Compare NZ staff insurance

Well, if a key staff member were unable to work for between 144 and 304 days (4-10 months), how much would that cost your business?

According to a survey by TNS research, you’ll wait an average of 144 days for a non-critical surgery in New Zealand’s public hospitals. But that’s only if you get scheduled! A quarter of people will be put on a waitlist instead. They will wait an average of 304 days.

With private insurance, this is almost unheard of. Virtually all private surgeries are scheduled and performed within an average of 44 days. Which means your staff are out of action for only a month and a half — instead of potentially the better part of a year.

Yes, there is ACC — but that only covers 80% of their income, and only for accidents. Degenerative conditions, sicknesses, and mental health conditions are not covered.

If a key member of your staff became ill, and could not work while waiting for treatment, how would you manage this? And what would you offer them while they were off work?

If you offer employee health insurance cover, and your team has 5 or more staff, we can get all their pre-existing conditions covered immediately. This means that if you have a key staff member with a serious illness like cancer, and you take out a policy for your business, that staff member would be covered for their illness instantly — and be able to claim right away.

And, when the claim is approved, they will get treated privately on average within 44 days.

• Since 2019 there has been a nearly 7× increase in patients waiting 4+ months to see a specialist. Once someone is referred to a specialist by their GP, NZ Health tracks whether you end up waiting more than 4 months just to get an appointment. In 2019, the total number of patients who waited 4+ months was about 10,000 — bad enough. But by the end of 2023, it had snowballed to nearly 70,000:
  
• There’s been a 6× increase in the number of patients not treated within 4 months of diagnosis. Once you see a specialist, they figure out the problem, and commit you to treatment. In 2019, fewer than 5,000 people had to wait 4 months after that point before receiving treatment. By 2023, that figure had soared up to 30,000:
  
• The number of patients waiting for planned surgery has nearly doubled. Although some regions have improved slightly, the overall trend is very negative:
  

The upshot is simple: if employees need treatment, you’ll often be waiting a LONG TIME if you rely on the public health system. With health insurance, these wait times reduce dramatically.

Well, if one of your staff became unable to work, how long would it be before you would be forced to let them go — even knowing that it would likely throw them into poverty?

The average income protection claim lasts between 9 and 12 months.

Could you afford to pay a non-working staff member for that long, once their sick leave runs out?

Most families only have enough cash on hand to last three weeks without a paycheck.

This puts many companies in a moral and financial dilemma. When accidents, illnesses and other ailments put staff out of action, do you:

1. Let them go, losing a valuable staff member and cutting off their financial security when they are most vulnerable? Or…
2. Keep paying their wages, while they can’t work to make that money back for you?

Yes, ACC can cover 80% of their income. But it fails more often than not because…

• ACC straight up denies as many as 300,000 claims per year
• ACC does not cover mental-health related disabilities that stop many people from working
• ACC does not cover degenerative conditions or disorders, nor illness or diseases

Income insurance offers an extremely cost-effective way of avoiding this dilemma and getting the best of both worlds. For an average of less than 1% of your insured payroll, you can ensure that any employee who can’t work still has an income stream — while their actual wages are freed up to cover the cost of replacement staff or lost productivity.

This also makes it a cheap and powerful tool to attract and retain great talent.

Well, if one of your staff died, what would you offer their family?

1 month’s wages?

3? Maybe 6? Or whatever the minimum is under their contract?

Not sure?

Most businesses don’t have a plan for this situation — and although it is a rare risk, unfortunately, it does happen. It’s good to be prepared. The benefit of having life insurance for your staff is that…

• They and their families know up front what they would get if this were to happen
• You as a business won’t be in the difficult situation of having to decide on a compensation plan while riding an emotional rollercoaster

Life insurance lets the insurer carry the risk, rather than you. They pay out a lump sum, agreed in advance, to take care of the staff member’s family — so you don’t have to figure out what is “fair” during such a terrible time.

Again, having a fair and equitable plan in place greatly enhances company culture, and your brand in the market. The simple fact is: people want to work for companies that take care of them and their families.