Baby on the way? This insurance can help

Debra and Dai encourage soon-to-be-parents to consider extra insurance as part of their nesting checklist.

Insurance typically isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about starting a family, let alone pregnancy or maternity cover. But, like most insurance policies, pregnancy insurance could save you money and give you piece of mind in case something happens to you during your pregnancy or even after you’ve given birth.

Being mothers ourselves, we have experienced both the joys of pregnancy and the excitement of becoming first-time parents. But it can also be an emotional rollercoaster for the mother as our bodies adapt to all the myriad of changes.

During this exciting time in your life, you may not be thinking about what challenges could lay ahead but let’s be honest we can never be too prepared and in this day in age, it pays to be.

So what is pregnancy insurance?

In most cases, New Zealand’s public health system is well equipped to deal with pregnancy and it’s unlikely you will need additional assistance if you have a normal pregnancy. However, in some circumstances, you or your baby may experience health challenges along the way and this is where pregnancy or maternity cover can assist. 

As an example of a scary unforeseen event that could happen, what would you do if your new born was diagnosed with cancer or has a major health issue that requires full time care? What would happen to your income? Would your spouse be able to take care of you and your baby and look after your household expenses? These are all things we don’t want to think about, but, tragically, these situations do occasionally occur. Thankfully there are additional insurance options available to assist you through it or just give you peace of mind.

There are a number of insurance companies who offer additional pregnancy or maternity benefits that will cover certain medical bills due to pregnancy complications. And, if your child becomes critically ill, some insurers will also pay you or a family member to take time off work to care for your sick child.

When these sorts of events occur, the last thing you want to deal with is financial stress. Knowing what is out there and making a plan to get appropriate insurance for you and your family could be just the sort of peace of mind you need before tackling this new chapter of life.

If you would like more information, please contact our office and we will be happy to discuss the options with you.

Debra Halton is a Registered Financial Advisers with Velocity Financial. No investment decision should be taken based on the information in this blog alone. A disclosure statement is available free of charge upon request.

How this Earthquake has Affected Insurance

It’s that time of the year again ... earthquake season. And Graham points out that the ground moving beneath us isn’t the only thing to be concerned about if you’re a homeowner.

As of today (Tuesday 16 November), while recent events cause us to again think about house insurance, there is an embargo against any new house insurance being issued by New Zealand insurance companies. This will remain in place until the powers that be work out what is what in regard to the on-going earthquake issues.

The implication of this is that you can only buy a new house if you can get the existing insurance that is on the property transferred across to the new owner’s name. If you can't, then banks won’t release mortgage funds. This is not a new situation as it occurred in Christchurch and also in Wellington following our last big shake.

The way forward will become increasingly clear over the next few days as the aftershocks hopefully abate.

For all of us who are a little exhausted after the last few days there are lessons to act upon. On a practical level, photograph all the relevant damage in your property, things like cracks and shifting. Go over the house a couple of times as we often miss damage at a first glance.

Finally, we’d like to send our love and support to all those in the South Island who have been seriously affected and those in Wellington who can’t get back into their homes or offices.

Graham Goodisson is a Registered Financial Adviser with Velocity Financial. No investment decision should be taken based on the information in this blog alone. A disclosure statement is available free of charge upon request.

Why Your Insurance Company Wants to Act Fast on Your Behalf

It can surprise many how willing good insurance companies are to pay income and health insurance claims and their promptness is all for good reason: because, for them (and for you), a doctor at the top of the cliff is better than an ambulance at the bottom.

More claims would be paid and more people helped if insurers knew more about what was up with their clients’ health. For example, it’s estimated about 30 per cent of all income protection claims are related to mental health issues (and this statistic is slightly higher amongst the self-employed). So, what the insurers want to do in mental health claims is to intervene quickly, and, if possible, put support structures in place before things get really out of control.

This early intervention strategy is actually good business for the insurer. The sooner you get help in a claim situation, the better, because the claim might be much smaller if the issue is dealt with promptly rather than left to snowball. In this way, insurance companies spend money in the short term to save more money in the long run.  

So, this is where your doctor comes in. If you are unwell, without wanting to sound tactless, please tell us what your doctor has told you. This will allow us to see if we can get some more support from your insurer and assist in the road to recovery.

It’s a win-win: You get help faster and stay healthy; the insurance company saves money.

Graham Goodisson is a Registered Financial Adviser with Velocity Financial. No investment decision should be taken based on the information in this blog alone. A disclosure statement is available free of charge upon request.