1) Can I get by without life insurance or income protection?

If you are fortunate enough to self-insure this may be the case however most people don’t have the assets or financial resources to cover the financial gap in either their income or asset protection from existing resources and that is why many people chose to transfer the risk to an insurance company in exchange for a premium payment.

Many people think they’ll receive financial assistance through Workers Compensation, their health fund, or the Government or their work super fund in the event of death, injury or illness.

While some assistance is available, it is important to understand that there may be limits which can have a significant impact on your lifestyle.

Here are some points to consider:

• Workers compensation offers important financial protection against work related injuries. But it doesn’t cover injuries that happen away from work, or provide protection against serious illnesses like cancer and heart attack.
• While there are a range of social security payments to assist people with illness, injury or disability, the amount you are eligible for may not cover your medical and living expenses.
• Private health insurance can help cover a range of medical expenses, but it doesn’t help you with your everyday living expenses – like household items or mortgage repayments. Health claims are also often capped, which may leave you with a gap in your medical expenses to cover.
• If you are an employee, chances are you have some life insurance cover through your super fund. But the level of cover provided through your super fund is often a conservative estimate based on your salary. It doesn’t take into account your level of debt, or the number of dependants you have – factors which are crucial to determining your insurance needs. So it may not be enough.

Please click here for more information.

2) Do I need all Life Insurance, Income Protection, Total and Permanent Disability Insurance and Critical Illness Insurance covers?

Each of these covers has a different purpose and covers different kinds of risk.

For example while income protection usually covers  70% of your income in the event of a long term disability it does not pay out a lump sum (unless an offer is made by the insurance company with a long term claim) to cover things like debt reduction/elimination or medical expenses , home renovation or the like that may be covered by TPD or Critical Illness cover.

So whereas Income Protection covers your cash flow/income needs, TPD or Critical Illness cover can pay out capital needs.

Please read the information under the ‘Services’ button on each of these insurances.

3) I have heard that Insurance companies just want to get out of paying claims, am I just paying for something I won’t get anyway?

According to The Risk Store (TRS), in 2013 Australia’s life insurance industry paid out a total of just over 5 billion against the 85,329 claims made during that year. The bulk of payments went to term life insurance worth more than $2.2 billion to 21,672 claims. This was followed by income protection insurance which paid out over $1.2 billion to 48,389 claimants. Then there was Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) insurance, which paid out over $898 million to 10,756 claimants. Finally, trauma insurance paid out more than $621.792 million to 4,512 claimants.

The Leading Causes of Claims

Based on 2013 statistics found in the Risk Store, here are the leading causes of claims per type of insurance:

Death: 1) cancer 2) heart disease 3) respiratory disease

TPD: 1) musculoskeletal 2) cancer 3) mental illness

Trauma: 1) cancer 2) heart disease 3) neurological disorders

Income Protection/Business Expenses: 1) musculoskeletal 2) mental illness 3) cancer

So it cannot be argued that insurance companies don’t pay claims.

At Boutique Insurance Solutions we use an approved product list that is monitored by the dealer group we are associated with. This list is adjusted from time to time if there are any issues that would be of concern including a poor history of paying legitimate claims.

The 10 companies that we offer cover most of the established insurers available in the Australian market place who do their best to pay claims quickly and fairly.

The main reasons that claims may not be paid include the following:

1. When the claimant doesn’t provide all the requirements to assess the claim. The insurer will then have to request these requirements, which leads to delays. At Boutique Insurance Solutions it is our role to assist you with this process at claim time.
2. More than delays, however, a bigger concern among those with life insurance are cases when insurers decline claims. This can occur when the claimed event doesn’t meet the terms and conditions, as well as the definitions outlined in the policy. This is definitely not a desired outcome and is upsetting to the claimant and the insurer. While it is your responsibility to read and understand a PDS, we can assist you to understand what you are covered for and to assist you to understand the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) so there are no surprises at claim time.
3. Another common reason for decline is non-disclosure during the application period. If you provide information in which a reasonably person in these circumstances would consider relevant to an insurers decision to insure you then in most cases you have met your duty of disclosure. If you deliberately withhold information that would have caused an insurer to not offer cover they have a right to avoid the contract.

4) Do I have to answer a lot of detailed questions or have some medical tests when applying for insurance cover?

It is important for you to realise that the more information an insurer gets from you at the time of application the greater your peace of mind that you will have a successful claim.

All the companies on Boutique Insurance Solution’s panel do their underwriting at the time of application. So there will be a questionnaire about your current and past medical history. In the event that the company is concerned about the risk you pose they may even ask you to submit to blood tests, blood pressure tests or may ask your doctor for a report. This is actually a good thing because the insurance contract is in force based on all reasonably known health risks so if your medical history changes after you have taken out a policy then it will NOT affect your insurance.

Many direct insurance providers that you sometimes seen advertised on TV do their medical assessment at the time of claim. Generally speaking, the possibly of a decline is higher with these providers as not all information was accessed at the time of application and they typically include ‘pre-existing conditions’ clauses and other important exclusions to protect the fact that they have offered cover on limited information.

5) How is Boutique Insurance Solutions Paid for the work they do?

We have chosen to be remunerated under the commission model and only on rare occasions charge a fee for service.

We elect to be remunerated by the Life Companies in the form of commissions received from any of the Life companies we deal with. We have elected not to charge you upfront advice fees and  use these commissions to run our business.

So they are paid by the Life Company and NOT directly by you.

We believe that this model works best for our clients as it protects their cash flow and we believe doesn’t bias the decision you make to any particular insurer for the following reasons:

a) Our goal is to always provide high quality and friendly service of our valued clients .

b) We use 10 of the top insurers in the Australian marketplace to eliminate bias and provide you with the broadest spectrum regarding price, number of features and choice of insurer.

c) It is a well know principle of business that clients always be treated with honesty, respect and consideration when implementing and servicing your Life Risk Insurances.

6) How much is my insurance going to cost?

Surprisingly not as much as you might think.

Typically the rule of thumb is that a comprehensive suite of covers including Life, TPD, Critical Illness and Income Protection should be no more than 2 – 3% of your gross income. This is a small price to pay for may be a large sum of money at claim time which may be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

Things that cause variations to how much you pay include your age (the premium costs more as you age because the risk of claim increases) , your state of health (insurers may impose a loading if you have a condition that puts you at a higher risk e.g., two of your close family members have had type 2 diabetes before age 50 and you are overweight, your smoker status (typically smokers pay a 20% higher premium) or whether you select a stepped or level type premium.

The best thing to do is contact us on the page provided and we can arrange a quote for you.

7) What is the difference between accessing Life Risk Insurance through General  vs Personal Advice?

Please go to this Blog Post – https://boutiqueinsurancesolutions.com.au/what-is-the-difference-between-accessing-life-risk-insurance-through-general-advice-vs-personal-advice/

The information contained within this website does not consider your personal circumstances and is of a general nature only. You should not act on it without first obtaining professional financial advice specific to your circumstances.

1) You should ask the person you are dealing with if they are authorised to give general or personal advice and hold an ASIC AFS (Australian Financial Services) Licence or are a representative of an AFS Licensee.

You will note on this site that we have disclosed our capacity to act as an Authorised Representative of Sustainable Life Solutions.com.au  who holds a Financial Services licence authorising them and their representatives to provide general financial services to clients.  You can be assured of experienced and educated specialised insurance assistance  based on years of experience when dealing with Boutique Insurance Solutions.

2) Are you getting the cheapest premium based on your occupation?

Life Insurance companies set premiums based on the risk of your occupation when it comes to Income Protection. An accountant has a less riskier occupation than an electrician or a concreter so the premiums can be cheaper for a white collar worker and even more cost effective if the white collar worker has a degree and earns above $80 – 100k p.a . Make sure that you are correctly classified and also ensure that you may qualify for further discounts on the premium if you have stopped smoking in the last 12 months or may be able to apply to lift loadings of exclusions that may have been applied to be reviewed after a set time. At Boutique Insurance Solutions we pick these sort of issues up in the annual review process. Yes personalised service can make a big difference.

3) Are You Getting the Best Deal Buying Life Insurance or Income Protection Online?

Most consumers are used to getting the cheapest deal online, however in the case of your personal risk insurance (life, income protection, TPD or critical illness) the situation is often reversed. Many online Policies can have substantially higher premium and with more exclusions and less comprehensive policy definitions than what an experienced Life Risk Specialist can source from the retail market. Please read blog post – How to Avoid Paying Too Much for Your Risk Insurance premiums?