Insurance: Do you really need it?

With living costs and mortgage interest rates on the rise, many New Zealand families are looking for ways to save money in their monthly budget. It’s leaving many people to question the costs of their insurance premiums.

Do you really need insurance?  Could you cancel your cover as a way to save money?

In short, the answer is no, it’s not wise to cancel your insurance purely to save money.

While it might feel like you are saving a few dollars by not paying monthly premiums, you are actually opening yourself up to wider risk. So, let’s find out how you can keep yourself covered, but not blow the budget with your premiums.

Why You Need Insurance

Having the right insurance cover offers a range of benefits for New Zealand families. Some of the main ones are:

Risk Mitigation

When interest rates go up and loan payments start to increase, your risk factor also starts to climb. The higher the mortgage repayment, the bigger the risk there is of losing your home if you are unable to work due to sickness, accident or other factors.
Insurance can protect you from that outcome. The right insurance cover means you will never lose your home or prevent you from meeting your financial obligations. It’s all about making sure you have the right cover for your needs and the helpful team at Brisk Insurance can help you establish what that is.

Financial Security

Insurance provides a safety net, meaning that you are protected from the financial burden of unexpected events. If you have expenses that arise due to illness, injury, accident, property damage or loss of life, then insurance will provide you with the support you need to navigate the situation without financial stress.

Access to Healthcare

The public health system has long wait lists and the potential for non-urgent treatments to be moved or delayed. But, health insurance gives you access to private healthcare services. This opens the opportunity for you to obtain specialist appointments, elective surgeries and non-urgent treatments without delay. Having medical insurance gives you greater control over your healthcare choices and ensures you will always receive timely medical care.

Enhanced Coverage

Some hobbies or sports are not covered by standard insurance policies. That means if you suffer injury (or worse) from them, you will not be able to claim standard insurance. That’s where enhanced coverage comes in handy. If you are into adventure or extreme sport, then you can cover your lifestyle with this specific insurance. Then it allows you to enjoy your hobby without worry.

Protection for the Important Things

Your family, your business and your major assets are all big factors in your life. Appropriate insurance cover allows you to provide protection for them.

Whether it is providing security for your family in the event of an untimely death or trauma, financial protection for your assets, or continuity assurance for a business, insurance can help smooth the process. The right cover means your important things are not impacted even if the unexpected occurs.

Peace of Mind

When things seem uncertain or stressful, insurance can provide welcome peace of mind. It helps to mitigate financial risk and offers a sense of security. You know that you and your loved ones are protected and supported during potentially challenging times.

Minimising Your Insurance Costs

No one likes to throw money away! And a big part of making sure you are not paying too much for your insurance premiums is ensuring you have the right cover in place.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest cover, but the cover that is right for your personal situation. For example, you wouldn’t continue to pay vehicle insurance after you’d sold the car! The same goes for your other policies.

Often, people will take out a policy that is right for them at the time, such as medical, life or income cover; but then their circumstances change. Suddenly, you might be paying for insurance that doesn’t apply to your current situation any more.

That is why it is important to speak with an insurance adviser on a regular basis, so that they can review the policies you have in place and check that it is still the right cover to protect your current stage of life.

Well connected with many providers and skilled at giving practical advice, the team here at Brisk Insurance would love to help review the cover you have in place now. This is simply a check to see that your policies are still suitable for your needs. Together, we can make sure you are only paying for the cover you need and nothing more, minimising the amount you’ll need to spend on insurance.

Your Insurance WOF

It’s common practice to regularly take your vehicle for a Warrant of Fitness (WOF) to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose. So, why aren’t we in the habit of performing these regular checks on the other important factors in our lives?

Sometimes those other important factors can go for years without review or checks. As you are well aware, a lot can happen in a year! Life can be created and lost, career paths can change direction, health can improve or decline and any number of other things can happen.

This can all make your insurance invalid or unsuitable. So, when was the last time you reviewed your insurance cover? Could yours be out of date and inaccurate?

If you are worried that it might be, then you can check with our free online Insurance WOF tool. It will only take a few minutes of your time and it’s the easiest way to check if your insurance is still providing the correct cover for you. Just click this link to get started on your Insurance WOF now.

Let me dial up the peace of mind in your life.

Make sure to call Anand on 021 595 750 or drop a line to info@briskinsurance.co.nz today.