By the end of this week you should:
- Have a better understanding of your insurance needs
- Know how to find a better deal on your car, home, health and life insurance
Estimated completion time: 20 mins
By completing these three tasks, you’ll be able to find better value for money on your insurance premiums and ensure that you’re protected against unexpected financial disasters.
If your car is damaged in an accident, stolen or written off, the financial consequences could be disastrous. That’s why choosing the right car insurance policy is so important.
Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance is mandatory for every registered driver in Australia, but there are also three optional types of car insurance available:
Read over your car insurance product disclosure statement (PDS) to check:
To make sure you choose the right level of cover, ask yourself:
There are heaps of ways you can lower your car insurance premiums, so keep the following tips in mind when choosing a policy:
Your home is much more than just a roof over your head; it’s also the most expensive possession you will ever own. Making sure that your home (and everything in it) is protected is a vital responsibility for every homeowner, which is where home and contents insurance comes in.
According to data from the Insurance Council of Australia, 83% of Australian homeowners and renters are underinsured. To be sure of having enough cover in place, consider the following:
Unfortunately, working out exactly how much home insurance cover you need can be difficult. Many insurers offer online calculators to help you get a ballpark figure, but an independent valuation will be more accurate.
Check your current home insurance PDS to find out what is and isn’t covered by your policy. You can then compare it against policies from a range of other insurers. Factors to consider include:
There are plenty of easy ways to lower your home insurance premiums, such as:
Your car and home insurance are sorted, so now it’s time to look at your health cover options.
Cover | Medicare | Private health insurance |
---|---|---|
Public hospital services | Yes | Yes |
Treatment as a private patient | No | Yes |
Everyday health services (dental, optical etc) | No | Yes (included in extras cover policies) |
Ambulance | No. Medicare does not cover the cost of an ambulance, but ambulance services for Queensland and Tasmania residents are covered by their respective state governments. | Yes. Ambulance cover available on a wide range of policies. |
This is a question tens of thousands of Australians ask themselves every year, but the answer is entirely up to you. Some people see private health cover as an unnecessary expense (why pay for treatment when it’s available for free?) while others wouldn’t live without it.
In short, it all comes down to your own health needs, your financial circumstances and how much control you want to have over your treatment. However, there are a few key reasons why you might want to consider taking out private health cover:
Take our quiz to find out whether you might benefit from health insurance.
Read the fine print closely and consider the following factors when comparing policies:
Australian health funds must charge everyone the same premium for the same level of cover, so there aren’t as many ways to save as there are when shopping for other types of insurance. However, you can get cheaper premiums by:
Finally, it’s time to consider your life insurance options. While most of us are quick to insure our cars and homes, we’re just as quick to dismiss the idea of taking out life insurance cover.
Before doing so, ask yourself the following questions:
Life insurance is designed to secure your family’s financial future, so devote some time to working out whether you could benefit from cover.
There are five main types of life insurance available in Australia:
How much cover you need depends on the type of policy you get and your personal financial circumstances. The key thing you need to think about is how your family would cope if they could no longer rely on your income to make ends meet.
For example, how much money would they need to:
You might want to seek help from an insurance broker, as well as use our life insurance calculator to get a better idea of how much cover you need.
You might be. Many superannuation funds offer life and TPD cover to their members by default, with the premiums deducted from your super balance.
Check with your super fund to find out whether you already have some form of life insurance cover in place – if so, find out exactly how much cover you have and whether it will be enough to help your loved ones should the worst happen.
Shopping for life insurance? Here are some key factors to consider when comparing policies:
These simple tips can help you lower your life insurance premiums:
Finally, make sure you regularly review your policy to ensure you have a sufficient level of protection in place. As your circumstances change, so too do your life insurance needs.
By the end of this week you should:
You’re almost there – only one more week to go. The final week of the finder financial bootcamp is all about staying on track and achieving your long-term goals, so make sure not to miss it!
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