Could you cover your expenses if you couldn’t work because of illness? What about rebuilding your house to the same level if it burned down? Can you afford the cost of medical treatment if it’s not covered by our public health system?
Understanding how to adequately protect your income and investments is one of the many financial literacy skills a person needs. Unfortunately, New Zealand has the third-worst levels of underinsurance in the OECD with the insurance council suggesting that as many as 9 out of 10 Kiwi are underinsured. We saw the large scale tragic ramifications of this with the Christchurch earthquakes, but individuals can experience this at any time.
This is why at Banqer we believe that financial literacy and awareness of risk should begin while our children are at school, with parents leading productive conversations at home. If we do this well, our children will grow to be confident in making sound money decisions in the future.
As a parent, you can help your children understand the importance of protecting what matters through insurance. Here are some conversation starters...
What is insurance? Insurance is a way to protect yourself against specific and unexpected events that will impact you financially. It is a contract (policy) between you and your insurer.
What are some of the different types of insurance that we can be protected with? House and contents, vehicle, health, income, pet, life.
What is ACC? New Zealand’s accident compensation scheme provides accident insurance cover for accidental injuries to New Zealand citizens and residents and to temporary visitors to New Zealand.
What wouldn’t be covered under ACC? Anything that is not an accident, including most diseases, long term illnesses or conditions related to getting older.
Why might someone want insurance for their personal property? In the event your personal property is damaged, lost or stolen, insurance can help replace this. In some cases, your insurance will replace your gear with brand-new stuff!
Why might someone want private health insurance? While our public health system can help if you get sick, not everything is covered. You might face a large medical bill or a long wait for treatment. Health insurance gives you options to choose the treatment and specialists that best suits you and your family.
Why might someone want income or life insurance? If you are unable to work because of illness, income insurance can help replace some of your lost income to make sure you can keep living your life. Life insurance can help your family if you lose your life by providing some money to pay for funeral costs, pay off mortgages and debt or helping with financial goals such as paying for your children’s education.
What is an insurance premium? The amount paid to an insurance company on a regular basis for your insurance.
With the help of Partners Life, we are teaching students about risk and insurance in Banqer High. In our personal risk insurance expansion, we introduce students to private medical and income protection as a way of managing personal risk.
The expansion encourages students to take out insurance and then throws random events at them based on real-life issues. Students are then able to see the impact of their decision to purchase personal risk insurance… or not.
Partners Life is focused on closing the underinsurance gap in New Zealand. Together, we hope to increase financial literacy and awareness of risk at a young age and create generational change.
Is Banqer in your child’s school? We’d love to help grow their financial literacy with your help. Could you refer us to their teacher? Head over to our secondary school referral or our primary and intermediate school referral.
