Personal insurance is something we either a) may not have heard much about or b) love to hate, especially when the annual premium notices roll around.
Determining the appropriate personal insurance is always an in-depth conversation that should be had with your adviser and should be a solid Plan B to any solid Plan A – leaving your personal insurance unreviewed for a significant period is a risk that could be costing you money and eroding your hard-earned cash.
Our ethos is that some cover is always better than no cover and absolutely do not cancel cover until you have had the chance to organise a review and re-assess your needs/options.
Last year, I worked with clients that this ethos was quite literally the million-dollar recipe to follow.
Originally, I had met with clients referred to me to organise reducing the cost of their insurance. Admittedly the premiums were large and eroding precious retirement savings that we could not afford to have going backwards. Our initial meeting was an in-depth discussion around goals and how we were going to formulate the winning Plan A for these clients with reviewing their insurance (Plan B) something we would also complete.
Being busy business owners (often putting their own affairs last), time went on and another premium notice arrived in the mail. I received an email that the consideration was to cancel the insurance in full. I pushed the issue, we needed to organise our next meeting and follow the review process before we make a drastic decision that would leave them financially exposed. The clients agreed that they would hold off and we would get the next meeting booked in.
The next meeting didn’t happen… well, it did, just not in the timeline we expected. My client had unfortunately received a critical illness diagnosis that meant we were completing Trauma and Income Protection claims as a matter of urgency. 12 months later and the illness had been recovered from, however, the lasting impact of the medical trauma meant that my client was unable to be the business owner he once was. He wouldn’t be returning to work again.
We then made a successful Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) claim which was a game changer to their situation. My client could focus on health vs finances and they thank me every year that I did not let them just cancel the insurance.
Life throws curve balls; it is important to be strategically prepared. We hope we never need to do the claims however if we do, you can be certain your family is in safe hands.