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What happens if all of your information isn’t written on the application form?
Category: Fire and General Insurance, Life Insurance
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It is really important when somebody else completes an insurance application for you that you check to see the answers are correct and that no information has been left out. The insurer can avoid the policy and decline to consider the claim if all the information wasn’t written on the application form. Even when your broker writes the answers on the application on your behalf, you are still expected to read all the answers and sign a statement declaring all the information is correct. At Thorners we always provide you with a copy of everything completed during a Life Insurance interview to give you time to reconsider your answers. Call Thorners if you are considering any form of insurance to get the best advice in New Zealand. Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
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What happens if you fail to disclose information to an insurer?
Category: Fire and General Insurance, Life Insurance
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Currently the NZ law does not make a distinction between deliberate or innocent non disclosure. Effectively if you just left information out of an insurance application unintentionally or by accident, the insurer can still decline your claim, avoid your policy or make changes to your policy. Contact Thorners if you need insurance advice and we will work with you to ensure that you understand the proposal form and disclose the relevent information. Thorners service clients New zealand wide and are an award winning insurance agency offering personalised service. Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088
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Income protection costs more for ladies
Category: Life Insurance
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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
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Get another 20% of life cover for free…
Category: Life Insurance
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Apply for Life Insurance through Thorners and your annually reviewable Sovereign Life policy will have 20% extra free life cover added for the first two years. The application must be accepted and the policy issued before 30 November 2009. Quotes and applications can be made online from the Thorner website or you are welcome to contact us for personal attention. Thorners service clients New Zealand wide andf are an award winning insurance agency. We look forward to hearing from you. Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088Click here to view our disclosure statement.
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Understanding Life Insurance Premiums
Category: Life Insurance
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While paying for your protection benefits can seem pretty simple – the regular amount required is deducted from your bank on the due date – the reality is that there are a number of different premium structures on offer and if you are not aware of how your particular premium structure works then there may be some surprises for you in the future. Lets look at the most common premium structure known as YEARLY RENEWABLE TERM or RATE FOR AGE. This structure often represents the cheapest premium option in the first year. The structure allows for annual, age related increases in premium so you pay an increasing price each year in conjunction with the life assured’s increasing age. The structure also allows the company to pass on any increases or decreases in the underlying rates for age on the next policy anniversary following the rate change. this means that the future premium illustrated to you at the time you purchased your policy were estimated based on the underlying rates that were applicable at that time and are not guaranteed. Future premiums may differ from those illustrated according to the company’s actual experience of claims and persistency. If you select an annually reviewable premium structure, you should be expecting your premiums to increase each year on the policy anniversary date. Many people also choose the CPI Increase option to retain the true value of their benefits. Because the premiums are increasing, the premiums payable for the benefits you have elected to CPI index will also increase by the inflation rate. these CPI increases in benefits and premiums will take effect on every policy anniversary. There are options and we recommend that all clients also consider a Level premium option to provide certainty in the future. Contact Thorners to discuss the premium options available to you. We offer a New Zealand wide insurance service and applications can also be made online for Life and Health cover from the link on the Thorner website. Click here to email Thorners or Call Us on (04) 528 8088 Click here to view our disclosure statement
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20% extra Life Insurance for free for a very limited time
Category: Life Insurance
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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. 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. 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
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Thorners Online Insurance Quotes and Application
Category: Life Insurance
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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 8088Click here to view our disclosure statement.
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