A business runs on its human capital and its most important people are its key employees and the business owners.

A business key-person could be anyone whose absence would affect the profitability of the business; eg: if they were to die or become disabled and unable to continue to work.

Some typical examples of key people could be:

• Director, Managing Director or CEO
• Partner in a partnership
• An employee with a particular skill or technical expertise
• Senior sales manager

Insurance to cover the absence of a key person can help in keeping the business running (by replacing lost revenue, repaying debts and/or finding a replacement).

All of these people can qualify for personal insurances even if they may have a particular health condition that would make the outcome of a traditional insurance application more uncertain.

Yes. The professionals behind Unusual Risks Insured are Sapience Financial and they can complete your application without the need for a face to face meeting, if that's is what you require. You can find their website here and you can learn about what they became a Trauma Informed Organisation specialising in Financial Advice here.

Yes, when you use our services. We can complete the standard identification questions with you and then send you a web link so that you can complete your Personal Medical Statement, privately online if that's convenient. We can SMS you a password so that your information remains secure. Remember you can also use the services of a Tele Underwriter to complete the personal health questions at a time more convenient too.

You can choose the way you want to interact with us and the level of service or advice that you may or may not want to get.

It's about You, after all.

Broadly speaking, there are 3 levels of advice that we usually work with. (Many people like to have a general chat first to see where they want to go with the advice step).

• Full financial advice – where you want us to look at your bigger picture and your plans for the future.
• Limited financial advice – where you only want us to consider a specific area for you eg: Life insurance or Income Protection and not much else. 
• No financial advice – where you know what you want ahead of time and just want us to help you get a particular policy in place

Yes. It makes good sense to have all your important policies safely in the hands of trusted and understanding people.

Our Transfer & Manage Service is another speciality service available to our clients where you can have all your personal insurances with a single trusted professional who appreciates the importance of your situation and understands what you want.

Just send us an email or give us a call for a confidential chat and ask us how we do that.

No. The privacy laws are very strict and you don't have to answer questons in front of your partner. In fact, you have to give your consent before being asked any sensitive medicqal questions too. You get to control where an application takes place and who you permit to be there.

No. We’re here to help. We can do it all for you or you can be involved too. After a quick conversation we try and complete forms online or over the phone, whatever is best for you.

No. You can choose to pay a policy premium annually, bi-annually, quarterly or monthly by direct debit or credit card.

• Annual payments usually attract a one-month discount, half-yearly payments attract a half months discount etc.
• Annual payments are the least expensive, but the most important decision is 'what works for you and your budget'

You can also pay for your life insurance and income protection cover annually from your Superannuation fund. This is a speciality service offered by unUsual Risks so be sure to speak with us about it to see if it suits your needs.

No not at all. Our senior adviser Drew Browne is a front-line underwriter and he's particularly comfortable and skilled at talking about what matters most with people, in a down to earth and respectful way. A little preparation beforehand and the process is straightforward and usually completed in about 30-40 minutes.

Here's one of our fun explainer videos that talks directly about this question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uuy7seYEMw

Disability discrimination in insurance is now illegal. That said, reasonable distinctions based upon actuarial data in insurance assessments are not considered discriminatory as Life insurance is based upon statistical probabilities and measurement.

In 2000 Mr Graeme Innes AM, the then Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner stated “ …insurers are in the business of insuring against risks, not already known certainties. The Disability Discrimination Act allows for distinctions and exclusions based on disability if and where this is reasonable. Reasonableness can be established on the basis of actuarial data that is reasonable to rely on in the circumstances, or by reference to other relevant factors. …"

What is reasonable? Section 46 of the DDA contains a specific exemption for the Insurance and Superannuation Industry to recognise that some informed judgment is part of the nature of most types of insurance in Australia. Reasonable decisions based upon actuarial or statistical data where this is reasonable available are permitted".

There have been significant reforms to the way gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersex people and trans folk are treated by insurance companies. The Australian Financial Services Insurance Council has issued guidelines removing the so-called 'gay questions' from application forms and now require all insurance underwriters decisions to be based on sexual 'behaviour' instead of a 'person’s sexuality'.

• Each insurance application can only be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, using the best available relevant evidence.
• It is no longer acceptable for insurance companies to ask if a person applying for a policy is gay or bisexual and insurers will not ask questions about sexuality. Companies cannot make assumptions about a persons sexuality from the details of their living arrangements, occupation or medical history.

If you have taken a HIV test you do not need to declare negative HIV test results. The fact of having an HIV test will not, of itself, have any effect on your acceptance terms for insurance.

Life insurance is part of the personal insurance industry and life insurance products are similar products like Income Protection insurance, Crisis or Trauma Recivery insurance, Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Insurance, Children Crisis insurance and alike.

They are all concerned about protecting people; not things.

Simple. Just get in touch by emailor give us a call and we’ll arrange a time to chat further with you.

You will need the following information close to hand:

1. Your GP’s name, address and full contact details.
2. The common names and doses of any medications that you might be taking.
3. The approximate date and reason for your last medical appointment, who it was with and the outcome eg: '6 months ago in September, I went to my local GP for a flu shot and some sinus medications I took twice daily for 4 weeks. etc.'
4. The results from any medical tests eg: blood pressure or cholesterol results.
5. Details of your medical history eg: the approximate date you were diagnosed with a particular medical condition if you have had extended time off work because of it etc.

It’s a good idea to keep a Health Diary of important dates, tests, current medications or results that are significant for you.

This is the longest part of the process and can take a few weeks or more, depending on how busy your doctors are and how many doctors you are using.

The good news is we're really good at this and use a dedicated medical information collection service to manage this process for us.

The online Medical pre-assessment takes most people about 60 seconds, depending upon the level of detail needed.

No.  An application for personal insurance is assessed once and then the policy is issued. It's yours for the life of the product. Because it is assessed only once, it can’t be forcibly changed on you.

• Personal Insurance policies are guaranteed renewable. (As long as you pay the premiums, the policy is yours to keep regardless of any change in your health, your occupation or health status). That's complete peace of mind.
• General Insurance policies usually have to be re-issued every year. Because they usually only last a year, they have to be re-applied and re-assessed annually too. This means that as your situation changes, you may no longer qualify to be insured with one of these general insurance products.

The sooner you get your personal insurance in place, we believe the better off you'll be.