AdviserVoiceincome protection Archives - AdviserVoice

Australians sacrifice work-life balance to live a better lifestyle

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:45:57 +0000

Australians are working harder than ever before in order to secure a comfortable standard of living but they are sacrificing work-life balance according to a recent survey commissioned by consumer awareness campaign Lifewise.

Lifewise’s recent survey of 1,207 Australians has revealed Australians overwhelmingly value a work-life balance with 76% of respondents recognising it as important to them and their families. But Australians are sacrificing this work-life balance with 3 in 5 Australians (62%) working extra hours simply to fund their lifestyle.

“As a nation we are not only hard-working but we know how to have a good time after hours. Over two thirds of Australians recognise they work overtime not just because their jobs now require it but because it provides the necessary income to fund various aspects of their lives, such as bills, lifestyle choices and education. So why do we insure our precious jewelry, our beloved cars and our health but when it comes to protecting the income that allows us to purchase all of these items do we overlook it,” says Lifewise Campaign Manager, Holly Dorber.

If the main income earner of an average Australian household was unexpectedly unable to work due to illness or injury outside of the workplace, Lifewise found that:

76% of Australians would only be able to meet their current expenses for a maximum of 6 months
11% would last less than a week
19% would only last up to a month!

While two in five (39%) of working Australians have taken out life insurance, only 23% have the safety net of income protection in place, and the majority (59%) stated that not only did they not have income insurance; they did not intend to look into it. Only 17% indicated that they were considering investing in income protection in the near future.

“Australians are working harder than ever to fund their lifestyle, yet these findings indicate that the average Australian worker and household is not prepared for the event of income loss and would struggle if the main breadwinner lost their job”, explains Dorber.

Three in five (60%) working Australians stated that the entire household would have to reduce their standard of living in order to cope with the income loss if the main income earner was unable to work. Work-life balance would remain unachievable, with nearly 46% stating that they would take up a second job, and 39% would work longer hours in the current job.

Significantly, 30% indicated that they would need to rely on government assistance in order to manage their household expenses, and 17% would have to rely on their friends and family for help.

“It is clear that Australians value a work-life balance with 76% of respondents recognising it as important. Many are working longer hours because of both the demanding requirements of their job and to fund their lifestyle and living requirements, yet working Australians are neglecting the need to protect their income and have a financial safety net in place. Lifewise hopes that by providing some of these findings, Australians will consider the next steps in protecting their incomes”, added Dorber.

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BT insurance new end-to-end life solutions a success with advisers and dealer groups

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:55:24 +0000

BT Protection Plans have been added to more than 100 approved product lists within dealer groups and the number of advisers the products have doubled since its launch in February 2011 to the independent financial advice market.

According to BT Insurance, more than half the applications have been underwritten, and submitted online and over 25% of income protection claims have been paid via the ‘tele-claims’ initiative – approved in a quarter of the time and without forms or signature required

In addition, more than half of the applications have been underwritten and submitted online using LifeCENTRAL+, a fast quote and electronic underwriting tool that can provide an on-the-spot decision in around 15 minutes with no signature required. This is a five-fold increase when compared with online submissions in the same period in 2010.

The first-to-market ‘tele-claims’ initiative that allows claims assessments to be conducted over the phone continues to see more than 25% of all income protection claims paid without the requirement of claims forms or a signature.

The early success demonstrates that BT Insurance’s focus on the advisers’ end-to-end process is being favourably received by the market.

BT Financial Group’s Head of Life Insurance Phil Hay said he was delighted with the results just three months after the launch.

“We are making it easier for our advisers and customers where it matters most.

“The very positive adviser response reflects the quality of BT Protection Plans and the close way in which the solution has been developed in conjunction with advisers.

“BT Protection Plans combines product, service, technology and business support and enables advisers to provide a better solution with flexibility, choice and value. We will continue to bring innovation to the market.”
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Mr Hay said the flexible solutions which allow insurance inside and outside of superannuation have been particularly popular.
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Since launch, more than one-quarter (29%) of lump sum policies within superannuation have an attached option through Flexible Linking Plus. Likewise, 50% of Income Protection policies within superannuation have an attached option through Income Linking Plus.
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BT Protection Plans was developed in partnership with advisers with features including on-the-spot decisions about client application with no signatures required; real time 24/7 access to client information; an in-house chief medical officer; flexibility for insurance inside and outside superannuation; and a ‘tele-claims’ service that facilitates assessment over the phone without forms and signatures as well as fee for service flexibility including an option for unbundled commission.

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Niche Marketing and defining your perfect client

Mon, 23 May 2011 13:13:00 +0000

Niche Marketing

“When I first started my financial planning business I had a dream of being all things to all people.”

“I thought I’d be helping a carpenter on Monday with his income protection, and a doctor on Tuesday with his investment portfolio.”

“I set up a fantastic website which contained loads of articles and plenty of information on how we could help people.”

“But pretty soon reality set in – it just wasn’t happening!”

So I quickly identified that I needed to target individual niches at a micro level. To do this I set up a number of websites targeting specific occupational areas such as doctors, tradies, lawyers etc with specific information relating to those people and their individual problems that needed solving.

“The result? After a few weeks I started to get some traffic trickling though. Then after a month or two I started to get an enquiry or two each week, and within a year I was getting so many qualified leads that I had to start selling them to other advisers!”
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“What I discovered is that trying to be everything to all people is fine if you have a huge existing client base, but if you’re trying to establish yourself from a small base you simply have to specialise in order to give yourself a point of difference.
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“How do you do this? Well first you need determine your ideal target customer.”

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Defining Your Perfect Client

Defining your perfect client should be easy. He or she would will have lots of money to invest and a burning desire to insure themselves against every risk possible!
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Unfortunately these types of clients are few and far between.
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Rather than defining your perfect client, we should really focus on your ideal client. Your ideal client should be someone who meets the following criteria:
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Accessible
Unless you have great contacts, there is no point nominating movie stars as your ideal client. You should look for clients who know are accessible to you.
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Connection
Some of the best clients are those that you can really connect with. This may be through joint interests, similar age group, social and/or financial standing, ethnic background or perhaps experience in the same industry. A good example of this is the ex-carpenter who now deals exclusively with trades clients.
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Interest and or Experience
This one is a little similar to the connection point listed above. If you have an interest or experience in a certain niche, this will give you a great advantage over others advisers who don’t share the same passion for the niche.
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Comfort
There is no point trying to attract company directors and CEOs as clients if you don’t feel comfortable with them. Your ideal client should be someone that you feel totally comfortable dealing with, as there is a good chance that they will also feel comfortable with you.
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Above all, your ideal client should just ‘feel right’.

About Shane Moore….

Shane is a financial adviser, project manager and compliance analyst currently based in Brisbane. Shane offers practice management advice and other services including website design, newsletters and other marketing and sales and tools. He offers a complementary service to practice development managers with the emphasis on providing support with tasks that most practices don’t have the time or experience to do for themselves such as newsletters, website design, and sales tracking. For more information contact Shane through his website www.shanemoore.com.au

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Bridging The Gap: AFA/Tower launch Female Excellence in Advice Award

Fri, 06 May 2011 07:35:18 +0000

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA), TOWER Australia and the Macquarie Graduate School of Management officially launched the AFA Female Excellence in Advice Award (the Award) in Sydney last night.

The Award is designed to encourage more women to consider financial advice as a career, to champion those who excel at it and to take the first step in tackling the gender gap that exists in retirement savings, wealth protection and life insurance.

Special guest speaker, Professor the Honourable Jennifer Boland said that despite steps in the right direction, the gender divide still exists.

“I am encouraged to see initiatives such as the Female Excellence in Advice Award because it encourages not only participation but excellence in what has, traditionally, been the male-dominated arena of financial services.”

AFA CEO Richard Klipin said the idea for the Award was born because of the under-representation of women at all levels of the financial advisory profession. “We want to encourage all women to consider becoming involved in financial advice but in particular, we want to see higher rates of participation at a leadership level,” he said. “The Award seeks to actively encourage more women into the industry so they are better represented within the ranks of financial advisers and better able help women secure their financial future.”

Brett Clark, CEO Retail Life of TOWER Australia said that research suggests women are significantly underinsured and generally have inadequate retirement savings, yet they often have higher protection needs and can expect to live longer lives than their male counterparts.

“TOWER statistics reveal that although women make up 45% of the Australian workforce, only 12% of TOWER Australia income protection claims come from women,” he said. “These statistics have significant social and fiscal implications for us all.”

Kerry Chikarovski who is Patron of the Award said she is delighted to be a part of the Awards process. “Efforts that help women become more successful, personally and professionally, are few and far between,” she said. “I applaud the AFA on this initiative and am personnally honoured to be its Patron.”

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AMP Planner Protection Poll: Planners see an increase in mental health disclosure

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:39:41 +0000

The AMP Planner Protection Poll has found that 71 per cent of financial planners polled had seen an increase in the number of clients who disclose a personal history of mental illness.

The growing number of financial planners seeing an increase in client disclosure of mental health history reflects the increased incidence and awareness of this health issue in Australia.

AMP Director of Wealth Protection Products Michael Paff said, “With one in five Australian adults experiencing a mental disorder in any year1, and general awareness of mental illness increasing, planners and customers are acknowledging the significant impact it can have on people’s lives.”

Mr Paff said financial planners are taking the impact of mental illness into account when it comes to applying for Income Protection cover, including in their approach to client disclosure of these illnesses.

“Financial planners need to be flexible in engaging with their clients during the process of completing a personal health statement. This includes being able to recognise how comfortable the client is with personally disclosing potentially sensitive health history and looking at other options for the client where available.

“For example, AMP’s ‘easywrite tele’ service allows planners to offer clients the option of discussing their health history directly with AMP if they do not feel comfortable disclosing this with their planner.”

More than half of planners polled (53 per cent) said that early access to the underwriter to discuss the client’s situation was most likely to make a difference in a client’s application for Income Protection cover.

“This is about improving access to insurance. Talking to the underwriter before lodging an application for Income Protection cover allows planners to ensure they have gathered all the required information, directly or indirectly, and can improve the client’s experience of the underwriting process,” Mr Paff said.

However, despite increased disclosure, only just over a third of planners polled are seeing clients with a history of mental illness gain access to Income Protection cover.

“The industry has worked hard to improve access to insurance for those with a history of mental illness and AMP is committed to removing barriers to cover for as many Australians as possible. However, there’s still room for improvement on this important issue,” Mr Paff said.

The online AMP Planner Protection Poll was made available to financial planners across Australia. The poll asked three questions:

“Have you seen an increase in the number of clients who disclose a personal history of mental illness?”
“Are you seeing more clients who present with a personal history of mental illness, gain access to Income Protection cover?”
“Which of the following is most likely to make a difference in their application for insurance: client’s understanding of the impact of mental illness on an application; early access to the underwriter to discuss the client’s situation; insurer collecting personal statement directly from the client; or none of the above?”

AMP Planner Protection Poll: Results at a glance

Have you seen an increase in the number of clients who disclose a personal history of mental illness?
Yes – 134 (71%)
No – 55 (29%)
Total – 189

Are you seeing more clients who present with a personal history of mental illness, gain access to Income Protection cover?
Yes – 67 (35%)
No – 122 (65%)
Total – 189

Which of the following is most likely to make a difference in their application for insurance?
Client’s understanding of the impact of mental illness on an application – 34 (18%)
Early access to the underwriter to discuss the client’s situation – 101 (53%)
Insurer collecting personal statement directly from the client – 36 (19%)
None of the above – 18 (10%)
Total – 189

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