Insurance for dentists

Dentistry is unusual in the professional classes because the work is manual in a way that law and accountancy are not. A dentist works within millimetres, with instruments, under magnification, in a fixed posture, for hours. The occupation rating reflects the professional status; the risk profile reflects the hands.

That mismatch is why definitions matter so much here. A dentist who develops a tremor, loses sensation in a finger, or suffers a significant vision change is finished as a clinician and remains entirely capable of teaching, consulting or administration. Under an own-occupation definition that is a clear claim. Under an any-occupation definition it very likely is not.

The predictable long-term problem is postural. Neck, upper back and shoulder pain is the occupational hazard of dentistry, and because it develops gradually it is generally outside ACC, which covers personal injury by accident rather than the slow consequences of how a job is performed.

The last piece is the practice. Dental practices are capital-intensive — chairs, imaging equipment, fit-out, sterilisation — and the debt behind them is real. A solo practitioner who cannot work has a business that stops earning immediately and keeps costing money.

These are two different problems and they need two different sets of cover. Buying one and assuming it covers the other is the most common mistake in dental practices.

These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.

• Whether income protection and TPD are written on own-occupation definitions specific to clinical dentistry.
• Whether partial disability benefits allow for reduced clinical hours rather than requiring you to stop.
• Any exclusion applied to an existing neck, shoulder or wrist condition.
• Whether business expenses cover reflects the real fixed costs of the practice, including equipment finance.
• For partnerships, whether a buy-sell agreement exists and whether it is actually funded.
• Financial underwriting limits, especially where income comes through a company or trust.

Every New Zealand insurer writes cover for dental professionals to its own wording, and the words are where the money is. Two policies that look identical on price can pay very differently when it matters. Closing that gap is the entire job of an adviser.

• Own-occupation definitions for dentistry are not identical across insurers, and the differences bite in exactly the scenarios dentists face.
• Sizing business expenses cover to a dental practice’s real overheads takes the practice accounts, not a rule of thumb.
• Buy-sell agreements in dental partnerships are often drafted and never funded. An adviser checks the funding, not just the document.
• Where a neck or wrist condition already exists, which insurer receives the application materially changes whether it is excluded.

There are three ways to buy life cover in New Zealand, and they are not equivalent. You can buy direct from one insurer, which means you see one product range and one underwriting appetite. You can buy through your bank, which usually means a single insurer’s product sold under the bank’s brand, often with narrower definitions. Or you can go through an adviser, who quotes several insurers at once and is required to put your interests first.

The premium you pay is the same either way. Insurers build adviser commission into their pricing whether or not an adviser is involved, so going direct does not get you a discount — it just removes the person whose job is to argue your corner at application and at claim time.

• An adviser can see which insurer is currently taking your health history on standard terms, and which one will load or exclude it.
• An adviser can structure cover across two insurers if that produces a better outcome than putting everything with one.
• An adviser handles the underwriting back-and-forth, and is the person who chases the claim when a family is least able to.
• An adviser has to document why the recommendation suits you, which is a written record you can hold them to.

We are a referral service, not an insurer. We do not quote premiums and we do not sell policies. What we do is put you in front of one licensed New Zealand adviser who can compare the market properly.

1. 1

   You tell us what you are looking at

   The form takes about a minute. Nobody asks for your medical history on a web form — that conversation happens with the adviser, properly, and only once you have decided to proceed.

2. 2

   An adviser calls you

   A licensed New Zealand adviser talks through your situation: who depends on you, what you owe, what you already have in place, and what you are actually worried about.

3. 3

   They compare the market

   The adviser quotes across the major insurers, checks which of them will take your health history on the best terms, and puts the options side by side in writing.

4. 4

   You decide, in your own time

   There is no obligation and no cost to you. If the answer is that you already have enough cover, a good adviser will tell you that.