Just about everyone dislikes the process of getting insured, whether it’s health insurance, car insurance, house and contents insurance, business insurance or products that cover your income in the event of an unforeseen circumstance that limits your ability to earn money. For most of us, insurance is something we know that we need, whether it’s required by a bank or by law. However, when there’s not a third party requiring it, often we will simply not bother.
Of course, in this new world of endless online solutions for just about everything, there are numerous ways to compare and secure insurance products quickly and easily with the push of a button. And if you’re looking to save money securing an insurance product and minimise costs, because you need to have it in place, then these online solutions may well be the best solution for you.
However, if something really does go wrong and you need to call on the insurance policy, can you be sure that it is going to cover you for everything that you expected? In reality, even though you might resent the monthly or annual bills for your insurance portfolio, the basic reason for having insurance in place is to cover you financially for the cost of things that you probably don’t have the financial resources to cover in the event that something goes wrong. If your house burns down, for example, and it’s not insured, would you have a few hundred thousand dollars sitting around to enable you to rebuild? For most of us, the answer is a clear no.
Income protection is often the last insurance consideration for many people. First, there’s a tendency to rely on the fact that our superannuation funds often have some form of insurance policy in place. Second, and more importantly, many of us just don’t consider that something will happen to us that will prevent us from earning money and supporting our families.
The simple fact is, though, that income protection insurance is probably one of the easiest and smartest strategic financial decisions you will ever make – particularly if you are self-employed or own a small business. Suppose some tragic or unforeseen event occurred which prevented you from attending work and earning an income. Would you be able to take care of yourself and your family for an extended period of time? The answer for most of us is a firm ‘no’.
Because taking out income protection insurance is such a critically important financial decision, you should also seriously consider whether going to an online product comparison site and taking out the cheapest insurance product is really doing you a service. More than any other insurance product, it is essential to get income protection insurance right. Income protection insurance can be complex, and you need to ensure that it reflects your personal circumstances and that, if you ever do need to use it, you can rely on it doing what you paid for.
Suppose you’re looking to take out income protection insurance. In that case, it simply makes sense to take a bit of extra time to talk to an independent industry expert that will take the time to understand what you need and provide you advice that will ensure you and your family are financially secure if the unthinkable happens, and you can’t work.
