Growing up as a kid, my mum and dad taught me many things. They taught me how to tie my shoes, how to swing a baseball bat, how to shake someone’s hand, that doing your homework will lead to good grades. However, they never taught me the importance of insurance or how to choose the right option. Maybe because they don’t really know themselves?

The Collins English Dictionary defines Insurance as “an arrangement in which you pay money to a company, and they pay money to you if something unpleasant happens to you, for example if your property is stolen or damaged, or if you get a serious illness”. If only it were that easy, right?

Today, insurance policies and the Product Disclosure Statements that come with it (PDS’s) are long documents filled with technical Jargon, but for good reason; these are legal documents that could protect you in a time of need. The question you have to ask yourself is, do you understand how much of difference one word in a policy condition can make? Do you know what limits or restrictions you have on specifics such as jewelry items?

During my time in the industry, after speaking to thousands of clients across their various stages of life, I have found there are several thought patterns and common themes:

1. There is the “it will never happen to me!” person;

2. The “insurance policies are all the same” person; and

3. “It is the cheapest policy?” person.

Insurance is a hard purchase because we don’t get something new and shiny when we pay for it. It’s just thrown away money unless you have to claim and I’m sure we have all heard some of the horror stories out there. Unfortunately, the market has been flooded in recent decades with flashy no frills or “tailor yourself” policies with catchy T.V adds boasting big savings.

Problems can arise if you do not know what questions to ask or how to approach your insurance policy. You may instead spend 5-10 minutes on the phone or online to put in some details and to look at the price and this is how most insurance decisions are made.

As an Insurance Broker, I believe this just isn’t enough time to properly protect your assets. We approach insurance with the thought of the money we are about to pay front of mind, without much thought about what it’s going to look like when we are going to have to use it one day. I alone can spend hours at a time looking over documents, researching the asset and value I can get for my clients.

The advantage brokers have is on a daily basis we see how these policies work, what the claims service is like and how our clients are looked after that we represent. We develop relationships with the claims specialists and learn the intricate details of what you as our client are entitled to.

Developing these relationships gives us the ability to “choose our friends” wisely so that we seek the best possible candidates to look after our clients. One of the biggest misconceptions around is that we represent the insurance company; this is just simply not true. We gather a well-rounded panel of insurers to work with that give us options for many different situations, we create competition which allows us to build value to our clients while also being very competitive to the direct market.

What matters most, is when you have to claim your broker goes through the entire process with you, you are not alone. Our job to the very core, is to ensure you get everything you are entitled to and to reduce costly delays or further harm and hardship to our clients and their families.

If something came through tomorrow whether it be an event, natural disaster or an accident of some sort and you lost something important to you, ask yourself, who do you have by your side to get you through?

If you would like assistance with your insurance needs, contact our insurance team today.