COVID-19 Response
Priority Life have listened to the guidance of the government amidst this uncertain time with the COVID-19 virus. In order to protect our staff and ensure we are able to help you in the event of claim, all staff will be working from home commencing Tuesday 24th March. If you need to speak with someone please call Lisa directly on 0403 149 022 or please email admin@prioritylife.com.au. Thank you and take care during this time.
ABOUT US
You are our priority. We care.
Priority Life is one of Australia’s leading risk advisory firm, protecting over 1600 professionals, Australia wide since 1992.
Working specifically with lawyers, medical professionals, business owners and accountants alike, we provide expert advice on Life and Disability insurance.
Being part of the Perpetual Group, we look at the wider-market and find the most suitable products for your circumstances. With an impeccable history in claims advocacy, we are confident that in the event of your sickness or passing, your claim will be processed efficiently and effectively for the sake of you and your loved ones.
WHAT WE DO
Our process is simple.
1. Discover
2. Research
3. Advice
4. Implementation
5. Claims Assistance
6. Annual Review
1. Discover
We listen and we don’t act until we understand.
Our advisers will start by establishing a crystal-clear understanding of your personal and/or business circumstances and identify what is important to you. In this introductory stage, we will also ask you a few questions around your budgetary guidelines and expenses to establish a clear understanding of the types of cover most suitable for you.
2. Research
We uncover the cover best for you.
Your adviser and their paraplanner undertake thorough market wide research across all insurers and carry out in-depth policy & contract analysis. All our research takes into account a pre-assessment of any medical & financials issues and includes in-depth premium analysis.
3. Advice
We provide intelligent and expert advice.
Our advisers will discuss the outcome of the research and an evaluation of the proposed levels of cover. We will provide a Statement of Advice and discuss the best options for you and your circumstances.
4. Implementation
We make it easy for you.
Our dedicated administrators will arrange all paperwork, fast tracking any medical & financial requirements. Priority Life have considerable expertise in negotiating medical loadings or exclusions which is a huge benefit to the client at this point in the process.
5. Claims Assistance
We don’t give up until you are paid in full.
Our team manage the entire claims process, arranging all paperwork, working in collaboration with clients and their family to ensure prompt payments; and of course, negotiating on your behalf.
6. Annual Review
We keep you and your cover up-to-date.
Each year we will review your policy, discuss your levels of cover and make amendments if required. All members receive a summary of schedules and taxation information from Priority Life and their insurer year on year.
Testimonials
HOW WE ARE DIFFERENT
Case Studies
We investigate the ‘fine print’
- A surgeon in the prime of his career came to us to review his insurances
- He has cover through a major insurer as well as some Income Protection cover through a major Queensland based superannuation scheme
- To do his dismay we discovered that his Income Protection through the super scheme would not be payable if he was receiving a claim through the major insurer, essentially, he was paying thousands of dollars to this cover that he could never claim on
- Once this was identified we recommended a policy that covered his full benefit amount and stopped the payments of premium to the redundant policy
We help protect the otherwise uninsurable
- A 63 y/o business owner is not able to establish a new TPD policy because of his age
- Priority Life negotiated with the insurance company to make a special offer to the satisfaction of the client
We ensure fair claims assessment
- 61 y/o client suffers a heart attack
- Surgeon inserted 4 stents rather than a by-pass surgery
- Insurer rejected the trauma claim as the definition of a heart attack under the trauma contract requires by-pass surgery
- Priority Life interceded and worked with the company and client, as a result the decision on the claim was changed, and the client received a payout of $500,000
TYPES OF COVER
We offer specialist risk advice on:
Life Insurance provides a lump sum benefit to your beneficiaries or estate in the event of your death, or diagnosis of a terminal illness. This is one of the most common types of cover taken out as it provides financial security directly to your loved ones and is paid out as a lump sum.
Income Protection enables you to receive 75% of your income, divided as a monthly benefit in the event of an accident or injury that leaves you unable to work for longer than your selected waiting period. This allows you to manage your monthly expenses and lifestyle requirements without extra financial pressures.
Total & Permanent Disability (TPD) is a lump sum insurance product that pays out when the person insured cannot ever work again. Definitions of disability can be occupation specific (Own Occupation) or general in nature (Any Occupation) and is an important consideration our advisers discuss with you.
Critical Illness is a lump sum insurance product that pays out when the person insured suffers from an illness from a predetermined list provided by the insurer. It does not matter if you can or cannot go back to work, you will receive the lump sum regardless.
For some doctors an important risk they consider is the possibility of contracting a serious disease such as Hepatitis B, C or HIV from a needlestick injury. This insurance cover is payable as a lump sum and is designed to compensate for potential income lost.
Key Person Insurance protects the financial position of a business, by insuring a ‘key’ or integral person to that business. The policy is usually owned and paid for by the company and is used to offset the estimated financial losses to the business in the event of the death, total and permanent disablement or critical illness of the key person and is paid as a lump sum.
Own occupation specific cover
Disability refers to when a person is unable to function in a so called ‘normal’ capacity. Considering the nature of a doctor’s work, it’s important for disability cover to relate to the specifics they do and relate to the potentially huge loss of financial gain that they would have if they were disabled.
The Priority Life service delves into the specifics of what Own Occupation needs to look like and we seek to cover it from multiple angles. Not only do we want our clients to be covered if they cannot do the duties of their own occupation, we consider whether a reduction in hours that they are able to work will prompt a claim as well as a loss of income due to a sickness or injury.
The ability to work up to 10 hours a week in one’s own occupation is particularly valuable for self-employed people who often need to continue working in some capacity while they are otherwise fully off work (disabled).
Agreed Value on Income Protection
Just like insuring assets, e.g. a car, can be done on an agreed value or one that can be reduced such as market value; Income Protection can be set up on either Agreed or Indemnity cover.
Agreed insurance is typically sort after by doctors in private practice and doctors who are experiencing an increase to their income such as newly qualified professionals. The latter, often face a distinct challenge in getting agreed cover as their prior income e.g.: whilst doing their Fellowship year, is typically much less than what they will be earning once their private practice is up and running. This often means they can’t get the level of agreed value cover they are seeking.
As part of our Priority Life service we negotiate special arrangements for this group with key providers to solve this problem.
Needlestick Cover
For some doctors a key concern is acquiring HIV or Hepatitis B and C from a needlestick injury.
Some Income Protection policies will provide a booster payment for this event free of charge, others will offer it as an additional cost and some policies won’t cover it at all.
Rather than assuming every doctor is seeking this booster cover we discuss their potential risk and their concerns around it and if the cover is to be included, we pay particular attention to the offerings of each insurer.
Major flaws with many super based covers
While a nominal amount of Income Protection is often included with superannuation funds, most of these offerings include a very problematic clause in their policy wordings.
Many policies include an offset of other Income Protection policies which means that technically, there is no value in having another policy because if you take out a second policy, you can’t claim on it.
We have also discovered other issues with these policies, such as:
- Payments are only based on base salary and do not include other employment benefits e.g.: overtime and super.
- Cover is on an Indemnity basis, meaning payouts can be reduced where income has been reduced at the time.
- Cover cannot be set as level which means that premiums are escalating with age.
- A situation where the client is redeployed within the public health system e.g.: medical administrator, would result in no payments to the client.
- You can only access your benefit if you have used up all your sick leave.
Business Expenses
Business Expenses Insurance is most relevant to self-employed medical professionals who would have significant ongoing expenses if they were disabled (on a month by month basis). Without it, they would typically need to fund these expenses either through their Income Protection, their cash reserves, or go into debt. These expenses are mostly made up of staffing costs and premises leasing costs while they are off work.
Unfortunately, this is an area of cover that is often neglected and seems to be an afterthought for advisers and clients and can be a real problem when it’s not in place. One of the key problems we have found with certain policies is that partial disability is not included.
Need to talk to a Risk insurance Specialist?
MEET THE TEAM
Bradley Gecelter
Partner
Lisa Tran
Operations Manager
Raoul Shemer
Senior Risk Adviser
Prue Homewood
Senior Risk Adviser
Luke Fisher
Senior Risk Adviser
Akiva Kennard
Risk Adviser
Adam Mitchell
Senior Risk Adviser
Quoc (William) Lam
Paraplanner
Mina Gorelik
Paraplanner
Iain Williamson
Paraplanner
Sterna Adelist
Office Administrator
Mark Young
Consultant
Head Office
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CONTACT US
Get expert risk insurance advice, from brokers who care.
PHONE:
(03) 8199 9000
EMAIL:
admin@prioritylife.com.au
HEAD OFFICE:
Rialto South Tower
Level 29, 525 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
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