Supporting you in periods of financial difficulty
If you're a Resolution Life insurance customer experiencing financial difficulty and having trouble meeting your insurance premiums, please call us to talk about how we may be able to help you.
We understand that everyone’s circumstances are unique, so we'll assess your situation and discuss your options to help you through this period. These options could include:
- Accessing features within your policy that may reduce or waive your premium
- Altering your options or cover levels to make your premium more affordable – you can read more about this here .
- If your employment circumstances have changed, such as experiencing a reduction in income or unemployment, please contact us to talk through the impact this may have on your insurance cover.
Are you thinking about whether you can afford your insurance premiums?
We all know that life insurance can make a world of difference at a time when you and your family need it most. But insurance premiums are an expense, and if you’re looking for a way to save money you may sometimes wonder if you’re better off without it.
If you feel like the premium you’re currently paying is higher than you can afford, there are ways you could reduce your premium costs while keeping your insurance.
This may give you time to recover from a financial setback and get your budget back under control.
Carefully check your policy and consider all available options before making any changes. Speak with your financial adviser to find out which options are available to you.
How your premiums are calculated
There are a wide range of factors that affect how much you pay in premiums. These include:
- Age
- Gender
- Smoker status
- Medical history
- Occupation
- Payment frequency
- General health
- Benefit amount
- Extras
While you can’t change some of these factors, such as your age, it’s worth looking at whether you could make other changes to your life that may affect how much you’re paying for life insurance. If you’ve already done this, you can ask for your insurance policy to be reassessed.
Ways to reduce your premium costs
As well as examining the factors that are used to calculate your insurance premiums, there are some specific actions you could take to reduce how much you’re paying:
| Action | What it means | What you can do |
| Reduce how much cover you have | As we move through different life stages, the amount of insurance required can change. For example, you have paid off your mortgage, children have finished school, etc you may not need as much cover. | Please speak to your financial adviser regarding your specific cover needs. You can get a quote to find out how much your insurance cover will cost if you reduce it. |
| Income protection – increase your waiting period |
A ‘waiting period’ is the period of time between becoming disabled or ill, and when an income protection benefit starts being paid. You may have accumulated extra sick or holiday leave that can provide an income buffer if you are unable to work due to sickness or injury. By increasing your ‘waiting period’ for example from 30 days to 60 or 90 days (longer waiting periods are available) you may reduce your premium. |
Please speak to your financial adviser regarding your specific cover needs. You can get a quote to find out how much your insurance cover will cost if you reduce it. |
| Income protection – Reduce benefit period |
A benefit period is the length of time your income protection, or benefit is paid for, after a successful claim as long as you are disabled or ill, and unable to work. As you get older or your financial situation changes you may not require the same benefit period you chose when you took out your policy. Reducing your ‘benefit period’ may make a reduction to your premium. For example:
|
Please speak to your financial adviser regarding your specific cover needs. You can get a quote to find out how much your insurance cover will cost if you reduce it. |
| Removing extras | Your life insurance policy may include extra optional features – like premium waiver, – which carry additional costs. Removing extras that you no longer require can help reduce your premiums, though it does remove the benefit of the respective option. | You can ask us to remove the optional extras in your cover. But remember that if you do cancel these extras, you will not be able to exercise them. |
| Changing your smoking status | Smoking puts your health at risk – which is why it will impact the amount of your premiums. If you change from a smoker to a non-smoker status, it may reduce your premiums. | If you’re not a smoker, check your policy schedule to ensure your details are correct. If you have stopped smoking for more than 12 months and have no smoking-related illnesses, you can ask to be reassessed. |
| Review your insurance | Some insurance policies for dangerous jobs include a loading – a percentage increase in the cost of the premium. If you have previously worked in a dangerous occupation and you have changed to a less hazardous one, we may be able to reassess your loadings, subject to underwriting. | If you have changed to a less hazardous occupation, you can ask us to reassess your premiums. |
| Declining indexation | To protect your benefit against inflation, your sum insured is automatically increased each year until you reach age 65. As a result, your premiums also increase. | You can ask us to decline the increase in the sum insured from indexation in any year. It’s important to note that this won’t take effect until your policy’s next anniversary. |
Get the protection you need
While you want to make sure your premiums are affordable, it’s also important to feel confident that your loved ones will be looked after financially if you were injured, suffer a trauma, become terminally ill or pass away. Your life insurance can help relieve financial hardship for you and your family during an emotionally challenging time. The value of this cover can be priceless.
That’s why you need the right level of protection for your circumstances – so you can have total peace of mind knowing your family will always be taken care of, no matter what happens. Before you make any changes to your life insurance, it’s best to review your cover carefully with the help of your financial adviser.
Example
Mary is a 38-year-old single mother with two children living at home, aged 12 and 15. She is working full-time on a salary of $80,000 a year and is paying $75 a month for her income protection insurance cover.
A long-term smoker, Mary finally makes the decision to quit. After 12 months of not smoking, she asks Resolution Life to have her non-smoking status reassessed, and as a result her premiums for life insurance cover are reduced to $65 per month. Mary also decides to decline indexation each year until her children are out of school, in order to help her stay on top of her premiums.
When Mary and her family move house, her finances are squeezed even tighter. To make it easier to keep up with her premium payments, Mary decides to change her waiting period from 30 days to 60 days. This gives Mary the time she needs to cover her extra costs and get herself into a better financial position.
Please Note: This example is illustrative only and is not an estimate of the investment returns you will receive or fees and costs you will incur. This example is based on the following assumptions (a) The cover amount remains the same through-out the period and the policy is not canceled or suspended.; (b) No waiting period applies to the policy; (c) All figures are gross of tax. No allowance is made for tax circumstances; (d) The example does not take into account any fees and costs associated with insurance.
Important information
Resolution Life Australasia Limited ABN 84 079 300 379, NZ Company No. 281363, AFSL No. 233671 (Resolution Life) is part of the Resolution Life Group. The content on this website is for information only. The information is of a general nature and does not constitute financial advice or other professional advice. Before taking any action, you should always seek financial advice or other professional advice relevant to your personal circumstances. While care has been taken to supply information on this website that is accurate, no entity or person gives any warranty of reliability or accuracy, or accepts any responsibility arising in any way including from any error or omission.
A disclosure statement is available from your Adviser, on request and free of charge.
