Why do you need life insurance? 

The death of you or your partner would be hard enough for your loved ones to deal with. But putting plans in place now can help lessen the financial strain that they may experience at a very emotional time.

Not only would your family need to deal with the expected costs such as a mortgage or daily bills, but there may also be unexpected costs such as bringing relatives home from overseas.

The purpose of life insurance is to protect the loved ones you leave behind. It is a wise and practical choice that can help offer reassurance at a difficult time.

New Zealand life insurance stats

• Cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) accounts for 40% of all deaths annually.¹
  
• Every 90 minutes a New Zealander dies from coronary heart disease.¹
  
• 1,612 New Zealanders died in accidents over a period of 12 months.²

Who claims for life insurance?

• 58 is the average age of a life insured when a claim is paid out.³
  
• The largest ever claim made on a life insurance policy was for $3.2 million in April 2010.³
  
• The most common causes of death on a life insurance policy are cancer (38%) and heart condition (21%).³

Did you know...?

To provide a taxable annual income of $60,000 a year for a 10 year period, you would need approximately $518,000* to invest! Would you have enough Life Insurance to support your family’s lifestyle for this period?

*Assumes an average rate of return of 6% and the income inflation adjusted at 3%.

How would your loved ones cope?

You would need approximately $170,000 a year to cover the cost of duties such as childcare, cooking and cleaning if the main homemaker/caregiver were to pass away.⁴

Case studies

For examples of how life insurance has helped real people, read our life insurance case studies >>

Sources: ¹ National Heart Foundation, Sourced Jan 2010, ² During 2008, Accident Compensation Corporation, ³ TOWER Health & Life claims information as at April 2010, ⁴ "The price of a mom" .