Professional people managing their own chronic health conditions need their own life insurance adviser
Many people in professional business use life insurance products but ... what do you do when your business partner tells you 'the business needs to get life insurance in place to cover the business debts', but doesn't know you've been diagnosed with diabetes?
Read in this article
- Working and keeping private your personal health information
- Are you in business with a pre-existing medical condition?
- Key people and how to protect their value to the business
- The risks of using private homes to guarantee business debt
- Pre-existing medical conditions, Small Business Owners and Partnerships
- Disclosure and employment challenges in real life
- Nobody but you and your adviser will ever need to know about your health position
Working and keeping private your personal health information
- What happens if you can't get insurance cover?
- What do you do when your employer or business partners needs to take a policy out on you because you're a Keyperson to the business and responsible for significant amounts of the company profits?
Are you in business with a pre-existing medical condition?
This is the uncertain situation that many business owners or professionals in partnerships like solicitors, accountants, engineers and even software designers face today.
These types of insurance cover are often required by a bank (or Shareholders) who are providing a loan to the business or investing in the company.
- Funding is usually provided, upon the assumption that the business cash flow is stable and its key people, (those usually responsible for the majority of the revenue), are stable and able to continue to work.
- In this situation, the life insurance question can pose a difficult reality for people diagnosed with chronic health conditions.
Key people and how to protect their value to the business
Some businesses rely heavily on just a few people to generate the majority of their profits. These people are called key persons. Insurance to cover them is called key person insurance.
Businesses regularly use life insurance products to protect the revenue generated by a key person. In case the key person is unable to work due to sickness, injury or even death, the business revenue is insured.
The risks of using private homes to guarantee business debt
Business owners and Shareholders often use their private homes to guarantee business debts. Business debts are usually considered 'at call'. This means debts can be called in and canceled at the bank's discretion. Because of this risk, most small business owners need to use life and medical crisis insurance to help protect their families from losing their homes, should a bank call in the business loans due to one of the business owners becoming seriously sick, injured or passed away unexpectedly.
Pre-existing medical conditions, Small Business Owners and Partnerships
The reality is that people with pre-existing medical conditions don't usually mix personal issues with business life. So they face a difficult dilemma when they are required to submit to an insurance application on their life because they are a key person to a business, a business owner or in a partnership with others.
Disclosure and employment challenges in real life
We were contacted by a positive client some time ago who found themselves in a similar situation. Rather than submitting to a life insurance application through their employer and risk disclosure, they resigned before the application could take place.
- This was a terrible situation for the client - who previously walked away from a stable and lucrative employment position, and
- A significant loss for the employer - who never got to know the reason for the sudden and shocking departure of one of their technically expert new hires.
This situation could have been avoided had the client known about our services ahead of time and had the opportunity to say, 'I have my own financial adviser who can take care of all that for you'.
Nobody but you and your adviser will ever need to know about your health position
- Employers get what they want - insurance on the life of one of their key people and you retain your right to complete privacy.
- Business partners and Shareholders get what they want - protection on their investment in a business should one of the business owners or partners suffer significant sickness, disability or even death.
Get in touch with us today if this is something you'd like to talk about confidentially.
If you have a friend who you think might like to know about our services, why not send them a link to this blog article.
Call us today on 1300 137 403 or email us here for a no-obligation private chat about your situation.
Drew Browne is a specialty Financial Risk Advisor working with Small Business Owners & their Families, Dual Income Professional Couples, and diverse families. He's an award-winning writer, speaker, financial adviser and business strategy mentor. His business Sapience Financial Group is committed to using business solutions for good in the community. In 2015 he was certified as a B Corp., and in 2017 was recognised in the inaugural Australian National Businesses of Tomorrow Awards. Today he advises Small Business Owners and their families, on how to protect themselves, from their businesses. He writes for successful Small Business Owners and Industry publications. You can read his Modern Small Business Leadership Blog here. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. Any information provided is general advice only and we have not considered your personal circumstances. Before making any decision on the basis of this advice you should consider if the advice is appropriate for you based on your particular circumstance.
