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Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Ezibroker use Australian insurance companies? Yes. Ezibroker is authorised to use only Australian insurers. 2. Does it cost me any more to deal with Ezibroker? No - it costs YOU NOTHING for Ezibroker to arrange your financial security (Life) insurance. Ezibroker is paid by the (Australian) Insurer we select. 3. The TV adverts say I can talk someone over the phone and get cover arranged immediately – why does Ezibroker have an ‘application’ process. Good question – the answer is simple – to get it right. While other institutions, (particularly those TV on on-line institutions), are geared to doing it quickly – they set themselves up for making errors. (Hence those disclaimers and conditions at the bottom of their ads). All insurers require a complete health declaration of some sort from a person applying for cover, (would YOU give someone $1 million cover for a few hundred dollars a year if you didn’t know EVERYTHING about them?). So, while that declaration/application form doesn’t seem important in this ‘instant’ world – make no mistake, it will be when a claim has to be made. If an insurer finds out it’s issued a policy based on incorrect, incomplete or false information it could lead to the denial of a claim. And who needs that grief at claim time? Ezibroker’s business is to protect people’s financial security using insurance products – not be slack and set them up for financial grief when a claim happens. In 40 years we’ve never had a problem with a claim and have attended to tens of millions of dollars in claim payments – and we want to keep our 100% record intact – so we prefer to be a bit laborious and ‘do it properly’. The good news is - we’ve designed an on-line system for getting all the information we need in a very short period of time. It shouldn’t take more than 2-3 minutes to complete and send that application form to us. And we look after the rest from then on. Do it once, do it properly and our client’s are secure. 4. Can I renew my policy after age 65? Yes – life policies can be renewed until age 99 but the premium structure automatically changes to yearly increasing after age 65 or 70 depending on the product. 5. Do all insurers charge roughly the same premium for Life Insurance? Generally there’s little difference in premiums between Australian insurers. 6. Is there one single insurer that always has the lowest premiums? No – if there was, all the other insurers might as well close their doors as they’d have no business. And there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of Life Insurers. 7. Is it worthwhile 'shopping around' for Life Insurance to get the lowest premium? It is usually possible to find a ‘lowest cost’ policy at any given age – and there’s plenty of online and advertised facilities to help you do this - but as insurers are adjusting premiums frequently you’d probably have to go through the ‘premium search’ procedure every year as you get older. On the off-chance you find a premium with such a big difference in cost to motivate you to want to change you'd have to go through the application process all over again. Isn't it better to do it once, and do it properly, the first time and never have to worry about it again? 8. How much Life Insurance does a person need? There’s no right or wrong answer to this question as it varies for each person. Ezibroker has some simple calculation methods to determine an appropriate amount of cover for individuals. 9. Is the Life Insurance which is offered by other financial institutions cheaper than that from Life Insurance companies? It seems a lot of people are under this impression, and you can't blame them given the 'smoke and mirrors' that abound – but as most Life Insurance companies are actually owned by a bank these days it makes no sense for a financial institution to offer lower premiums. Generally the cost of cover offered by financial institutions is the same as that offered by Life Insurance companies even though it might be ‘badged’ differently. It’s come to our attention in the past that financial institutions have actually charged a higher premium than the same insurer charges for the same cover – maybe there’s some truth to the ‘captive market’ notion. We've often come across people who thought they had the best cover because they didn't buy it direct from the insurer, but through their financial institution - who we were able to clearly illustrate they were paying far more in cost than they needed to pay. 10. Is the Life Insurance advertised on the radio and television cheaper than that from Life Insurance companies? We occasionally check this out – on one occasion a (recently) TV advertised product was over twice the cost of that offered by any insurer. This could be explained as it was offering ‘guaranteed acceptance’. Possibly a good deal for a person in poor health – but of little value to a normally healthy person who would be subsidising those whose health was poor. Other than that, there’s seems to be little difference in cost between similar products. 11. If I request a quote from Ezibroker am I under any obligation? No - you can cancel any request for information - even cancel an issued policy at any time. If you cancel an issued policy you will only be charged for the time the cover was actually in force. 12. If I apply for cover, can I change my mind later on? Yes 13. If I apply for cover am I covered right away? No. You are not covered until your application for cover has been accepted by the insurer, a premium paid and you policy is issued. 14. Do I need to pay a premium when I apply for cover? No – in fact Ezibroker requires no premium until any application has been accepted by the insurer which has come back with an offer of cover to your complete satisfaction and acceptance and prior to a policy being issued. 15. Am I guaranteed that my application for cover will be accepted? No. Acceptance is subject to checking that your health, occupation and pastimes don’t represent an unacceptable risk to the insurer. 16. I am a non-smoker, do I get charged less than people who smoke? Yes – non-smokers can expect to pay significantly less for their cover. 17, What are the things that affect my policy premium?
18. I used to be a smoker but I gave it up about over a year ago – am I now considered a non-smoker? Yes – provided you haven’t smoked tobacco – in any form, or any other substance, for over 12 months insurers will usually consider you to be a non-smoker. 19. I do smoke ‘socially’ over a drink after work or on the weekend but at no other time – am I considered a smoker? Yes. Refer to the above description of a non-smoker. There are no 'shades of grey' here. 20. What happens if I get a Life policy as a non-smoker but later resume smoking? Once your policy has been issued, the insurer cannot adjust it to your disadvantage. 21. Will I receive a policy document? Yes – but not until the acceptance process is completed and a premium paid. 22. Can I nominate a beneficiary for my policy? Yes – beneficiary nominations can be changed or adjusted at any time and can be an individual person, a number of different people or an institution (like the lost dog’s home). 23. Does the cover provide for payment while I'm still alive if I'm diagnosed with a terminal illness? Yes – in fact our experience is that most claims that are paid from Life Insurance policies these day are made while the insured person is still alive. 24. Does this ‘terminal illness’ benefit cost me any more? No – it’s included in the cover at no additional cost. 25. Do ALL life insurance polices have this ‘terminal illness’ benefit. Be careful here. ‘Older’ policies (issued prior to 1999) may not. Other ‘cheap’ policies, particularly those marketed on TV or internet may not. You’ll have to check to be sure. All cover arranged by Ezibroker DOES have this benefit. 26. Does Ezibroker only provide life insurance? Ezibroker provides financial security using various types of insurance products. This also includes Disability Income Protection and what’s termed ‘Trauma’ insurance 27. What happens in the event I die and a claim needs to be made? A claim procedure starts as soon as Ezibroker is advised about a claim for one of our clients – or if the insurer is advised directly. While Ezibroker doesn’t process the claim we will make as much of the arrangements for it’s processing as we can. Ezibroker has never made a charge for this claim handling assistance – not one cent!
29. Why is it that insurers don't warn people about future annual premium increases before they take out cover? Maybe they’re worried that people wouldn’t take out ANY cover if they were told in advance. Probably there’s a whole host of reasons – but they all boil down to one thing. You get what you pay for - and that includes the interest of the person who is arranging your cover to do it properly for you. If you’re happy to let somebody in a call centre or who works for an financial institution arrange your cover for that ‘too-good-to-be-true’ buying experience, that’s the risk you take. If you’d prefer, at no additional cost to you, for a qualified person to discuss your individual requirements and arrange cover accordingly – that may be a better option. 30. There seems to be a lot of conditions on those TV ads for Life Insurance that you don’t really get to see – what are they? Can’t answer that one – as we’ve never got to see them either. 31. The Ezibroker recommendation seems to be too good to be true - why haven't I been told about this before? See above. 32. Do financial institutions 'shop around' all insurers to get me the 'best deal'? This is unlikely. Usually, as they're owned by an insurer - or own an insurer themselves, and will be the only products they recommend. 33. Does Ezibroker 'shop around' all insurers to get me the best deal? Well ... YES! But this needs explanation - as our opinion of the 'best deal' make take some time to be realised. Our view of the 'best deal' is what we think will serve you best over the LONG term - these may not always appear to be the lowest cost in the short term. Our yardstick has always been, "if I was that person in that situation would I take that cover?' And our mission is to 'do-it-once-and-do-it-properly' - and usually this can be done by using the 'cheapest' products. Since we commended business, after assisitng with hundreds of claims with tens of millions of dollars in claim payments, we've never had reason to doubt our recommendations. We find that at cliam time, out clients are less concerned about what they were paying for their cover and more concerned with the cover they had. We're not aware of ANY person who has been disadvantaged by our information or recommendations.
34. I’ve seen the Ezibroker charts and projections and read all your information – but do I REALLY get to save all that money or is it just like another one of those ‘investment’ things and you never REALLY benefit from it? Good question – but what we’re showing you has been around for YEARS. The charts and projections are sourced from the insurer’s OWN rating information provided to consultants for ‘quote’ purposes to their clients. In fact our own cover was set up nearly 20 years ago in exactly the way we’re illustrating now. 35. OK – if there’s any ‘catch’ what is it? The ‘catch’ is, if you consider it a 'catch' - ‘There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch’ (TANSTAAFL) Quality has never been ‘cheap’. Like anything else in life you have to spend a bit more up front to get the long-term benefit. And if you’ve already reached age 50 – you’re already in the ‘Life Insurance Premium Trap’ and we can’t help you – other than to arrange quality cover for ther lowest (increasing) premium we can find. This website is dedicated to illustrating to people how they can protect their financial security using insurance products in a way they’re guaranteed to pay the minimum cost over a longer term. We can’t do much better than that – but hey, it ain’t bad and certainly a lot better than they’ll get elsewhere.
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