We specialise in helping people with well‑managed HIV or Diabetes (and other complex health conditions) get their life insurances and income protection sorted.

Life Insurance means financial protection to those you love, at a time when they shouldn’t have to think about money.

Income Protection means you safeguard your able to continue to earn a living, and keep your lifestyle until your recover.

And we help their family members get all their life insurances sorted too, so nobody misses out

• We also help medical professionals and emergency service workers protect themselves from the financial effects of contaminated sharps injuries, and
• We provide Australia wide financial advice and insurances for Surrogates so intended parents can provide the highest quality personal insurances to help protect and support the surrogate parent providing surrogacy services.

These days HIV or Diabetes doesn't have to be a life sentence

But most insurance companies still treat you like it is.

People with pre-existing well‑managed health conditions have, up till now, been prevented from accessing quality Life Insurance and Life Insurance products like Income Protection, simply because of their conditions.

We believe everyone deserves a fair go and equal access to financial advice Drew Browne Founder Unusual Risks Insured

How would you answer these 5 quick questions?

1. Are you or someone you love living with HIV or diabetes?
2. Do you need to learn more about blood-borne disease protection?
3. Want to learn how to protect your partner, family and even your business from the unexpected?
4. Are you just looking for help to get your life insurance sorted?
5. Not sure if it’s even possible?

Here's the great news!

You'll be pleased to know that now there's an Australian company that can offer life insurance services to those who really need it - and you found us.

On our site, you'll be able to:

• learn why many LGBTQIA+ people and our Allies choose to use our services
• learn everything you need to know about how to get your life insurance sorted if you have well-managed HIV or diabetes or using PrEP to manage your health.
• learn how to protect yourself from the effect of a contaminated sharps injury if you're a medical professional
• take our anonymous pre-assessment to find out if we can work with your situation

So what are the different types of Life insurance products available to you here?

Life Insurances is a name that covers a range of personal insurances designed to protect people from the known statistical risks of life.

These include:

• Death and Terminal Illness cover
• Total and Permanent Disability cover
• Crisis Recovery insurance for serious medical conditions
• Income Protection cover for sickness and illness stopping you from earning your income

For business owners and key people in business, we have additional personal insurances designed to protect business people from the known statistical risks of business life too.

These include:

• Business Key Person and Key Debt protection
• Business Fixed Expenses protection
• Business Owners and Professional Partnerships protection
• Business Owner and Partnership ownership transfer protection.

Investing in the health and well-being of another is an act of service, greater than ourselves and in many ways it's what makes us human - Drew Browne

For us, this is not just about getting a Life Insurance policy, this is an equality and human rights issue

We believe that every Australian should have equal access to high-quality Life Insurance products, no matter what their sexuality, gender, race, age or beliefs. We believe this is not just about getting Life Insurance, this is a human rights issue.

For our clients, it's about protecting and providing for those they love and simply getting on with living a full and adventurous life.

Life Insurance can help you be certain your loved ones are provided for, children's educational needs are taken care of, and that your family of choice won't have to worry about their future if you’re not there to continue to protect and provide for them.

A sad but all too common experience

Often, when a couple set up life insurance to protect each other, one person has their application accepted, but the other is refused because of a pre-existing health condition. Both are left feeling that a wedge has been driven between them and that their needs and choices were not understood, honoured or valued. At unUsualrisks.com.au our mission is to change this.

Life insurance offers financial protection to those you love at a time when they shouldn’t have to think about money

An insurance payout can help your loved ones:

• Stay in the family home by either paying out the mortgage or providing enough funds to allow then to remain in the community where they're most comfortable
• Maintain the same standard of living by providing funds to be invested and used over time
• Provide for future planned expenses for loved ones or maybe leaving a legacy that makes your difference in the world
• If you're in business life insurance can help protect your revenue, secure bank loans and make shareholders and Key people to the business feel more secure too.
• If you're sorting out your estate planning, life insurance can help equalise the value of an estate so that heirs are treated equally, just in case.

When does life insurance payout?

Life insurance will normally payout upon the death of the life insured or diagnoses of a terminal, illness in the last 24 months.

• It can help their dependents cope financially if you unexpectedly pass away, and
• It can help you in practical financial ways if you suffer a terminal illness

Many people don't know that high-quality life insurance also pays out upon the diagnosis of a terminal illness in the remaining 24 months, making it a strong part of a backup plan.

Most people don't know 30% of life insurance claims are made for terminal illness

For Health Professionals and Emergency Services Workers, contaminated sharps injury protection offers financial stability to you at a time when you need to focus on your ongoing health

An insurance payout can help you:

• Pay you an immediate cash amount to use in any way to need
• It can help pay out debts and remove financial stressors from your life
• It can provide a financial cushion to your loved ones or yourself and help provide time for you to consider your next step
• It can fund a change in your professional career, protect business shareholders and provide you with space to take time to consider what your next step needs to be

So if you're living with HIV, managing diabetes or protecting yourself from these types of conditions (like using PrEP), we can help you with complete privacy, discretion and great advice.

Enjoy your time here on our site, and feel free to get in touch and say G'day.

And if you have sensitive questions or just prefer to chat with a person first, strike up an email conversation here or give us a call direct and ask to speak with Drew.

• services

Can we manage your Life Insurance and Super fund Beneficiary Nomination for you?

Yes, we can.

This is another one of our most asked about questions.

Understanding how to keep track of your insurance policy nominations can feel a little like rocket science.

You probably already know that when you take out a typical Life Insurance policy, you have the option to nominate anyone you like as the beneficiary(s) to the policy, so they can receive any future payout if you unexpectedly pass away.

• Standard Life insurance payouts are usually paid tax free to your nominated beneficiary.

But did you know that if the Life Insurance policy is paid from a super fund, you are restricted to who you can nominate as a beneficiary, and there may be significant taxation complications too?

• Super Life insurance payouts are taxed unless the person you nominate is an eligible beneficiary under the tax laws.

Are you one of the many people who have lost track of their beneficiary information?

Do you have an existing Life Insurance policy or perhaps a Super account with insurance you've lost touch with?

• Maybe you haven’t nominated a beneficiary to your life insurance policy or super account?
• Have you forgotten who you did nominate and now need to update your wishes?
• Did you nominate a previous partner from a past relationship and now need to (urgently) update your nomination instructions?
• Have you recently divorced or separated, or
• You may have forgotten a binding nomination needs to be renewed every three years?

If this sounds like you, it sounds like you could benefit from our Update My Life & Super Beneficiary Nominations Service.

Making a beneficiary nomination is separate to making a Will

Making a beneficiary nomination is something you can do today that will make a significant difference to your loved ones. It can give your chosen beneficiary a level of protected financial security outside the reach of any relatives and biological family members who may try and challenge a Will and seek to erase your partner's rights.

• If you're one of the 76% of Australians who don’t yet have a Will, the government usually appoints an administrator and applies its own set of rules (called Rules of Intestacy) to decide who gets what in your estate – and you probably won’t like those rules.
• To make matters worse these Intestacy laws are not uniform Australia wide so it’s a bit of a hit-and-miss affair and can become a source of heartache and sorrow for the modern Australian Family.

Why everyone needs to make a beneficiary nomination

Most people know that a Will takes care of your estate assets; like a house, vehicle, personal assets and artworks and collectibles etc.

• What many people often don’t know is that Life insurance payouts and Super account payouts are usually considered non-estate assets and therefore do not form part of your Will and the assets it controls.
• This means if something does not form part of your estate, it's not covered by your Will — and cannot be challenged with your Will.

Who can I nominate as my Life Insurance beneficiary?

Anyone you want.

Who can I nominate as my Super Life Insurance beneficiary?

Your super can only be paid out to an eligible beneficiary.

An eligible beneficiary is either a dependent, a financial dependent or your legal representative (ie: the Executor of your Will or Administrator if you have no Will, for your estate).

• Dependents can include your spouse or de facto partner (regardless of gender), your children (biological, adopted, step and ex-nuptial), or someone (regardless of gender) with whom you have an interdependency relationship. In most cases, siblings are not considered dependents for super purposes unless financially dependent upon you.
• You can also leave your super to a financial dependent, which may include someone who relies on you to meet daily living expenses such as rent, utilities and household outgoings. This also covers anyone who shares your major financial commitments such as mortgage

Pro Tip:
To be able to prove a person is financially dependent upon you and eligible to receive your super death payout tax free, they have to show they are ‘financially dependent' upon you - at the time of your death.

Without expert assistance from the specialists at Unusual Risks, this can be very difficult.

Practical Issues many LGBTQIA+ people face

Not everyone is Out, fully Out or wants to be or safely can be

• So often the most significant people in our lives, are not always legally known and adequately provided for in either our Life Insurance policy or Superannuation account beneficiary nominations. This is usually because nobody has taken the time to show us how to make provision for the people we love and protect our privacy at the same time.

Some people in the LGBTQIA+ Community have complex past relationships

When past relationships have ended, sometimes it can take longer to unwind ourselves from their effects and we simply may have forgotten to update our legal documents and policy nominations.

• Because Life Insurance and Super account payouts are not automatically included with your Will (the technical term is non-estate asset) nominating your Life Insurance and Super account beneficiary directly can be a powerful way to keep funds outside your Will and away from the reach of those who may seek to challenge your Will and estate later.

If you've changed Partners since your last nomination was made and you haven't yet updated your nomination, your former partner (and not your current one), could be entitled to the balance of your super fund payout.

More complex issues LGBTQIA+ people face

• If you're a Co-parent of non-biological children and not living with them, additional legal advice might be needed as the child of a lesbian co-mother or gay co-father will have to prove financial dependence.
• If you're part of a couple who are Living Apart Together you might not qualify under these definitions and additional legal advice might be needed.
• If you're part of a Polyamorous relationship, you might not qualify under these definitions and additional legal advice might be needed.

Let's face the truth about discrimination and intolerance in many biological families

Each LGBTQIA+ person may have differing levels of support from their own biological family.

• Often LGBTQIA+ people need to take special actions to protect ourselves and our partners from our biological families.
• Sadly, many LGBTQIA+ people have biological families who are not supportive or just downright homophobic, biphobic or transphobic.
• Many biological families have rejected their LGBTQIA+ family member (either as a child or adult child) and are selectively intolerant, and even hostile towards their family member's partner and family of choice.

Some may even seek to deny next of kin rights to our partner or even attempt to erase our existence or our partners existence, should we unexpectedly pass away.

Where there’s a Will, there’s a relative

We have seen some straight families who appeared initially supportive of their LGBTQIA+ children, change overnight when opportunistic siblings decided to challenge their absence in a Will, after their LGBTIQ+ relative unexpectedly passed away.

• It’s fair to say, not everyone behaves their best when facing grief, and money.

Why do people need a beneficiary nomination service?

Life is busy and navigating relationships can be complicated.

Add to this the ever-changing tax laws and you can accidentally find yourself leaving a Life Insurance policy payout to someone you no longer want to. And you can also forget to make allowances for the potential tax bill involved.

Relax. We have a solution for these types of problems.

• LGBTQIA+ people are often faced with each partner having differing levels of support from their own biological families and each partner may have a different level of comfort about being Out or not.
• This imbalance can feel particularly uncomfortable when it comes to speaking with biological family members or considering speaking with a Financial Adviser for the first time.

Getting your beneficiary nominations sorted is just one more thing you can do to bring more certainty and equality to your relationships, and at Unusual Risks Insured, we’d love to help you with that.

#LoveTakesAction

• insurance policy benificiary nomination
• services

Can we take over the ongoing management of an existing life insurance policy for you?

Yes, we can.

This is one of our most asked about questions.

The next most commonly asked question we're asked is;

'Can you tell me if my existing policy actually covers me for a particular medical condition?'

And Yes, we can do that too. (And we actually do a lot of that by the way).

Are you one of the thousands of Australians who have lost track of their personal insurance policies?

Do you have an existing Life Insurance policy, Income Protection policy, or perhaps a Super account providing insurances you've lost touch with?

• Not sure what your old insurance policy actually covers, if it's still value for money and meeting your needs?
• Maybe you have some concerns about its wording, cover limitations, possible exclusions, and whether it will actually pay out if needed?
• Perhaps your health or personal circumstances have changed since you first took out these insurances and you're not really sure where you stand?
• Maybe you feel it's just time to move on and start working with a Specialty Adviser like unusualrisks.com.au who's more aligned with what you value?

If this sounds like you, it sounds like you could benefit from our second opinion and discrete Transfer & Manage My Insurance Policy Service.

We can manage the transfer of neglected insurance policies when your provider has forgotten about you (or worse still - simply abandoned you).

Sadly, this is a common and frustrating problem for many people. Advisors leave the industry, businesses are sold and closed and people lose touch for many reasons.

It's the cause of many constant low-level irritations afflicting busy people already juggling busy lives and responsibilities.

Relax. We have the solution

Our Transfer & Manage my Insurance Policy service can take over the day-to-day management of any life insurance policy already in force and manage them all under a single agency for you, with absolute security, privacy, and discretion.

We can also provide additional professional insights and advice on;

• Whether an existing life insurance policy has any special conditions,
• How any new health issues may (or may not) affect the outcome of a potential future claim, and
• Add or update your official nominations about who should be your Life Insurance Policy Beneficiary or Super Fund Account Beneficiary too.

Why do people use our Transfer & Manage Service?

Since the last damming report of The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, many people are now using our Transfer and Manage Service to get the clarity they need on existing insurance policies and to have us manage them all in one place.

• Citing concerns over potential conflicts of interest, more and more people are moving away from financial services providers who are either owned, backed or franchisees of major financial institutions. 
• People today are simply no longer prepared to support a business with a history of putting the commercial interests of their shareholders before the best interests of the customer.

How to use our Policy Transfer & Manage Service

There are 5 Steps to regaining control over a lost or abandoned policy using our Transfer & Manage Service.

1. If you still have a copy of your original policy statement, grab it and look for the policy number (or member number). If you don't, relax, we can trace it if you provide us some basic information too.
2. Send us the details (or a scan of the document).
3. We'll send you back a pre-completed form to sign confirming you give us permission to make discrete inquiries on your behalf.
4. We'll find out what you need to know and give you some options.
5. When you're ready, we can take over and manage your policy for you.

• life insurance for surrogates
• services

The labour of love that is Altruistic Surrogacy in Australia

Altruistic surrogacy is legal in Australia and so is paying the premiums for a Surrogates' Life and Disability insurance policies.

Who’s using Surrogacy in Australia?

For many Australians, having children and raising a family is a natural and important part of their lives. But for some people, this dream doesn't come easily and when other avenues have been exhausted, options for surrogacy are considered.

• The intended parents, (sometimes referred to as commissioning parents), are the parents of a child born through surrogacy.
• A surrogate is a woman who carries a baby for a couple or individual who cannot conceive naturally on their own.

Different types of surrogacy

Gestational Surrogacy (as opposed to Traditional Surrogacy) uses a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) where a woman (the surrogate) offers to carry a baby through pregnancy on behalf of another — a person or couple, same-sex or heterosexual — and then returns the baby to the intended parent(s) once it’s born.

The gestational surrogate has no genetic link to the child she carries as her eggs cannot be used to conceive the child.

Traditionally, surrogacy was one way only heterosexual couples, who had difficulty falling pregnant or who were unable to carry a pregnancy safely, could have a child of their own.

Now a growing number of single parents and same-sex couples looking to start their own families are looking to use Surrogacy.

What's our part in this journey?

We're all about protecting both the intended parents and their surrogates from the major insurable risks of life and unexpected disability.

We specialise in helping;

• intended parents get the highest quality life insurances in place for themselves, and
• arrange life and disability insurances for their surrogate

in a respectful and confidential way, with a minimum of paperwork and no need for a face-to-face meeting.

Life and Disability Insurances for your surrogate should be established well before any medical assessment or attempts to become pregnant.

Download our Insurance Timeline Chart

We understand not everyone understands

If you're an intended parent and partway through the roller coaster that can be Altruistic Surrogacy in Australia, you may have already spent what feels like a small fortune on medical and legal costs.

We also understand you may even have had to battle a level of ignorance and stigma from the un-informed portion of the community, or even extended family.

• The team behind Unusual Risks Insured respects your need for privacy and completes all our work under the brand name of our parent financial advice company, Sapience Financial a financial advice brand that provides a wide range of different financial services Australia-wide.

The uncomfortable truth and what you can do about it

Although it may not be the most pleasant thing to think about, it's true pregnancy is not without risks.

• From early pregnancy until some weeks after delivery, the statistical reality is pregnant women have an increased risk of mortality compared with women who are not pregnant.

This is why Unusual Risks Insured provides comprehensive life insurance and disability protection for intended parents and their surrogates.

Critical steps in keeping everyone safe

Family Protection planning involves;

• understanding the statistical realities of life, and
• the critical role Life Insurances and Estate Planning documents (like Wills and Powers of Attorney) all contribute to building a safety net under your family's future.

We can help you with all of these critical steps.

It is important to protect everyone involved in a surrogacy arrangement against the risk of one of the adults involved unexpectedly dying or unexpectedly becoming long-term disabled?

The intended parents should;

1. Arrange and pay for life insurances for their surrogate, to make sure her family is financially protected if anything happens to her as a result of the pregnancy, and
2. Arrange and pay for life insurances for themselves and their future family
3. Include their future child in their current Estate Planning by nominating potential Guardians and providing the protection of a backup inheritance from a life insurance policy in case one or both parents were to unexpectedly pass away before their child turns 21.

The Good News

We can help you with these critical steps in your surrogate journey.

We understand the complex process (and an array of emotions) that can be part of the surrogacy journey, so we create solutions to fix potential problems before they ever arise so you can have more time and emotional space to enjoy the journey you’re on together.

Who we work with?

We work with intended parents who are;

• ready to get their own life insurances sorted, and
• ready to protect their Surrogate with the highest quality life insurances, too.

To protect one without the other puts everyone at risk

Australian Law

Laws relating to surrogacy are managed independently by different Australian states and territories.  Altruistic Surrogacy is legal in Australia as is paying for a Surrogates's life insurance and disability insurance policy premiums.

• In an Altruistic Surrogacy agreement, a surrogate doesn’t receive any payment or reward for acting as a surrogate, outside reimbursement of the surrogate’s reasonable costs incurred associated with the pregnancy.

Law in NSW

In NSW, the Surrogacy Act 2010 recognises certain surrogacy agreements, prohibits commercial agreements and clarifies the status of children born via surrogacy.

Section 7(3) of the Act outlines what is considered the surrogate's reasonable costs associated with the pregnancy or birth as;

(a) any reasonable medical costs associated with the pregnancy or birth (both prenatal and post-natal),
(b) any reasonable travel or accommodation costs associated with the pregnancy or birth,
(c) any premium paid for health, disability or life insurance that would not have been obtained by the birth mother, had the surrogacy arrangement not been entered into...

Law in other States & Territories

• In VIC, the Assisted Reproductive Regulations 2019 has similar provisions.
• In QLD, the Surrogacy Act 2010 (Qld) has similar provisions
• In WA, the Surrogacy Act 2008 (and associated Regulations, Directions and Rules) has similar provisions
• In SA, the Surrogacy Bill 2019 has been introduced with similar provisions.
• In Tasmania, the Surrogacy Act 2012 (Tas) has similar provisions
• In ACT, the Parentage Act 2004 (ACT), has similar provisions
• In Northern Territory, they have released a discussion paper to create clarity on the NT position on surrogacy issues

Benefit from our professional privacy and expertise

We understand for intended parents, knowing how and who should best arrange high-quality life insurance for their surrogate can be complicated and loaded with privacy and practical personal concerns.

For over 20 years, the Financial Advisers at Unusual Risk Insured have watched Australian legislation lag behind the needs and demands of the community and how insurance companies have tried to quietly avoid this type of client; so were decided to be the change we wanted to see in our community.

All life insurance policies vary from company to company, as do their policy features and conditions.

• Sadly, the attitude of many insurance companies towards what are usually short term policies, are often less than welcoming
• Some life insurance companies deliberately tilt their policy wording towards people having pregnancy inside families, rather than outside.

As the awareness of Surrogacy increases, some insurance companies have started writing policies that only cover a pregnancy within the family, not a surrogate pregnancy.

Why work with us?

Whether you’re an intended parent or prospective surrogate, it's important you work with a specialist financial adviser who understands both;

• the technical nuances of getting the right policy cover for you, and
• who respects the deeply human connection involved when a person decides to be part of a surrogacy journey.

How to work with us

Our fee-for-service advice model allows us to provide Intended Parents with the highest quality insurance for their Surrogate, at a wholesale price - something simply not available through traditional sources.

Additional value for a Surrogate

After the pregnancy, a Surrogate also has the option to simply take over the insurance policy (and keep its wholesale price structure) - potentially saving them thousands of dollars off the standard premium rates over the length of a life insurance policy.

If you're looking for additional online resources?

Make sure you're aware of these recourses:

• for Same-sex individuals and couples: Rainbow Families
• for Blended families, single-parent and same-sex couples: Raising Children Network
• for Single Dads: Support for Fathers
• for Single Mums: National Council of Single Mothers and their Children

• surrogacy
• intended parents