IAG announces closure of 53 AMI stores

The 53 AMI stores will be closed in a phased approach. Photo / Bevan Conley

Insurance giant IAG has announced it will close all 53 of its AMI stores and its remaining State store, culling 65 branch manager jobs.

The closure of the sites will be in a phased approach and come after a review of its retail network.

Seven stores - Albany, Botany, Te Rapa in Hamilton, Mount Maunganui, Wellington, Hornby and Dunedin - will remain open until the end of June next year.

The Timaru branch would remain open until November 27. All other locations would close on September 18.

IAG customer and consumer general manager, Kevin Hughes, said 350 jobs would be transferred to customer service and other departments.

The Australian insurer said it had acted on the feedback from its customers and how they interacted with the brand, he said.

"We've seen a decline in visits to our retail stores as customers increasingly look to engage with us over the phone, via email and through our online platforms – so we will be strengthening our digital channels to meet changing customer needs," Hughes said.

The seven stores than will remain open until June next year were chosen as they were within an hour's drive of around 70 per cent of AMI customers, he said.

"We appreciate that some of our Timaru based customers are still having repairs completed after the hailstorm event in November 2019, so this store will stay open until 27 November 2020 to support them," he said.

"This is in line with our commitment to be there for our customers following major disasters, and with our plan to create pop-up services in local areas for future events."

IAG said the 65 management roles would be disestablished, but it had 128 vacant roles and hoped to retain as many staff as possible.