Insurance for doctors

Medicine is the easiest occupation in New Zealand to insure and one of the easiest to insure badly. The rating is favourable, the definitions available are the best in the market, and the market competes hard for the business — which means the risk is not access, it is buying something generic when something precise was available.

The most important feature is the definition of disability. A surgeon’s occupation is not “doctor”. It is operating. A tremor, a back problem or a visual impairment that would barely inconvenience a general practitioner can end a surgical career entirely, while leaving the person perfectly able to consult, teach or do medico-legal work. Whether a policy pays in that situation depends on how narrowly it defines your occupation and on whether it pays when you are working in a reduced capacity.

The second feature is money. Doctors’ incomes are high enough that financial underwriting becomes a real constraint — insurers limit cover to a proportion of earnings and want evidence of them. For a specialist with private practice income, trust structures and company earnings, that evidence takes preparation.

The third is the practice. A GP or specialist who owns part of a practice has business exposures — premises leases, staff, equipment finance, and the revenue that stops when they stop. Those are insured with different products from personal cover.

Two wording features do most of the work in a doctor’s policy, and both are worth paying for.

Own occupation, defined narrowly

The best wordings define your occupation by your specialty and, in some cases, by the specific procedures you perform. The weaker ones define it as medicine generally, which means a surgeon who can no longer operate but can run a clinic may not meet the test. Ask exactly how “your occupation” is defined, and ask for it in writing.

Partial and rehabilitation benefits

Most doctors do not stop working entirely. They reduce hours, drop procedural work, or move into a different part of the profession at a lower income. A partial disability or loss-of-earnings benefit is what pays in that scenario, and it is more likely to be claimed than the total disability benefit.

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

• How “your occupation” is defined, and whether it reflects your specialty rather than medicine in general.
• Whether partial disability and loss-of-earnings benefits are included and how they calculate.
• The maximum benefit available given financial underwriting limits, and what evidence the insurer requires.
• Whether the policy responds if you work in a reduced role at a lower income rather than stopping altogether.
• Business expenses cover and locum cover if you own or part-own a practice.
• The mental health benefit limit, which applies regardless of occupation class.
• Future insurability benefits, particularly for trainees whose income will rise substantially.

Every New Zealand insurer writes cover for medical 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.

• Occupation definitions for medical specialties differ between insurers in ways that only matter at claim time. Reading them side by side is the job.
• Financial underwriting for high and complex incomes needs a properly prepared file, and how it is presented affects how much cover is offered.
• Practice owners usually need personal cover, business expenses cover, locum cover and shareholder protection — arranged together, not separately.
• For registrars and trainees, structuring future insurability correctly is worth more than the initial premium saving.

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.