Thorners August Newsletter
Click on the link to see if your protection plan is complete August 2010 newsletter
Have life insurance but no Will?
Everybody with assets, particularly life insurance, needs to have a Will. Follow this link for some wise words.
Talk to your legal professional if you need further advice.
Thorners June 2010 Newsletter
Follow the link to read Thorners June 2010 Newsletter
Thorners May 2010 Newsletter
Click here to read Thorners May 2010 newsletter
Thorners Newsletter March 2010
In the current economic environment, the cost of day to day living continues to increase and we all need to regularly review our financial options.
Life Insurance Premiums:
Everybody dislikes paying premiums and the Life Insurance Tax Bill, which was passed by Parliament last year, is going to have an effect on the majority of NZ households who hold life policies.
In short there are proposed tax changes which will affect how life companies are taxed on their insurance products. Effective from 1 July 2010 all new life policies sold will be subject to these tax changes. Some companies have already started to increase premiums to make the change appear more seamless.
Existing “rate for age” or “annually reviewable” policies which are the most common products sold in the market will almost certainly have the increase applied and it is currently unclear on whether this will be applied immediately or grandfathered in over a period of five years so you need to keep abreast of the changes.
Competitions
Sovereign had a great pre Christmas holiday competition for all their clients and I am delighted to say that a Thorners client took away the prize which consisted of an $8,000 holiday plus $2,000 spending money. The client plans to take their children on a Surfer’s getaway adventure and to then have an adult only Irish experience. Thank you to all of you who entered and congratulations to our winner.
I am available to discuss your insurance and investment needs in what is a difficult time for many of us at the moment so feel free to contact me if you have any questions. My personal email is denis@thorner.co.nz or phone 04 528 8088.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
DENIS.
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Life Policies tipped to hike in price
The Government passed the new Life Office tax laws last year and the resulting premium increase will become effective from 1 July 2010.
This link takes you to a recent news article which gives all New Zealander’s something to ponder.
Give us a call to discuss your options if you are concerned about your level of life insurance and if you want to avoid being hit by tax changes.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
2009 Sovereign Dream Holiday Prize Draw Winner
Leighton Langley, General Manager Sovnet of Sovereign in Auckland is pictured with Denis Thorner, Managing Director Thorner Financial Services and Denis’s delighted client Venessa seen here receiving her 2009 Sovereign Dream Holiday Prize which consisted of an $8,000 travel voucher and $2,000 spending money.
Contact Denis for all of your Insurance requirements – www.thorner.co.nz or denis@thorner.co.nz
Life Insurance non disclosure – don’t let this happen to your family at claim time
Article courtesy of the Dom Post – note the comment from the Insurance Ombudsman.
The family of slain cyclist Frank van Kampen will be able to stay in their home after an insurance company backtracked on its decision not to pay out on his death.
Mr Van Kampen’s insurance company, ING New Zealand, told his partner Jude Pauwels last Thursday that it would pay out only half Mr Van Kampen’s life insurance, saying he had voided his policy by failing to tell the company he had a minor bowel condition.
The company reversed its decision yesterday afternoon after Ms Pauwels contacted The Dominion Post in desperation.
Mr Van Kampen, 46, a teacher, was killed by Te Horo grandmother Alison Downer, 71, who has admitted she was driving drunk when she hit him as he cycled home to Otaki from Waikanae in September.
Ms Pauwels is on a widow’s benefit and was relying on the $157,000 payout to cover the mortgage on Mr Van Kampen’s one-bedroom cottage, where she lives with her son Dante, 13, and the couple’s five-month-old daughter, Alexandra. “I get $400 a week and that barely pays for food and nappies and clothes for the kids.” ING’s initial offer of $80,000 would not have been enough to keep them in the house. “We’d literally be in the gutter.”
She was “very, very pleased” ING had changed its mind. But she said she should not have had to plead with the company or go to the media to get it to reverse the decision.
“It’s very stressful and traumatic that I had to go through this. It’s hard enough getting the kids through Christmas without Frank – and now this on top of it.”
Jeremy Nicoll, managing director of ING’s insurance division, said the company had changed its decision after he and a claims manager reviewed the case. “We took it to the next step and said, ‘Let’s be fair about this.’ We both had a look at it independently and came to the same decision [to pay the full amount].”
The staff member who made the original decision to pay out only part of the claim was “just following due process”, Mr Nicoll said.
Insurance and Savings Ombudsman spokesman Lionel Hinton said that, if ING would have offered different terms had Mr Van Kampen disclosed his bowel condition, it was within its rights to deny the claim, despite his death not resulting from that condition.
Ms Pauwels said the contrast between her situation and Downer’s was “so marked and unjust”. “Frank’s killer gets to spend Christmas in her beachfront mansion and I get to spend Christmas fighting for my home.”
Downer, who is on bail until her sentencing on February 3, had still not contacted the family or apologised, she said.
Make sure your life cover pays out quickly by ensuring you have made full disclosure to your insurer at application time. If you have any doubts, contact them to discuss the information you have supplied.
For further information on non disclosure, visit our web site www.thorner.co.nz
Rising medical insurance payouts vs premiums is unsustainable
The health insurance industry is warning the growth in the rate of its claim costs compared to premiums is unsustainable.
Publishing the industry’s quarterly statistics today, the Health Funds Association identified rising health costs as its key challenge.
Executive director Roger Styles said claim costs had grown at double the rate of premiums during the past two years, which was not sustainable.
Premium income for the year to the end of September of $859 million, was up 5 percent or $41m on a year earlier. Claims paid were up 9.9 percent or $67m to $743m.
The two main reasons behind recent cost pressures were that more people were claiming on their health insurance, and the average value of each claim was rising, Mr Styles said.
In the past year additional services became available, such as private radiotherapy in Auckland, which was not previously an option for people with health insurance.
Cost-shifting was continuing from the public sector, with a rise in the number of claims for surgery knocked back by ACC, he said.
Also from this month, ACC would require co-payments from patients for physiotherapy, which would have an impact on insurers who covered top-ups for ACC in their policies.
Contact Thorners if you require any Health Insurance cover as they have access to several providers and understand the market.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Thorners October 2009 Newsletter
Mortgage interest Rates:
Interest rates continue to fluctuate and the gap is widening between the short term fixed and floating rates and the longer term fixed rates. Overseas pressure remains on long term funding and whilst short term rates are expected to remain stable over the next few months, predictions are that the floating rate could be back at 8% within 18 months.
It is also timely to remind you that it’s better to have consumer debt e.g. credit card balances & HP’s transferred to your home loan to make considerable interest savings.
Funding for rental properties and over 80% borrowing is tightening and you are encouraged to approach me to discuss any home lending you or your family may be considering.
KiwiSaver:
Have you and your family got your slice of the KiwiSaver cake yet? Membership continues to grow rapidly with total membership now close to 1.2 million people. The demographics are interesting with 17% of members under 18 years of age and 18% aged 55 plus.
KiwiSaver is a tremendous opportunity for every New Zealander whether you are a child or under the age of 65, even if already retired or not working.
If you or your family members are not a member or are in an IRD default scheme we should discuss how KiwiSaver could work for you. The benefits including the $1,000 kick start and Government contribution matching to $1,042 p.a. are hard to beat.
Life Insurance Premiums:
Everybody dislikes paying premiums and I am constantly told that clients are over insured but the widow or widower always says the cover could have been higher.
Options are now available to make premiums affordable over the longer term and are known as level premiums. There are considerable long term premium savings to be made utilising level premiums and I should also note that the premium is guaranteed for the term of the contract so will not be subject to any changes following the introduction of new Life Industry tax changes being implemented from July 2010.
Why would you not transfer to this? This is the question I am asking everybody. Let me provide you with some level life premium options to show you the premium savings that can be made over the life of the policy.
Competitions:
Sovereign have a great offer to clients where they can enter to win an $8,000 holiday plus $2,000 spending money. Just visit www.sovereign.co.nz and follow the home page link.
I am available to discuss your insurance and investment needs in what is a difficult time for many of us at the moment so please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. My personal email is denis@thorner.co.nz or ph 04 528 8088.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind regards
Denis
