant progress in most of these areas. Our four new initiatives are to:
    • Ensure value driven ethical behaviour forms the basis of the service we provide to internal and external stakeholders
    • Clearly understand end customers’ needs
    • Drive innovation in product and service development process
    • Develop sustainable business partnerships
  • CommunityOur commitment to supporting the New Zealand community.

As a company, we are committed to establishing close relationships within the wider community. Our CSR programme for the community has a vision:

To create a positive impact in our communities through investing money, time, products, services, influence, management, knowledge and other resources.

Our community activity is based on identifying partnerships that:
    • Focus on long-term relationships
    • Excite our staff
    • Engage our key stakeholders
    • Share our vision and purpose
    • Align closely with our business
Some of those who we sponsor in the community include:

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Vero has sponsored the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra for many years now. We are proud to continue supporting this long-standing partnership.
Vintage Car Club
Vero provides an insurance scheme for the Vintage Car Club and every five years supports their International Rally.
Branch sponsorships
Vero supports local initiatives including schools and staff nominated charities.
Business and the community
Vero provides financial support for business mentoring and support. We promote Business Excellence throughout the New Zealand business community.
  • EnvironmentWe account for the impact of our activities on the environment.

As responsible corporate citizens, we recognise that all of our business activities have an impact on the environment. We believe that through careful management we can make a difference in helping to safeguard the environment.

We have developed a Corporate Social Responsibility Environmental Strategy with the first step to develop our Corporate Social Responsibility Environmental Policy.

We are currently working to create a network of Environmental Champions throughout our business, to work together in implementing this policy.


If you require further information about Vero’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme, please contact us.

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