Accidents and unexpected events can really set you back financially. Insuring your vehicles, house and belongings allows you to keep on moving forward with plans, even when the unexpected happens.
Why insurance is important
It’s a fact of life that we face risks every day. Having insurance can help you to live more confidently and securely, knowing you’ll have financial protection should the unexpected happen.
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Playing it smart with insurance
Here are some good reasons for getting insurance:
Protecting your assets
Protecting your wellbeing
While we’re lucky with our public health system and ACC in New Zealand, relying on them can mean waiting for expert care, and only limited financial support. Insurance can provide you and your family a greater chance of a faster recovery and a better quality of life afterwards.
Protecting your loved ones
Insurance can give you the peace of mind that your family could be financially protected should something happen to you. It might mean they can pay off the mortgage, get additional childcare, pay for education or use some of the claim payment for your funeral.
Replacing an income
If you or your partner are unable to work, having insurance to replace a lost income can potentially remove the stress from ongoing financial commitments until you are able to return to work.
Keeping a business afloat
The death, illness or disability of you, or one of your business' key people, could have a major impact on both your business and your family. These, often unexpected, events can cause loss of profit, interruption to cash flow, disruptions to loan repayments and changes in shareholder control.
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How insurance works
Insurance transfers the financial risk of something negative happening to an insured person or item, to an Insurer up to the amount you choose to be covered for. The Insurer agrees to this in return for the insurance premium you pay.
For some types of insurance, there’s still a small portion of financial risk you’ll retain through your insurance excess – the amount you’ll pay should you need to claim on your insurance. The excess helps to make insurance affordable.
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Different types of insurance
There are many different types of insurances which have been designed to cover the various types of risk of something negative happening to you and your property. Here are some examples:
House insurance is designed to insure the buildings and structures at a nominated address.
Contents insurance covers your personal possessions like clothes, appliances and furnishings kept in your home.
Vehicle insurance is designed to cover vehicles like your private car, boat, motorbike or trailer.
Travel insurance covers a range of events that might happen while travelling overseas – like being hurt in an accident, getting sick, theft of your luggage or travel delays and cancellations.
Health insurance is designed to cover the cost of private hospitalisation, surgery and diagnostic testing like x-rays and MRI scans.
Term life insurance helps take care of financial commitments and dependents with a lump-sum payment in the event of your death.
Mortgage and income protection insurance is designed to provide financial cover to help meet mortgage or rent payments or other expenses if you are unable to work due to sickness or injury.
Total and permanent disablement insurance provides a lump sum payment in the event that you become totally and permanently disabled and are unable to engage in either your 'own' or 'any' occupation, depending which type of cover you have.
Critical conditions insurance can provide a lump-sum payment if you experience one of the critical medical conditions as defined in your policy.
Family protection insurance is designed to provide your dependents with a monthly payment in the event of your death.
Business insurance provides cover should the unexpected happen to you, your business partner or the business itself.
ASB offers the following insurance: home and contents insurance, car insurance, health insurance, life loan and income insurance and business insurance.
There are many types of insurance products to cover different things – it’s important to make sure you get the right cover for what you need. Call our insurance specialists on 0800 200 252 and they can help you decide which type of policy, or combination of policies, best suits your circumstances.
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Other helpful guides
The availability of insurance cover is subject to your application being approved. All applications are subject to individual consideration. Special conditions, exclusions or premium loadings may apply. An excess applies for most benefits. For full details refer to the policy document which is available on request from ASB Bank Limited.
ASB life, health and disability insurance is underwritten by AIA New Zealand Limited ("AIA").
General Insurance is underwritten by IAG New Zealand Limited ("IAG").
All licensed insurance providers are required to have a financial strength rating from an approved rating agency. See further details about AIA's financial strength rating, IAG's financial strength rating, and Cigna's financial strength rating.
