Making sure you have renewable life insurance
When you start a life insurance plan, there are a range of points to check. For example the type of premium the plan has (for example level versus stepped), the life insurance plan’s features (for example whether it offers “future insurability” or an advance funeral payment), and things like the life insurance company’s financial strength rating (do they have an independent financial strength rating from a ratings agency?). There is also one vital point to check – this is whether the life insurance plan you are setting up is “guaranteed renewable” or not.
“Guaranteed renewable” means that from year to year, you have the right to keep your life insurance plan – it will be automatically renewed without you needing to do anything. Importantly, the life insurer has no right to cancel your insurance, even if your health has gotten worse. This is vital – as with some types of insurance, from year to year you need to provide up-to-date health information, and the insurer can decide whether or not to insure you that year. If they do not wish to insure you, the cover ceases, and you are no longer insured. This is very different to a life insurance policy with guaranteed insurability – where you have the security of guaranteed cover from year to year regardless of health changes.
A non-guaranteed life insurance plan can pose a major problem. The reason is simple – people often experience health issues that make getting insurance difficult (health issues can have a major impact on life insurance). This means that if a life insurance plan you have is cancelled, getting another life insurance plan might cost a lot more or even be impossible in some cases.
So, if you’re setting up a life insurance plan, make sure your plan is guaranteed renewable – this will ensure that you have life insurance you can rely on and are protected into the future whether or not your health changes.
You can get more on life insurance New Zealand and you can visit the blog life insurance renewable