A Boring But Necessary Blog About Life Insurance

Please do not make any financial decisions based on the contents of this blog. My blogs are designed to be thought-provoking and introspective, not financial advice. Please do not act on any document unless it is titled “Statement of Advice.”

The VCo’s People before Profit Commitment: This blog was 100% authored by a human, not an LLM.

Betting on Failure

Life insurance is usually the last thing I talk about in my client consultations. It’s boring and sad to think about. But the truth is, some of the proudest moments in my career have been when a client or their estate receives a claim following a tragedy.

I like to think of insurance as “betting on failure.” Every time you pay a premium, you’re placing a bet that something horrible is going to happen. It’s the kind of bet we hope never pays out.

Life insurance claims were scarce when I started my career in 2008. Most of my clients were then in their 40s & 50s. But as time has progressed, the average age of my clientele has increased, with many of them moving into retirement phase. By virtue of time and age compounding with luck and the size of my database, I have noticed a steady increase in claims over the years.

By far, the most common claims we receive are for income protection – which covers large amounts of time taken off work for illness or injury. For our younger clients on claim, it is usually the result of an accident or injury (sometimes not at work), with most people returning to work within a year. For older clients (who can still afford their premiums!) most income protection claims are for degenerative conditions, and are usually combined with a successful total and permanent disability claim. Yes, if you have IP & TPD, you can claim both!

In 2025, we’ve seen a surge of total & permanent disability claims – mainly associated with long-term mental health disorders, dementia, and career-ending back and joint injuries.

Fortunately, I haven’t had to organise too many life insurance proceeds to widows and their kids, but every year I get at least 1-2 clients dying with life cover.

Trauma insurance claims are rising too – mostly associated with heart attack, stroke and various cancers. Fortunately, all of my clients who have claimed trauma to date are still alive, thanks in part to the treatment they were able to get from the insurance.

Life insurance premiums are getting really expensive

Since 2020, life insurance premiums across the board have skyrocketed. My premiums have risen by more than 100% in 5 years! And no, it is not because life insurers have gotten greedy. It is because of the inflation caused by excessive fiscal expansion and the rise in chronic physical and mental health disorders. In other words, there’s too much money being pumped into the system and people are getting sicker, fatter, lazier, more depressed, more anxious and are choosing to medicate and recline rather than eat healthy and exercise.

But not all insurers are raising premiums by the same amounts.

From 2008 to 2020 the lion’s share of my insurance business went to AIA. Why? Because they are a fantastic insurer with excellent terms, and during this time they were fiercely competitive.

Since 2020 there have been a number of peers who have competed and won a lot of our business – namely Metlife and Clearview.

In the last couple of years, we’ve noticed Zurich (who now own OnePath) has been coming to the party and getting a few policies from us.

We have a number of legacy policies with TAL (who I’m insured with), AMP (now Resolution Life) and MLC but they haven’t been nearly as competitive as Metlife, Clearview & Zurich.

I’m bloody proud of my panel of insurers

Although I have had many fights with underwriters, and some of their admin processes can be a real drag (*cough* Resolution Life), the truth is, the insurers I work with have been great when it comes to their most important function: paying claims.

I don’t know how many advisers of 17 years can honestly say this, but I have never had a claim declined on a policy that my office set up. 100% of claims have been paid – most with very few questions asked, and done in a way that is both dignifying and professional.

And it is precisely this fact that motivates me to continue tacking onto the end of client consultations that awkward suggestion: “oh and, we better talk about your life insurance.”

Because if we didn’t this conversation, I don’t think I could forgive myself if something happened to you.