Lifebroker finds Australians Risk Paying Too Much For Life Insurance

A lack of knowledge is causing many Australians to pay too much for personal insurance, Australia's leading online life insurance broker said today. "Many people make simple errors when purchasing insurance that can cost them hundreds of dollars a year," said Lifebroker Managing Director and founder, Mr Chris Eade.

South Melbourne, VIC (PRWEB) April 8, 2009 -- A lack of knowledge is causing many Australians to pay too much for personal insurance, Australia's leading online life insurance broker said today.

"Many people make simple errors when purchasing insurance that can cost them hundreds of dollars a year," said Lifebroker managing director and founder, Mr Chris Eade.

"Three rules of thumb can help people when they are buying life, income, trauma, or total and permanent disablement insurance."

"Firstly, be wary of insurance that doesn't require you to provide a detailed medical history."

"For most people, the less the insurance company knows about you the higher your premium will be. This is because the insurer finds it difficult to assess your level of risk and protects itself by charging high premiums. By providing a complete medical history, like you would when you visit your doctor, you are more likely to be offered a lower premium."

"Secondly, if you have a pre-existing medical condition like diabetes, depression or obesity, be open about your condition and shop around. Some insurance companies are more accommodating of some pre-existing conditions and provide lower premiums."

"Thirdly, compare products from all the major life insurance providers. Many of them significantly reduce premiums to actively target people of a particular age and sex."

"The lack of knowledge stems in part from people's reluctance to think about their own mortality. While people are prepared to contemplate an accident to their car, they are less prepared to contemplate an accident or illness to themselves and hence give personal insurance much less consideration."

"Many people only decide to purchase personal insurance after someone they know experiences a medical trauma or passes away unexpectedly, or after receiving financial advice, taking out a mortgage or starting a family."

"The lack of knowledge also stems from the fact that personal insurance is more complex than other types of insurance."

"Personal insurance doesn't have to be expensive. Life insurance totalling $500,000 can cost as little as $1 a day each for a 40 year old couple."

"When customers use our website (lifebroker.com.au) to obtain comparisons of personal insurance products, they are often surprised by how affordable it is and how much the premiums vary across different insurance companies," Mr Eade said.

About Lifebroker

Founded in 2003, Lifebroker is an online life insurance broker which provides free comparisons of life, income, trauma and total and permanent disablement insurance products.

Lifebroker is not owned, employed, or controlled by any insurance company or large financial institution. It uses external research to routinely analyse and rank products. Lifebroker receives similar commissions across all insurance products, regardless of the insurance provider.

Anecdotal evidence suggests Lifebroker is the largest broker of life insurance products in Australia. It has generated 55 per cent client growth year-on-year since its inception in 2003, recently opened an office in London and is operated by National Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, holder of Australian Financial Services Licence 284182 issued by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

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