life_insurance

It provides cash to:

Cover debts and provide income for the family

Cover business needs and debts

Pay an early payment for terminal illness

Cover funeral and associated expenses

Provide instant cash until estate settled

Provide for your children's education

Ensure your spouse continues to have an income or retirement savings

Discounts for joint life and non-smokers

We all have a choice of trying to provide for the above events by ourselves, or by joining with others through an insurance company, to share the risk at a much reduced cost.

Life Insurance was the original and principle form of Insurance designed to provide cover in case of death (and extended in recent years to include terminal illnesses). It provides large lumps of cash to clear debts or to provide for ongoing needs and is accumulated from many small premiums against the possibility of death. While we all hope we never need it, we all know that death is inevitable, and we never know when it will occur.

Life insurance can be either temporary or long term.

The most popular life policy today is temporary or yearly renewable term (Term Insurance). This works like your car insurance and has no cash value. If you stop paying the premium, the policy lapses and the cover stops.

Term Insurance offers cover against death and terminal illness.

Term Life offers a Bereavement Support Benefit, Special Event Increase in cover and a Future Insurability option.

Cover against death is 100% of the sum assured.

Term Life can be renewed until of the age of 100 years.

If you are between 16 and 55 and would like a quick online quote for Term Insurance click here

Most Policies will also pay out the insured amount if the insured person is diagnosed with a terminal illness that is likely to result in death within 12 months.

Permanent or Level insurance is an older form and is suitable for a long term need. Premiums start off at a higher rate than with temporary insurance, but generally increase only with inflation adjustments. This means that you may pay less in premiums over a long term. The policy may also have a cash value, and the cover can remain in place for many years after premiums have stopped. There are more options with this policy but care needs to be taken that there is a long term need for the insurance cover.

Some of the older types of policy in this category were the Whole of Life and Endowment policies. These have largely been superseded by more modern and more flexible unbundled policies where the insurance benefits and investment portions are separated. See comments on Older Life Insurance Policies

Life Insurance rates have been reducing in recent years, due to competition and the fact that we are living longer. If you need Life Cover for your mortgage or to protect your family, call us, it has never been cheaper. If you have an older Life or Endowment Policy, call us for a review, you are probably paying more than you need.

If you are aged from 16 to 55 you can get quotes online from here - www.nzlife.co.nz

For a personalised quotation please complete the following form.

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Smoker?
Cover Required: Life:
Email:
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Fax:	*
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City:	*
Postal Code:	*
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I request a quote by:	Email Fax Phone Mail Personal Visit
Any other information you wish to provide:

All quotes provided are subject to appropriate medical underwriting.

The availability of any insurance cover is subject to the acceptance and approval of a completed application. Exclusions may apply.

Case Study

Q & A

If you have questions you would like answered email us here.

Q. Can Life Insurance be used as a Savings program?

A. Life Insurance is different from savings account/ unit trusts etc in that it is:

A system of shared risk which for a relatively small input provides immediate access to a substantial cover on death.

It can be used also as a savings plan to provide for the future and is unique in that it is the only savings plan which is self-completing on death.

It complements other forms of savings.

Q. What role does Life Insurance play in an estate plan?

A. While the majority of an estate may comprise property, a business or other fixed assets, life insurance provides the guaranteed needed cash for:

Avoiding forced liquidation losses

Meeting estate liabilities

Enables transfer without encumbrances

Costs only small part of today's income

Reduces estate transfer administrative costs

Permits payment of estate obligations by installment in advance.

Least expensive solution to estate shrinkage

Q. "How could there be a problem with income tax at death?"

A. There are many self employed professionals who achieve high incomes. Being self employed no tax is deducted at source and they are subject to provisional tax, and terminal tax. Provisional tax is an assessment of liability based on last years income. As the business grows, so does income and the tax liability. The catch up each year is paid as terminal tax up to 24 months after earnings. On death, IRD recover all outstanding provisional and terminal tax for the last and current year. This can be a considerable sum.

Life Insurance can cover this need.

Life Insurance CASE STUDIES

Marianne was 46 years old. She worked in the banking industry and as part of her employment package had Life Cover provided by Sovereign.

In March of 1997, she went to see her doctor as she hadn't been feeling well for some time. Her doctor diagnosed her condition as cancer of the gall bladder. The doctor also advised that her illness was terminal and that unfortunately she was unlikely to live longer than 12 months.

Marianne was suddenly faced with the prospect of trying to make the most of the time she had left, as well as ensuring that the loved ones she would inevitably leave behind would be provided for by her estate.

A letter from her doctor was sent to Sovereign confirming that Marianne had less than 12 months to live. With this in hand, the following day Sovereign paid her a lump sum terminal illness benefit of $93,000, which equated to the total amount of her Life Cover.

Other clients we have assisted include:

Executive
Male 55. Cancer. $350,000 Terminal illness (death expected within 12 mths), payment made for total Life cover which enabled payment of mortgage and other debts plus some funds for holiday.

Computer Sales Engineer.
Male aged 27. Died in motor bike accident. $213,000. To his mother to clear debts and cover costs.

Housewife
Female aged 31. Cervical cancer. Paid Critical Illness $30,000 on diagnosis and later another $20,000 on death. Left husband and one child.

Engineer
Male aged 27. Died in car accident whilst on holiday overseas. $200,000 used to bring back body for funeral and clear debts, plus enable surviving wife to start a new life.