Can you predict the future?
This seems like a silly rhetorical question, right? Yet, endeavouring to predict the future is exactly what many people seem to take a punt on, in relation to their personal family insurances.
Health insurance when you’re well
The ideal time, for example, to take up medical insurance is when one is healthy, not after one has experienced a medical condition or health episode. One can never know when the unthinkable might happen and a family member is diagnosed with a serious medical condition.
Next minute
A recent situation highlights this very point. A family which, till recently, had had medical insurance for the whole family, including children, decided that the money paid for the children’s medical insurance would be better used elsewhere, and cancelled the children’s medical cover. Besides, the kids were active and healthy, so what can go wrong?
Sadly, one 20-year old was subsequently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a condition which effectively brings a lifelong exclusion of the condition. Furthermore, because it is a systemic autoimmune condition that can affect other parts of the body it can often result in premium loadings or even deferral of cover for a range of personal insurances.
Insurance advisers as advocates
In situations such is this, it is the expertise and advocacy skills of an insurance adviser, armed with all the relevant medical information, that can be used to endeavour to secure and negotiate the best quality and extent of cover after diagnosis of a medical condition. This, however, presents a difficult challenge in such circumstances.
In conclusion, the obvious point needs to be re-stated: the best time, by far, to secure medical and other personal insurance is while one is healthy, NOT after a medical condition appears.
Theo Simeonidis FNZIM & Cristina Simeonidis
UProtectNZ Insurance Services
Theo Simeonidis is a Registered Financial Adviser, living and working in Millwater, and specialising in personal and business insurances. He is also able to provide a one-stop-shop for fire and general insurances. For assistance on any personal or business insurances, Theo can be contacted on 027 248 9320 or 09 528 8724 or email theo@uprotectnz.com. Any such assistance is provided on a free, no-obligation basis. A disclosure statement is available free of charge on request.