Women Can Save $1,000s On Insurance Bills

Women can save their families thousands of dollars a year by simply reviewing their personal insurance arrangements, Lifebroker said today.

Women are the key financial decisions makers in many families and are the biggest buyers of personal insurance in Australia, including life and income insurance.

By following a few simple steps they can save thousands without compromising the quality of their family’s insurance. 

1. Check your family’s not being overcharged for life insurance.

Some life insurance policies may seem enticing because they don’t ask for medical or health information at the time of application; however, these policies are much more expensive – up to 100 per cent in some cases.

If you didn’t provide detailed medical or health information when you purchased the life insurance make sure you compare your policy with policies that do seek detailed health information.

Up $500,000 of life insurance for a 30 or 40 year-old-couple can be around $521 or $722 annually.

2. Premiums for all personal insurance policies (life, income, trauma and disablement insurance) can vary by up to 50 per cent between insurers for a similar policy.

Different insurers often develop policies aimed at specific groups such as self-employed people, office workers, or people with specific pre-existing medical conditions and can offer lower premiums to these groups – shop around.

3. When shopping around for personal insurance be aware that financial advisers will sometimes only compare two or three insurers, not all fourteen.

Some companies like lifebroker, provide comparisons between all insurers free of charge.

4. Tweaking some features of your income insurance can cut the premium by half.

Increasing the waiting period (when the policy starts paying) from 30 to 60 or 90 days can more than halve the premium. Reducing the benefit period (how long the policy pays) can reduce the premium by up to 20 per cent.

If you are employed (not self-employed) you might also consider an ‘indemnity’ style policy, which bases your payment amount on your most recent income statement. Doing this can also reduce your premium.

5. If you have income insurance make sure you claim your premiums as a tax deduction. This can reduce the annual premium for income insurance by up to 40 per cent, depending on your tax bracket.