[vixxann]

I think the policy we have is called a term policy - it is not linked to our property but pays out upon death of either myself or my husband. I think it finishes around the time our kids hit 21 (when they should be able to fend for themselves!)

Without me having to enquire with the company, and raise suspisions, does anyone know if it generally you can keep these going when you emmigrate?

We would probably plan to keep on a UK bank account for other things anyway plus maybe a PO box or some kind of address forwarding system. Still in very early thinking it all through stages!

[MarkS]

Hello,

We cancelled all our insurance when we came over here, and will take out new policies as we get around to it. My guess would be that you need to be UK resident for your policy to be valid.

It can't really hurt to just ring up the company and ask them. If it's not a problem to keep it going from NZ then you're fine. If it is a problem, better to know now rather than pay the premiums for years then find out that you can't claim on it anyway!

[willsken]

I still have my UK policies at the moment but I am going to cancel them and take out policies in NZ. Only because it works out to be cheaper than paying ones in £s.

[Huttvalleypom]

We have term insurance with Norwich Union in the UK. You do not need to be UK residents for the cover to remain valid. I guess in the longer term whether we switch cover to a NZ provider or not will come down to cost. If you have a young family, the most important consideration is to ensure continuity of cover.

Hope this helps.

[Tia Maria]

We wrote to our provider to ask what the situation would be and I would advise you to do the same so that you have something in writing if anything should happen. You certainly wouldn't want to discover that living in NZ stops you from claiming and I think it would be fairly easy for them to discover it wasn't just a holiday, and not a risk worth taking.

We took out our insurance through Tescos, but I think Norwich Union are the underwriters. They said it was fine for us to continue with our policy as long as we continue to pay from a UK bank account. When we arrived here we just advised them of our NZ address and everything has been fine.

I'm very happy with our UK life insurance and I don't think we would change to an NZ policy, but its something we plan to review in a couple of years. We just left a lump sum in our UK account to cover monthly payments.

Its good to hear your thinking of all these things, they can easily be forgotten!

Cheers

Tia

[Smiler]

I've still got one term assurance running in the UK, it covers me being non resident and I'm not gonna cancel it. As it's term assurance I'd get nothing back and it's a very cheap rate from the days when insurance premiums weren't so sky high.

Payment comes out of my UK bank account and it means someone would cop a decent sum if I pop my clogs before the end of the term. :uhoh

I think my OH has a couple running too, I'd better check eh? ;)

[Avalon]

KEEP IT !!!!!!

Life insurance in New Zealand is EXPENSIVE. You are highly unlikely to be able to get it as cheap as you can in the uk. Not only that - but unlike in the UK, premiums GO UP every year or every few years, so as time goes on - it gets even more expensive to hold your insurance.

You do not have to be resident in the UK to hold life insurance policies - and they remain valid (and are covered by UK wills if you have them) when you leave. You will probably need to keep a UK bank account to pay the premiums - so you have to double check that.

[Smiler]

KEEP IT !!!!!!

Life insurance in New Zealand is EXPENSIVE. You are highly unlikely to be able to get it as cheap as you can in the uk. Not only that - but unlike in the UK, premiums GO UP every year or every few years, so as time goes on - it gets even more expensive to hold your insurance.

You do not have to be resident in the UK to hold life insurance policies - and they remain valid (and are covered by UK wills if you have them) when you leave. You will probably need to keep a UK bank account to pay the premiums - so you have to double check that.

As usual, Av's said it so much better than I did! :nice1

[Cardiff Irons]

What Avalon said, but also worth looking into policies available in NZ that cover just your mortgage (can't for the life of me remember what they're called). I understand these might be relatively cheap (we're having quotes on them at the moment).

Otherwise worth keeping UK policies and certainly do make sure you keep them active until you have something else sorted.

And yes, all our UK policies (life and critical illness) were confirmed to be OK for living in NZ provided we paid via UK bank accounts. :nice1

[Avalon]

Just realised that theres something I havent explained properly.

In the UK, how much your premium costs ususally realtes to the age you were when you took out the policy.

So if you took out a 15year term life policy when you were 25 - it would cost say £15 a month. Take out the same policy when you are 30 and it will cost £25 a month for the same amount of cover. Whenever you take out the policy - the premiums remains the same through the whole term. So taking out life insurance when young can bw well worth it - especially if you get "whole of life" policies which las as long as you do - even if its till you are 103 years old!

If you cancel your UK policies and then try to take out a policy here and compare it with takeing out a policy in the UK - you may find that NZ looks good to start with (but it may not) - the problem is it wont stay good.

A friend who works in Life Insurance here in NZ says that thier biggest problem is retention of customers - because as soon as the premiums start increasing - they cancel the policy. Wouldnt happen so much if the premiums were kept at the same level.
but also worth looking into policies available in NZ that cover just your mortgage (can't for the life of me remember what they're called). I understand these might be relatively cheap (we're having quotes on them at the moment).
Have a look at Income Protection instead of mortgage repayment insurance. IP pays out not only your mortgae - but for all other bills as well - it can replace most of your salary. Better still - IP is tax deductable (I think thius is the case whether you are an employee or self employed but I cant swear to that) - so your premiums cost less in the end.

[vixxann]

Been looking through the policy and paperwork - cannot find any mention of UK residence only or not - so think I shall have to give them a ring and enquire (tentatively!)

It is a Level Term Assurance we took out ten years ago and it expires in 2017. It pays out upon death of either me or OH and is not transferrable, no cash-in value etc etc. When we took out policy we only had the two boys and figured by 2017 they'll be 24 and 21 yrs. However in 2002 we had our daughter so she'll only be 15 in 2017. (Theory being after policy expires we didn't need to take out a new one as the boys would be "adults"!)

Am considering now whether we should take out an additionial policy or something due to our young daughter. Wondering if this is something to do in UK or wait until in NZ. Sam is 40 I'm 36. What do you think?

[stu70]

It is absolutely the most important part of anyone's financial planning to have life insurance. So I would suggest getting additional policy that will see all your kids through in case something were to happen to you. Cheers

[Avalon]

. What do you think?
I think you should take out a policy in the UK :)

[Cardy]

Hi there
we were going to cancel ours wit norwich union because we werent sure and take out new ones here but after speaking to them i am keeping them. I have left a small amount in a uk bank account to pay by direct debit and they said this is fine .
Cardy

[Super_BQ]

I've never really been a fan of life insurance and the countless of different policies one can buy.

When I was at uni studying finance, I remembered our "Personal Finance" prof would always remind us of the 'anomalises' in the financial markets. One that stuck to my mind is this:

"Insurance companies will discriminate on issuing policies between the rich and the poor."

Generally speaking, wealthier families are less likely to claim against their insurance policy than poor families.

Though this concept appears unethical or down right unfair, the fact is wealthier and more educated families live healthier lives (they eat better food), live longer lives with better health care, they undertake occupations that are less risky in their day to day lives (professionals, physicians, etc.) vs. lower paid occupations (builders, miners, etc.). It's only obvious that insurance companies will prefer issuing policies to these groups of people than the lower wealth peers.

Another point is life insurance companies can not survive alone from collecting premiums. Instead, they are re-invested into the stock market so they can generate a higher return - to offset the high administration costs. Whether the IRR (internal rate of return) of the insurance company beats what a person could do elsewhere (by investing into real estate, or the stock market) is debatable. Just keep in mind that insurance companies have big buildings and a large staff, much greater than say what 'managed funds' would have in their operations.

BQ

[katandbob]

We wrote to our provider to ask what the situation would be and I would advise you to do the same so that you have something in writing if anything should happen. You certainly wouldn't want to discover that living in NZ stops you from claiming and I think it would be fairly easy for them to discover it wasn't just a holiday, and not a risk worth taking.

We took out our insurance through Tescos, but I think Norwich Union are the underwriters. They said it was fine for us to continue with our policy as long as we continue to pay from a UK bank account. When we arrived here we just advised them of our NZ address and everything has been fine.

I'm very happy with our UK life insurance and I don't think we would change to an NZ policy, but its something we plan to review in a couple of years. We just left a lump sum in our UK account to cover monthly payments.

Its good to hear your thinking of all these things, they can easily be forgotten!

Cheers

Tia

Wish they'd have told me that - I canceled mine and we had the same as you, I have NZ insurance now, but the UK one would have been a better deal

Kat

[Avalon]

I've never really been a fan of life insurance and the countless of different policies one can buy.

BQ
While I dont disagree with anything you said - im not sure I understand how that makes life insurance a bad thing. At the end of the day - unless you have enough wealth to provide for your family after you have gone or replace your income - then you do generally need some insurance to provide it instead.

Bearing in mind that many people dont have enough spare cash to even pay for funeral costs.

[vixxann]

rang the company today and they said once you leave the UK the policy is only valid for five years (and that it would still need to be paid from a UK bank account)

This seems a little bizarre to me - why five years?!
I would have thought it would be a straight yes you're covered or no you're not!

[piningforthefjords]

Hi,

Just to reiterate that we also recently asked about validity in NZ and were told it is fine as long as it is paid from a UK Bank account (Norwich Union).

Cheers,

Tim

[zippygoblet]

hi, i've been thinking about the same problem as I have a Malaysian life, critical illness policy that is investment linked. That means i can 'cash out' the policy say 25 years down the line if I don't happen to die before then.

Doesn't NZ have some sort of similar policy where you buy an investment-linked life insurance which you could at least get your money back (not much return though, it's more like a savings scheme except with insurance cover should anything happens). And why are the premiums allowed to be revised like that? Isn't it in the policy contract? That seems to be ripping people off though...well, I don't know, maybe someone can enlighten me on this subject?

Also consider the fact that we may eventually return to our home countries, who knows what will happen 20 years down the line? If I cancel my policy now, i wouldn't have any cover if I go back (if anything happens to me)....

oh well...that's my two cents' worth :)

[Avalon]

rang the company today and they said once you leave the UK the policy is only valid for five years (and that it would still need to be paid from a UK bank account)

This seems a little bizarre to me - why five years?!
I would have thought it would be a straight yes you're covered or no you're not!
In this case then - i think you need to consider getting quotes from other companies and buying new policies. I would personally do this through a broker - but thats just for ease - theres nowt to stop you doing the leg work yourself. And when you do - get in writing that the policy is still valid if you live abroad. At least then you can weigh up the pros and cons of keeping your old policies vs the new ones. If you do that - one thing you need to look at is teh TOTAL cost of premiums over the life of the policy.

Not sure if this would work - but is there anything to stop you asking NZ| companies for life insurance qoutes now - so you can see how much that would cost and add to the comparisons? Try AA life for example.

Also - just to double check you are being told the right thing - ask your current company to tell you where in the policy document it states that its only valid for 5 years once you leave. This is really just to make absolutely sure that the person you spoke to knows what they are talking about - because lets face it - they dont always!

[vixxann]

Also - just to double check you are being told the right thing - ask your current company to tell you where in the policy document it states that its only valid for 5 years once you leave. This is really just to make absolutely sure that the person you spoke to knows what they are talking about - because lets face it - they dont always!

Totally get where you are coming from - I wondered when he said it and got him to verify it again and then put I summarised in plain english and he said yes that's right. But I think I may follow your advice just to make sure :roll

Then its down to getting new quotes from both sides (UK/NZ) and weighing up all options. We're not leaving until later this year but I realise this needs sorting now really - and I'm sure I'll have LOTS more to worry about nearer the time!

[Tia Maria]

Vixxan wrote:

Totally get where you are coming from - I wondered when he said it and got him to verify it again and then put I summarised in plain english and he said yes that's right. But I think I may follow your advice just to make sure :roll

We've been caught out a couple of times now with accepting telephone & face to face advice. There really is very little you can do if they tell you the wrong thing as its so difficult to prove. I've just been fobbed off with 'Sorry they shouldn't have told you that its wrong.', or 'I don't know where they got that idea from?, or 'Maybe they didn't understand your situation fully'

As a result I always write now, so I have a written response they can't get out of. If I'm short on time I'll email, but a letter is normally better.

Just spend an evening writing to all your banks, life insurance etc etc, asking a "what if I was to live in New Zealand for a while?' question, it doesn't commit you to anything, and at least its one less thing to worry about.

If you save your letter, with bank/policy details on, you can then use the template as a Change of Address letter later.

I've only just managed to sort out all my COA a year later!

Cheers

Tia

[vixxann]

Thanks Tia - brill advice :clap

[vixxann]

Just got official written reply back from Life Insurance company ... and...

"Thank you for advising me of your intention to move to New Zealand.
I can confirm that provided the policy premiums continue to be paid from a sterling bank account, the cover will remain valid.
Please remember to inform us of your new address when you do move"

so ...
totally contradicts their telephone advice that it would last for five years only once we left the country :roll Honestly

Well that has just completed proved the point of several earlier posts on this thread - and I shall now make sure I get everything in writing from this point on, and I should recommend everyone to do likewise. We obviously have telephone answering staff (sorry if this is anyones job;) ) that don't really have a clue what they are talking about, I mean did he just make up the five year thing??!! :confused:

So plus side is we can carry on with our existing policy and no desperate need to sort out new term assurance.

[Rizak]

I had to call my insurance company once about something and they sent me off to their call center ... in Ireland ... where the phone monkey told me that he couldn't get the necessary information because of restrictions on information that they are allowed to access.

He sent me on to a higher level of service.
At the office I had originally called.
Right here in Ottawa.

Yes, it can be frustrating at times to get the information you need. I'm going to agree that getting it in writing is probably best.

Maybe I'll just get a portable voice recorder and ask for confirmation of all verbal information given with a date and time code along with the person's name. I'm pretty sure that they'll more likely to double-check their numbers beforehand.

Then again, I'm just that kind of jerk. :p

[Avalon]

Well that has just completed proved the point of several earlier posts on this thread - and I shall now make sure I get everything in writing from this point on, and I should recommend everyone to do likewise. .

ALWAYS remember:

A Verbal contract is not worth the paper its written on!

:D

Glad you got it sorted.

Hxxx

[willowshouse]

Completely agree with this advice - I cancelled my Orange phone account in September with one month's notice to be served. My Dad informed me a few weeks ago that I was still being billed (to my old address and forwarded onto him) for line rental. After accusing Orange of deliberately scamming me by not closing the account when I asked them to - they kindly advised me that although they had no record of me ever cancelling my account .. in the interests of good-will they would refund the charges .. verygood of them eh!!

Anyone cancelling an Orange phone - GET SOMETHING IN WRITING!!

Dawn

[Trigirl]

AOL tried this one on me. They sent me a very unpleasant threatening letter for £50 of unpaid fees. They had the record of my cancellation call but apparently the guy who had spoken to me had persuaded me to stay with them! Hmmm - now I wonder what the chances are of them getting a bonus for doing that??

Anyway once I'd pointed out the unlikeliness of that given I was now in NZ they wrote off the "debt" they were chasing me for.

[vixxann]

and how much money do these companies make on 0870 calls getting you to ring them and complain??? :mad:

[pinkpiggy]

Thought I would just update this thread as I'm in the process of contacting various insurance companies to find out if our policies are still valid in NZ.

We have various life/term assurance policies (Scottish Widows/Scottish Provident and Legal & General) one of which has critical illness cover built in. This is the only thing that is not valid. The life insurance side of the policy is but the critical illness cover is only valid for 12 months - of course, the premium doesn't reduce because they are covering less. :roll By way of info, this policy is the one with Legal & General.

Just need to write to them all now and get confirmation in writing. :exit

[Riddley]

Wow.
I've just found this post - how flippin' useful! I had assumed that when we go our life assurance (with Norwich Union) would have to terminate. It'd make the other half a very happy bunny if we can keep it going (I think he has plans :exit ).
Cheers everyone.

[westies]

Have to agree with most on here, definately worth keeping UK policies. We have after shopping around decided to increase our UK life policy, to cover us even more, absolutely no problems at all, and the policy is better than any we could have got here, the only thing is, you do need to have a UK bank account to be able to pay direct debit in sterling.

[stephenandjulie]

We have just started our life assurance policy from our bank who have assured us as long as the policy was started before leaving the uk, it is valid for the 28 years it will have to run.

£100,000 for a non smoker who is fit and healthy at 41 years is £32.20 per month