Recently become a non-smoker??
Did you know that if you have not smoked in the last 12 months your life insurer will re-rate your premiums on non-smoking rates, potentially saving you up to 50% in premiums (*).
Call us today for a re-quote, let us show you the premium difference.
(*) special conditions may apply
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Thorners October 2010 Newsletter
Does your insurer have your correct house size recorded? Who will get your life policy proceeds?
Follow the link to read the informative Thorner October 2010 newsletter
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Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Thorners September 2010 Newsletter
Follow the link to read the informative Thorner September 2010 newsletter
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
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.
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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
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Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Is it fair that insurers exclude pre-existing medical conditions?
We are often asked why insurers exclude pre-existing conditions.
Unless a policy offers cover for pre-existing conditions, the insurer isn’t obliged to cover any of them.
Companies generally exclude associated treatment for pre-existing conditions as they pose a higher risk and greater likelihood of a claim.
For sound advice on any new Life insurance policy, contact Thorners. We service clients New Zealand wide and have a sound knowledge of the best options available.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Income protection costs more for ladies
Women pay more than twice as much for income protection insurance as men because they make more claims for mental health and stress-related conditions, say insurance companies.
As the insurance industry reports a big rise in the number of New Zealanders taking out income protection policies, premium schedules show women pay significantly more for the products.
For example, a 35-year-old non-smoking man insuring a $65,000 annual income will pay $39 a month for an AIG Life IP policy. A 35-year-old woman with the same profile will pay almost $85.
Premiums go up with age for both sexes, but the disparity remains – at 50 the man will pay $129 a month whereas the woman will pay $270. AIG said it had always been the case that women made more stress-related claims. These claims were expensive, hence the difference in pricing.
In the most recent study to date which was undertaken in 2002, 30 per cent of claims made by New Zealand women on their income protection insurance were for mental/nervous conditions. For men that figure was 16 per cent. There was no reason to believe the trend had changed, and more recent studies in Australia showed a similar breakdown.
For men the major cause of claims was accidents but women did not make many accident claims.
Mental health and stress-related claims tended to run for much longer and were harder to terminate, and so this was built in to the pricing.
“You can see when a leg is well and somebody can go back to work.
“I can’t really tell if you’re not depressed any more.”
Insurance companies simply looked at where they were incurring the most claims and did not necessarily try to explain the trends. “It really all comes down to what an actuary thinks the expected claims are going to be.”
Why women would make more stress or mental health-related claims at work does not appear to have been well researched so far. Investment Savings and Insurance Association chief executive Vance Arkinstall said he was not aware of the disparity.
A spokeswoman for insurer ING said its income protection premiums were higher for women, but this was because women made more claims across the board.
The Attitude NZ survey released this year by research company Perceptive found that women reported higher levels of stress than men in all areas including saving ability, retirement security, job security, quality of life and health and well-being.
Auckland University associate professor of economics, Susan St John, said the private insurance industry differentiated by gender because it was allowed to and it was easy, not because there were necessarily two risk groups.
If there were a unisex pool of insured people the risk would be spread. “In this case the risk discrimination is simply by gender, which is a crude risk discriminator.”
A survey of 1000 New Zealanders released last week by AIG Life showed 23 per cent have income protection insurance, compared with 13 per cent two years ago.
If you are looking for sound life insurance advice, contact Denis Thorner on 0274 575 190 or email denis@thorner.co.nz Denis provides advice to clients New Zealand wide.
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Denis Thorner recently won the Best Trade/Service Business Award at the 2009 Upper Hutt Business Excellence Awards, he belongs to the PAA and is a life long member of MDRT
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
20% extra Life Insurance for free for a very limited time
For some time Sovereign has been concerned about the level of under insurance within New Zealand. Over the past few years personal debt levels, and therefore the need for adequate cover, have significantly increased but sales of insurance have remained relatively flat. This situation is likely to get worse with the current recession, where affordability not only impacts on people’s ability to purchase insurance, but also causes them to reconsider the need for the cover they already have.
Today Sovereign announced a new initiative to help customers afford appropriate levels of new insurance.
From 21 April, and until 31 July 2009, Sovereign will provide new customers who take out Rate for Age Life Cover an additional 20% of the sum assured free of charge for two years. This is up to a maximum additional amount of $100,000 sum assured per customer, not per policy. For example, if the customer were to set up a TotalCareMax policy with $500,000 Life Cover, they would receive an extra $100,000 sum assured free for two years. At the expiry of the two year period the additional 20% sum assured Life Cover will automatically end.
This special offer is automatically available on all TotalCareMax Personal and Business Life Rate for Age policies (including Voluntary Workplace policies) issued by Sovereign on or after 21 April 2009, until 31 July 2009.
Existing customers who make increases to their Life Cover will also benefit from the offer, but the increased amount will be set up as a separate policy. Replacement business is excluded from the offer.
Use Thorners online application process on the web page or contact us very soon to apply for your new life cover today and benefit from the 20% extra cover while the offer lasts.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Click here to view our disclosure statement
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Thorners Online Insurance Quotes and Application
Thorners offer an online life and health insurance quote option where you can obtain quotations instantly online.
Whilst Thorners like to personalise your cover to your situation, many New Zealanders know what cover they want and want to get a price for it now.
Thorners take this a step further as you can also complete an application for Life and Health Insurance online. This should take no longer than 10 minutes to answer the questions and if need be, you can save your application and come back to it at a later stage. The process ensures your information remains confidential to Thorners and the Insurance company.
If you are contemplating taking out a new Life or Health Insurance policy, try our automated service today.
Thorners are only a call or click away if you require assistance or require further information. www.thorner.co.nz also contains informative blogs and information on other topical insurance, mortgage and financial items of interest.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Been Declined Life Insurance?
If you have recently been declined Life Insurance or deferred for a period due to health issues as simple as a high BMI, Cholesterol or even something a little more serious like AIDs or Hepatitis B, we may be able to help you with a new innovative life product from a leading New Zealand Life Insurance Company.
Entry age is limited to those between 20 and 79 and you merely have to confirm that you have not been diagnosed with any illness or disease that is expected to cause death within 12 months.
Payments can be made fortnightly or monthly and the cover is based on your age at the commencement date and the premium chosen. Cover is level, the premium does not increase and the cover continues as long as the premiums are paid.
Contact us to get the finer details…we service clients NZ wide and look forward to discussing your options with you. Ask for Bruce or denis for a confidential chat.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
Click here to view our disclosure statement.
Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
