Life Insurance

Life doesn’t always go to plan. You may think ‘it will never happen to me’, but the reality is some of us will die unexpectedly, leaving family and loved ones behind.

When others depend on you

Have you made plans to ensure your family or business can survive without you? Could your family cope with paying the monthly bills or making mortgage repayments without your salary? Could your business continue without your input and expertise?

Food for Thought…

• On average there is one death in New Zealand every 16 minutes.
• Cancer was the leading cause of death for both males and females in New Zealand in 2009 with 8,437 people having cancer recorded as the underlying cause of death.
• In New Zealand, around 22 people die each week from bowel cancer.
• Stroke is the third-largest killer in New Zealand (about 2,000 people every year).

How It Works

Life Cover can pay a lump sum or a monthly income, depending on your needs, if you die prematurely. It’s essential for those with family, business or other financial commitments. So why leave life to chance?

• What do most people use Life Cover for?
• Paying off the mortgage. Many people need to reduce their debt as quickly as they can if they go from two incomes to one.
• Providing future financial support for their children: You can use part of your advance life insurance payment, after becoming terminally ill, to pay for your children’s Tertiary education.
• Providing extra income for their family after they have gone or contributed to their spouse’s retirement fund. Many people would need financial support if an income earner passed away.
• Paying for childcare support if the person who passed away was the primary caregiver. Many people find that, as the remaining parent, they need extra support. If they continue working, they may also need more childcare support.
• What benefits does Life Cover include ?
• Each Life cover is different from other, some has less benefits than other especially online companies and bank generally haven’t got as many benefits as main-stream companies have got. Here is list of benefits.
• Death Benefit : Your family or nominated beneficiaries will receive a lump sum of money if you pass away. We normally make the payment to your nominated bank account within two days after we receive the claim.
• Terminal Illness benefit : you will receive your life payment straight way if you are given less than 12 months to live. This is generally paid within seven days after you place a claim. You can use the money for your immediate care and help to plan a secure future for your family.
• Expert Assistance : If you or your family would like assistance with managing the proceeds of a life cover claim, your life cover benefit provides a financial and legal advice benefit which reimburses the cost of a financial planner and/or Lawyer up to maximum of $2500 payable in addition to your life cover.
• Grief Support benefit : Some companies pay up to $1000 for your family to receive grief counseling from a professional counselor.
• Funeral Advancement benefit : Some companies make an advance payment of $15,000 from your life cover when a life insurance claim is accepted. This pays for immediate expenses such as a funeral.
• Special Events Increase benefit : you can increase your existing life cover without further health assessment whenever a special event occurs in your life, such as
  • Taking out or increasing a mortgage,
  • Marriage or civil union, Divorce or Legal separation.
  • Becoming full- time carer for a dependent relative.
  • Birth of adoption of a child
  • A dependent child starting full-time tertiary study.
  • An increase in annual salary.
  • This useful because the amount of insurance you need may change as you get older.
• Inflation adjustment benefit : Each year most companies will offer to increase your sum insured by the rate of inflation according to the consumer price indes ( CPI ), without the need for further medical or financial underwriting.
• Bringing your loved one home : Should you pass away while travelling, working or living overseas, the repatriation benefit allows early payment of up to $20,000 of the life cover to reimburse the costs involved with returning to New Zealand.
• Premium Holiday :  A premium holiday is available to you to provide financial relief during difficult times without losing your valuable cover. In the tragic event that you lose a spouse or child, or made redundant or bankrupt or are forced to leave work to care for a relative who has become dependent on you due to ill health, this feature provides up to six months of free life cover, while you rearrange your financial affairs. Alternatively your premiums and cover may be suspended for up to twelve months if you need temporary financial relief due to overseas travel, parental leave, extended periods of leave without pay or even if you decided to embark on some additional full-time study. At the end of the suspension period you can restart your life cover without being reassessed.
• Worldwide Coverage : Its important to know while most covers are worldwide still there are some cover which are not worldwide as they only cover limited countries.

Premium Options

You have two premium options to choose from for your life cover :

• Step Premium: Your premiums are based on your current age and sum insured and are adjusted each year on your policy anniversary.
• Level Premium: Under this structure, your premiums are averaged and then guaranteed to remain the same until you reach age 65, 70, 80 or 100 at which time the premium structure automatically reverts to yearly renewable term. This is the best solution to increasing premiums each year.