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Deal with the same person first time & every time after that.

This is a very common scenario with our clients. Once again you can be assured that we can provide you with the right cover to meet requirements and get you a certificate of currency and cover as quickly as possible.

We do not, however, provide Public Liability directly ourselves but we have come to learn which insurers provide the most competitive premiums for Public Liability and our clients have been extremely happy with our referrals to these insurers and in some cases we have saved them hundreds and even thousands of dollars a year. We are not paid any remuneration nor do we receive any other benefits for this. So please be sure to ask for an alternate quote from these providers.

We provide a 100% free review service to existing or new clients. Modern insurance companies can vary greatly in what premiums they charge individuals.

So, its essential that you shop around and compare. Often a particular insurer may simply not be competitive for your specific occupation and charge significantly higher premiums than a competitor for the exact or similar cover. This is because all insurers have some level of reinsurance – essentially the insurer gets insurance on their potential risk. If those insurers are charging higher rates on your occupation that will be reflected in your premium with your specific company your insured with.

Another Classic case is where you have been with a particular insurer for an extended period of time (often great than 10 or 15 years). This can also result in higher premiums than you should be paying because you may be grouped in a particular risk pool of insurance customers from the period you first took out the cover with them. Over time, as others may have claimed, this can also indirectly affect your current premium as a result. That’s why when you are still a very health individual with no medical conditions or problems its very prudent to get an updated quote on what you are covered for.

This has been a very common concern with clients especially in recent years for 2 major reasons.

The first being the more limited availability of own occupation TPD now in the marketplace as well as the recent changes to income protection policies offered in Australia which limit own or regular occupation total disability definitions in income protection policies to 2 years in duration.

“Any Occupation” or “Suited” occupation are now often seen as the level of disability required to substantiate longer term income protection claims (greater than 24 or 30 months) as well as TPD (Total Permanent Disability) claims that require satisfaction of permanency in the prevailing condition for the claimant.

So Is Income Protection still worth it ????

Absolutely. In fact, accident and sickness insurances offered by general insurers have largely always maintained these definitions without any initial “regular” or “own” occupation claim period which was previously the norm with high quality income protection offered by life insurance companies.

Essentially the higher quality broader scope total disability definition that needs to be satisfied in a successful claim will remain in place for an initial 24 or 30 months of any claim. Also remember the vast majority of claims are settled within this time frame.

Also bear in mind insurers will also put down a keyword of “fairness” along with the “reasonable by way of education, training, and experience” when it comes to suited occupation definitions that will require satisfaction after these initial 24- or 30-month periods.

Key Points with “Suited” or “Any” occupation insurances.

Clients often ask “what would be any occupation I am suited to by way of education, training or experience?”

Key point one – remuneration level would most likely come into determining another role that would be considered suitable under such an any occupation definition.

There is substantial case law (in Australia and USA courts) that would prove very influential to how Courts would construct their decisions.

Essentially between 60-80% of your current occupation earnings would be needed for another role to be suitable. Also, it would need to be a generally similar role to your current one or regular one leading up to the claim. The role would need to present “fairness” and “appropriateness” to your claim circumstances.

Most insurers in Australia stipulate 65% of pre disability earnings which is in alignment with the US court and Australian court decisions pertaining to “any” occupation TPD cases. This level would also need to be established to meet fairness to the person insured. So, a carpenter earning $140,000 a year is not expected to be “suited” to working in a grocery store as a shelf stacker.

This clarification always puts clients at ease and in some ways instils more confidence than previously, as this has made the industry more sustainable as was the intent of the regulator APRA (Australian Prudential Regulator Authority) who implemented these requirements.

We ensure our clients have access to the best quality insurance the Australian Marketplace has to offer. In fact, we refuse to use the lesser products offered as they are in most cases more expensive and have far more exclusions and loop holes in the covered offered.