Congrats! If you're reading this, you're about to embark on the next exciting but stressful stage of life: planning your wedding.

We must discuss a few things before you get carried away with planning. And they are all about risk—no, not about getting married, but about protecting things so they don't become a drama on your special day.

Yes, I know it's not something you want to consider when you've just got engaged. It's better now than later when it's too late.

I've written before about the blunt approach medical insurance and the insurance industry as a whole have when it comes to mental health. However, things do change, and some things have a contribution.

One of the areas that I have become significantly more aware of is the plight of those that are non-neurotypical or, better put, neurodiverse. These are possibly new terms for many readers and ones that they know by different names like ADD, ADHD, & ASD.

Mental Health - Not so much the resources but the funding

Since Covid hit we have seen a marked incraes in people's awareness of mental health and the distinct lack of support we have in the general community.

As an adviser, mental health comes up in discussion on a regular basis. Be it working through an existing application, discussing the terms of cover an insurance company has offered or dealing with a claim.

This prompted me to have a closer look at what services are available and what funding and financial support for mental health exists for you, if you need it.

You’re looking for insurance cover, be it for your life, home, income or health. You have two choices. You can use an insurance advisor to do all the hard work for you, or you could purchase straight from the insurer's website. Which one will you pick?

Obviously, we recommend that you use an insurance advisor and today we’re explaining the five most important reasons why.

A question that is often asked, ‘So will the insurance company actually pay?’ Yes they do, they pay valid claims.

This is the issue, defining valid claims. Valid claims are claims that are both covered by the policy and the policyholders have been complete in their disclosure.

For example a cardiac event, similar to a heart attack, but isn’t severe enough to qualify as a heart attack under the definition of a heart attack on the trauma policy wording. This isn’t a valid claim, as it didn’t meet the definition of the policy document.

An interesting question that is often asked. In a nutshell, whatever you like, just that it gets deducted from your ACC weekly compensation claim.

ACC weekly compensation is there to cover loss or replace a loss of income. You earn something that loss is reduced; your ACC payment will be reduced too.

How does this work?

Most people, when discussing income protection for the first time, assume it automatically covers job loss (redundancy). It doesn't, and it's often not an option. Over the last 5-10 years, this has ebbed and flowed, with mortgage repayment having redundancy as an option, and some income protection too. Post Covid, most no longer have redundancy cover available.

The point I am making is things change, but this article is not about redundancy.

What I am talking about is a new product Asteron Life released in 2015, that is quite different to the normal income protection approach.

I think the comments in Russell Hutchison's post linked here It's great information, but it isn't financial advice: need to be echoed far and wide, and I mean to everyone.

Research and research tools are a part of the advice piece clients need; at the same time, they are far from the single source of truth for making product decisions.

We use QPR and also Strategy Financial Services to give us a view on what the insurance product market looks like.

2019 has been a tough year for the anti-vaxer, as their myopic view of the world has come home to roost. We have the most significant number of reported cases of measles worldwide since 2006.

The experience here in Auckland compounded by the tragedy that is rolling through Samoa should be evidence enough that vaccination programs are both safe and necessary.

Yet, we are still getting the keyboard warrior social trolls out en-masse defending their indefensible position. Frankly, they need to be driven back into their deep dark, cold, damp caves they came from and torched with napalm. Possibly while waving pitchforks and sharp objects on poles in their direction.

Yes, you've heard it before, you should have medical insurance and income protection. Well here's a story of exactly why you need to consider insurance cover.

Your life may depend on it.

We have a client who has had ongoing issues with immunity for some time. They have the cover and have been able to access treatment in a reasonably timely way.

Strokes, also known as cerebrovascular accidents, are one of the most sudden and unpredictable conditions we as humans can suffer from. Most of the time and with no warning, we can go from fully active and living life normally, to being bed-ridden and incontinent, or in some cases, dead.

Medical researchers and scientists have been working on identifying tools, techniques and medication which can reduce the effect strokes have on the human body. One of their findings is using the supplement melatonin. While relatively new, giving melatonin for stroke recovery is showing positive signs, and we’re going to look into these findings in depth today. We will also explain what a stroke is, plus treatment and rehabilitation too.

Do you actually need travel insurance? Or is your free cover provided by your credit card enough? Surely if something went wrong, the local or NZ government would sort things out for you?

Travel insurance is one of those things some people see as an unnecessary evil when it comes to planning a holiday. We like to think of it as an essential part of any holiday package, just like your tickets, food or accommodation. Yes, it is an additional expense, and yes, you may not need it. But like all insurance policies, it’s there to give you peace of mind and help you financially if things hit the fan.

One of the biggest misconceptions in the New Zealand financial services market is the perception that advice is free. It isn't. Someone somewhere pays for it.

We have seen the investment market move away from commission and high percentage-based fees on investment product to advice fees. Also, to a degree, the mortgage broking industry has where the provider doesn't pay them a commission.

Interesting comments from Consumer, quite contrary to the experience we have seen.

Consumers are more likely to find their policy doesn't work as expected when they have arranged their cover directly with the insurer because the majority of consumers don't know what they don't know.

When you apply for insurance, we as your underwriter will perform a risk management assessment on you. This looks at three key factors: what your world and health look like, and the financial aspects that make up your picture. A risk management assessment is done to help us identify the most appropriate type of insurance cover for you.