Adam Crabbe

New Zurich research has accurately quantified the direct and indirect costs of serious health conditions, providing licensees and advisers with a more robust platform to recommend products, benefits and sums insured to life insurance consumers.

Zurich’s Cost of Care study, conducted in conjunction with research partner Zest Healthcare Communications, draws on industry wide data to present a consolidated picture of the prevalence and lifetime costs associated with serious health conditions across 11 ‘body systems’.

The research represents the first time such data has been brought together as a ‘one stop reference point’ for advisers and licensees.

Speaking at the launch of the research, Danni Visser from Zurich’s Risk Strategy team said that the whitepaper represented the ‘missing link’ for many risk advice methodologies.

“Quantifying the financial and time cost of recovery is an important element of most life insurance advice methodologies, but up until now it has been hard to get accurate, up-to-date data”, said Ms. Visser.

“The research available is generally from quite disparate sources, is in different formats and in many cases is out of date.

“The pace of advancement in medical diagnoses and treatments makes the currency of data even more crucial, and with this resource advisers have the latest data in one source, in a consistent, easy to follow format”, she said.

Zurich Risk Strategy Specialist Adam Crabbe said the research would also help advisers with their client engagement, by allowing them to more easily explain the basis for their recommendations.

“By giving clients a greater understanding of the basis for advice recommendations, they are more likely to engage with – and appreciate the value of– that advice,” said Mr. Crabbe.

Zurich has also launched a companion tool for the research, in the form of an interactive calculator which interrogates the research data by condition, gender and age.

“Advisers and clients can use the calculator together, exploring the financial and time impact of particular health conditions.

“It can make the comprehensive data from a 100 page research paper a lot more accessible for both advisers and their clients and allows the experience to be far more tailored,” he said.

Copies of the Cost of Care research is available at Zurich.com.au/costofcare

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