Daniel Rees is a Connective broker. Having being authorised with ALI Group since 2011, the discussion about financial protection is very much embedded into his process with clients.
In October last year, Daniel completed a bridging loan for a couple who settled on a $990,000 home. During the process with his clients, Daniel spoke to them about taking out an ALI protection policy and why it’s important to consider their financial protection, especially when taking out a large debt.
Unfortunately, Daniel’s clients declined to proceed with the protection plan.
In a very unfortunate twist of events, just recently, the wife of the couple called Daniel to let him know her husband had suffered a stroke and was in hospital. She asked Daniel what insurance they had with their loan. After quickly checking the file notes, Daniel had to advise her that although the protection plan was offered, they had declined.
“This was a massive wake up call for me as I have always been a supporter of ALI and offered their products to all my customers but this made it even more compelling to me to make sure people seriously consider the importance of having cover and in this instance the impact of not having it too. Needless to say, the very next client interview I had was face to face in my office and I was able to assist them to make a decision on the spot to put this cover in place as I shared with them this story and asked them to consider what they would do if put in a similar situation”.
Since going through this experience and seeing what the situation looks like when something unexpected happens to a client, Daniel is grateful he is able to show the conversation was at least had with those clients.
“I believe it is critical not only as a duty of care as professionals but to ensure every client at least considers the financial impact a mortgage will have if they or their partner can no longer work due to illness, injury or in a worse case scenario passes away unexpectedly”.
For Daniel, he believes there is more negative impact on not having the conversation then simply just having the 10 minute chat with your clients when going through the journey.
“People don’t know what they don’t know and will continue in a state of ignorance unless someone tells them about it. When something goes wrong, your clients will come asking you what their options are and what cover they have in place”.
Further to just having the conversation with clients, ensuring you are gaining a decision and being able to record it for your own duty of care purposes is important. Daniel believes indecision is actually a decision, that inevitably results in people doing nothing.
“Any broker not offering this in today’s world where there is so much responsibility on our shoulders is crazy in my opinion. Having had clients suffer serious life events is a great wake-up call. Don’t wait for this experience to happen to you to prompt you to start taking action”.
My Protection Plan is issued by Hannover Life Re of Australasia Ltd ABN 37 062 395 484. It is distributed by Australian Life Insurance Distribution Pty Ltd ABN 31 103 157 811 AFSL 226403 (ALI). ALI receives commission for each policy sold. Any advice provided is of a general nature only and does not take into consideration your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider the Product Disclosure Statement when deciding if this product is appropriate for you.