Premium increases: An adviser would have helped

Graeme Lindsay, Strategy Financial Services

It was reported last week that one couple in their 60s had an increase in monthly premiums of almost 20%. In another case, a 30-year-old saw his increase from $96 per month to $121 a month.

Graeme Lindsay, of Strategy Financial Services, ran the numbers on the cases and said the Southern Cross Wellbeing Two product’s premiums had increased at a rate of about 20 per cent year on year for the 62- and 64-year-old clients while its UltraCare lifted 9 per cent.

He said, if the clients had had an adviser, it might have been suggested they consider something such as taking an excess - or increasing it - to reduce their premiums.

In cases where they were applied per person per year, people could save more in premium reductions each year than they would pay in the event of a claim if they added an excess, he said.