Most Common FAQ faq about hiv faq about PrEP faq about diabetes Most Common FAQ faq about hiv faq about PrEP faq about diabetes about PrEP

Yes. Tell us who, what, when and what happened and we’ll see if we can help you out.

Sadly Yes. Many of our clients have faced this very avoidable problem.

In simple terms we try to explain it this way; ‘You can't buy a hot dog from a hamburger food chain - because hamburger chains just don’t sell hotdogs’.

Sadly many insurance companies simply won't tell you upfront what is not on their menu and many good people end up wasting good time going through a process that never had a chance of success in the first place. That's why you need a specialist insurance adviser from unusual risks.com.au to help you successfully navigate the insurance application process successfully.

This type of event is seen as a complication to a pre-existing condition and would raise some additional questions about health management, but is best seen in the light of the surrounding circumstances. 
For example, you might have had this event as a child. For younger people, this could be more difficult to work with but it would need to be assessed on a case by case basis- and that's our skill.

No. Never an issue.

Life insurance is about data and statistics. It has nothing to do with sexuality, gender expression, lifestyle, identification with a lifestyle, labels or tags.

• We don't ask about sexuality identification and nor should anyone.
• Not all people and not all partners identify in traditional ways (whatever that is)
• Not all people and not all partners want to be Out and that is always their choice.

We believe all people should always be respected; regardless of who they love or how they identify (or don't).

The team at unusualrisks.com.au believe it's always the individual who matters more than all of that put together.

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.

No, not when you use our services. While your application is being processed, you are usually covered by a level of interim insurance. You should refer to the individual insurance companies PDS for more details about that option.

If you are using a telemarketer to buy life insurance you may not be covered for the first 5 years so you need to read all the fine print when dealing directly with an insurance company. We believe the safest option is to use a professional non-aligned insurance adviser to look after you rather than risk it.

Back 'in the day' (ok in the not so distant 1980's) it was impossible to get Life Insurance for someone who had tested positive for HIV.  This was because life insurance companies simply deemed the risk of a policyholder dying abnormally quickly, too high.

Add to this, the fact there was so little statistical date available about treatments, life expectancy increases and medical breakthroughs, the insurance actuarial community didn't want to know about it.

This stance by the life insurance industry had two major effects:

• not only did people living with HIV find it impossible to get life insurance, but
• people who were at an increased risk of HIV were reluctant to have an HIV test in case it meant they would be 'turned down' for a future life insurance policy.

The team behind unusualrisks.com.au decided to be the change they wanted to see if the financial services community and have now designed a framework that helps people living with well managed HIV get their life insurance needs sorted.

No worries. We believe in looking after those who look after you.

• For friends, family and supporters who need standard life insurance cover, the process is the same, just no need for a pre-assessment.

In today's modern families we believe nobody should miss out.

Insurance premiums are structured to reflect the degree of an individual's risks a life insurance company accepts. eg: Smoking or not smoking.

Your type of employment will affect the policy premium. eg: a typical university-qualified professional working in a predictable environment like an office, would usually cost less to insure than a blue-collar Scaffolding Tradesman working on a high-rise building.

• If you have hazardous hobbies or pastimes, like competitive car racing, skydiving or deep-sea diving on shipwrecks, you would expect the premium to be increased to cover the additional risk.
• If you just go to the gym to keep fit or cycle or go bushwalking on the weekends, you wouldn't expect any premium increase.
• If you wanted a particularly large amount of insurance cover, eg: over $2,000,000 all life companies will request an HIV test, regardless of your age, gender, health or occupation.

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy HARRTS (also called ARTS) over the past few years has now prolonged the lives of many people who are living with HIV. Meanwhile, insurance underwriters and Unusual Risk Insured Australia have worked together to design specialist life insurance services for people who have tested positive for HIV and who need life insurance protection for their partners, families and businesses.

• Eligibility for cover is usually for people with undetectable viral load (or very close to it) who have successfully been on treatment for at least 6 months. 

A typical application is made up of two sections.

• Part 1 The Basic Questions like who you are, your type of occupation and whether you have special travel or pastimes that have a higher risk eg: do you take regular treks to the Himalayan mountains every year or do you race vintage motorbikes etc.
• Part 2 The Personal Health Questions There are approximately 30 - 40 health-related questions to complete.

Today where possible we use online and over-the-phone options to complete Life insurance applications so the whole process becomes easier and more private.

At the moment, nothing. The cost of applying for life insurance is included in the policy premium.  

• You don’t pay for anything until you have a policy in your hands and you're sure it’s what you want to put in force.
• We also have a 30 day cooling-off period for all Life Insurance contracts so that if you change your mind, you are not disadvantaged.

You might be interested to know that it usually takes an insurance company three to seven years before they begin to make a profit from a policy. We use technology to make sure that the only people that start the application process are those with the very best chance of success.

Peace of mind. The degree of risk is assessed and the application completed at the time you make the actual application, not when you need to make a claim.  Having a professional policy that's fully underwritten upfront ensures all the assessments by the insurance company are completed so you (or your family) don't have nasty surprises at claim time.

When we provide an insurance quote, it's a projection, dependent upon the final underwriting process completing successfully.

• When we start the process we try to provide a quote projection based upon the information you have supplied to date on a worst case scenario.
• After we get the opportunity to review your medical situation in detail, we then work back to a best case scenario that is usually cheaper too.

A pre-assessment involves two steps

• Quoting is the first step 
• Underwriting is the final step in the assessment and includes a careful review of any medical reports.

After the formal underwriting process is completed, you might receive a revised quote depending upon your medical history.

It might take longer than expected, but the process delivers a fully underwritten policy that provides peace of mind that all assessments decisions have been completed and you know exactly where you stand.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s) are a separate health issue and if managed well, should not present a significant underwriting problem. We would usually like to know if this was a random or regular occurrence. (For example; 12 STI’s a year may indicate a more complex health history whereas 1 or 2 a year may be considered more straightforward). This is a separate health issue. Either way, this is why you need a specialist risk adviser from unusualrisks.com.au to help you navigate the process of getting insurance.

Great. If you already have a policy in place with no HIV or diabetes exclusions, it's probably worth keeping. Anyone who took out a life insurance policy before they tested positive to HIV or diabetes, should think very carefully – and seek our professional specialty advice – before they ever cancel it.

• If you took out a life insurance policy before you tested positive for HIV or diabetes, you are not usually required to inform your original insurer about any changes to your health.
• (And even if you do, they cannot change the existing policy or increase the premiums for that reason). In the event of the policyholder’s death, the life insurance policy would pay out as normal. (Unless the policy specifically states that HIV or diabetes diagnosis invalidates it).
• We have clients with old legacy life insurance policies still in place and we simply manage them for our clients so all their important insurance is under one roof and easier to administer if a claim were ever to happen.

If you have an older policy and want to know if its a keeper, get in touch for a confidential chat.

If you'd just feel more comfortable having a specialist professional adviser managing all your existing policies for you with privacy, respect and understanding, you might like to learn more about our Transfer and Manage My Existing Policy Service.

Keep the policy if it covers you. You can always take out an additional policy to cover any increased levels of risk that might have arisen since you first established your first policy.  For example, you may have increased your mortgage, had a change in your family responsibilities or simply now have someone special in your life to protect and provide for.