What are my options to obtain a Life Insurance quote?

There are various ways to obtain a life insurance quote, some of these include:

Online insurance brokers who will request information via an online quotation request form which will require information including name, date of birth, occupation, earnings and type of cover required. They will generally use a range of various insurers to provide a life insurance quote to you.

Licensed Life Insurance Advisers who will generally meet with you in person or via phone and complete an analysis of your situation and provide pricing and recommendations based on the information you have provided, again a range of various insurers will be reviewed and then recommendations made based on the insurers products and pricing.

Directly with the Insurer who will generally provide a call centre where a life insurance quote can be provided from that insurer only.

What types of Life Insurance can be included in a Life Insurance quote?

Life insurance – pays a lump sum on your death or the diagnosis of a terminal illness, generally paid to your nominated beneficiary for the purpose of meeting outstanding debts including home loans and personal loans or to provide an income stream to a dependent or even schooling fees.

Trauma insurance – pays a lump sum if you suffer or are diagnosed with one of many specific conditions such as heart attack, stroke or cancer. The purpose of this insurance is to provide financial support and may give you the choice to reduce your working hours, provide treatment or rehabilitation, reduce debt or just take some time out.

Income Protection insurance – provides an income of generally up to 75% of your taxable earnings if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. Premiums vary depending on occupation, smoking status and age and are generally tax deductible.

Total and Permanent Disability insurance – pays a lump sum if you are unable to ever work again due to illness or injury. Similar to Life insurance proceeds from this insurance could be used to pay out home loans, provide and income stream and in this case provide for medical and rehabilitation expenses.

What things will impact the cost of my Life Insurance quote?

Occupation
Your occupation will have an impact on the cost of your insurance particularly Income protection and Term Life insurance, white collar workers are deemed to be less risk of an accident than blue collar workers and therefore premiums are generally lower

Age
Your age will have an impact on your premiums, the younger ages are generally cheaper and premiums will increase as your age does. There are ways to reduce this increase by selecting “level premiums” from the commencement of your policy. This options means the premium does not increase due to age but is generally at a higher amount from the outset

Medical History
Your medical history may have an impact on your premiums, with the healthier lives treat more favorably, substandard medical history may trigger a loading to your premium or an exclusion to your policy.

Amount of cover
The amount of cover you require has one of the largest impacts on the cost of your insurance with higher amounts triggering higher premiums

How is the Life Insurance premium structured for my Life Insurance quote?

Stepped premiums are based on your age at the time you take out your insurance policy and are recalculated each year at your policy anniversary generally becoming more expensive as you get older. Premiums are usually relatively cheap at younger ages and will increase significantly over time.

Level premiums are calculated on your age at the commencement of your insurance policy and will be higher than stepped premiums, but will generally remain consistently level for the period that you remain insured.