Australians are able to buy life insurance, offered by a range of Australian based life insurers, in several ways. The category of life insurance in this regard includes products offering death cover, income protection cover, Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) cover and trauma cover.
A common way to buy life insurance is to use a life insurer broker (also called a financial adviser or life insurance adviser) to help you arrange the policy. A life insurance broker commonly works with a range of life insurers and can consider which insurer and which product is best for you.
Some brokers will consider your personal needs, goals and circumstances and provide personal advice on the type and amount of cover, as well as other aspects, when providing their recommendations. Other brokers may be more limited in their approach and not offer specific advice based on your needs (sometimes referred to as a general advice model).
A life insurance broker can help you to complete the application form for the insurer and help you provide financial and medical information that the insurer may need to consider your application. Once the policy is in place, a broker can help you with the maintenance of the cover and arrange any changes needed. The broker can also offer regular reviews to monitor whether the coverage remains suitable for you. And most importantly, most brokers (life Experien Insurance Services) will assist in managing any claims that arise.
You you establish upfront whether your broker will charge you any extra fees for services (beyond what you pay as a premium to the insurer) such as helping you with a claim. Many do not charge extra fees.
Other options on buying life insurance could be to use services within your public offer superannuation fund or to deal directly with an insurer. There are advantages and disadvantages with these approaches and we can expand further on this if you contact us.
This is general information and limited in its scope. If you are considering buying or replacing a Life Insurance policy then contact us to arrange a review for you. We can consider your individual circumstances, goals and needs and recommend a suitable insurer, product and structure to use. Experien work with several insurers and have extensive experience in helping to arrange claims.
At the time of writing, Life insurance and Financial Advice services are provided by Experien Insurance Services Pty Ltd (EIS) ABN 99 128 678 937 and Experien Financial Services Pty Ltd (EFS) ABN 32 631 346 757. EIS and EFS are a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 320626 and No. 1274354) Count Financial Limited ABN 19 001 974 625, AFSL 227232. See our website for our Financial Services Guide and latest AFSL arrangements. Always read the Product Disclosure Statement issued by an Insurer before considering insurance.
