𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞

An insurance provider is partly measured on how well it pays claims. Fair enough too, as this is where the 'rubber hits the road' for people paying their premiums. An article on our cousins across the ditch shows some interesting points about the Australian claims acceptance rates. The information comes from 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐀 (the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority).

The thing I want to highlight today, is the first chart, "𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥". This clearly shows that people who go direct to the insurer are more likely to have their claims turned down, than those who are part of Employee Group schemes or who get professional financial advice. "𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬".

This is just one reason. Another is that clients who get financial advice have some assurance that the advice given is in their best interests. The financial services industry in New Zealand has undergone a massive regulatory change, ensuring that all advisers are licensed, with tough requirements for achieving that license.

People who get financial advice, as opposed to jumping online to a self-help portal, are more likely to have the correct products and the right benefit amounts, specific to their needs. They are more likely to have a far better understanding of the products they are buying (and what is claimable and what isn't).

Additionally, if (or rather when) a claim is made, the client has an experienced advocate in their adviser who can help smooth the claims process and 'go into bat' for the client, negotiating with the insurance provider.

With so much information around and access to various pricing tools, it is no wonder that people feel that they can do 'finance stuff' on their own. However, getting professional advice has plenty of advantages. You wouldn't try and build your own home is you weren't a builder. You wouldn't try and service your own hybrid car if you weren't a certified mechanic. Why try and do all the finance stuff on your own, if you are not a professional adviser..?