| NZ Health Insurance And NZ Life Insurance Documentation |
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| Written by Daniel Fletcher |
| Tuesday, 07 September 2010 20:30 |
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The documentation contained within your Insurance contract is a vital determining factor when a claim is being reviewed by an insurance company. If you're no different than most of us then you will not have read, or even paid a second thought to your policy documentation. That's no surprise as these documents are intimidating and incredibly hard to understand at the best of times.
The documentation contained within your Insurance contract is a vital determining factor when a claim is being reviewed by an insurance company. If you're no different than most of us then you will not have read, or even paid a second thought to your policy documentation. That's no surprise as these documents are intimidating and incredibly hard to understand at the best of times. In a nutshell, these policy wordings are the physical evidence of the contract between the insurance company and you. When a claim is lodged against a policy, it is these conditions that will be the crucial factor in determining the outcome of that claim. Contract terms and conditions are fundamental in ensuring the owner of the policy gets what they have paid for. With amounts in the tens of thousands of dollars at stake, it is well worth your time and effort in making sure that you fully understand them. Over time it is possible that new policy conditions (issued as replacements for lost or stolen originals) may contain more restrictions relative to those contained in the original policy wordings. However, these alterations cannot be backdated on existing contracts unless the original policy wordings allow for it. Any alteration that reduces the entitlement of a policy holder is typically not usually permitted under the terms of a Life Insurance contract. Lately we are witnessing a number of companies that are utilising policy wordings to give them the ability to apply such retrospective changes. You need to be aware of this when considering the purchase of your life or health insurance. Every now and then newer versions of the contracts might contain improvements which benefit the policy owner, and these improvements may well be applied retrospectively giving all existing policy holders some advantage. But I don't have an eye for detail - How can I be expected to make sense of this? It's a good question and one that comes up many times so I've put together a simple three step process that everyone should be able to follow in order to safeguard their policy entitlements: (1) - Keep in regular contact with your adviser. Your adviser's knowledge and experience is your greatest protection and they will be able to easily spot any adverse contract changes. (2) - Be sure to file your policy documentation in a secure location and make sure you give a copy of the original to your adviser. If you mislay or lose the original then contact your adviser and ask them to send you a copy. This gets around the potential issues that may transpire if you have to go to your Life Insurance Company to get another copy. (3) - Only send copies of the original and not the original itself. The original policy document should be kept under lock and key as this is the only verification you have of your entitlements. Your policy document is exceptionally important and should be treated with respect. DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice. Look no further for the best NZ Health Insurance and NZ Life Insurance. |