Some nasty exclusions may be hidden there. Here's an example.

An exclusion on a Bank Life insurance policy which states that the insured person is not covered if the death is caused by an illegal act.

In New Zealand, we do not have a reminder system to renew our licenses when they expire. We have it for our Rego and sometimes WOFs but not for Drivers Licenses, and since these licenses are issued over long periods of time like 5 and 10 years, when it does expire, there is a very high chance that you will have driven around for quite some time before it comes to your attention that you are driving without a currently valid license.

Now if you die from an accident whilst driving at such a time, that Insurance policy may very easily decline a claim because you were driving illegally.

Worth the chance?

The policies we organise do not have these  exclusions.

Any Occupation, Own Occupation.
These words are definitions within a Total & Permanent Disability product which is designed to pay out a lump sum amount when the insured is totally and permanently disabled.

Now look at the 2 sentences below.

• "We will pay out your insured amount if you are deemed to be totally and permanently disabled, whereby you can never get back to doing any work/occupation."
• "We will pay out your insured amount if you are deemed to be totally and permanently disabled, whereby you can never get back to doing your own work/occupation."

Now, how do the above 2 statements differ?
There is one main word which is different in both statements which changes the implications for a client at claim time dramatically. The statement with the word 'Any' is far inferior to the word 'Own'.
Let me explain further. Total Permanent Disability (known as TPD in the industry) comes with 2 types of definitions:

1.  Own Occupation – Pays out when the insured is Totally and Permanently disabled to the extent that he or she is incapable of ever getting back to doing their own job/occupation that they were in prior to the disability.
2. Any Occupation – Pays out when the insured is Totally and Permanently disabled to the extent that he or she is incapable of ever getting back to doing their own and any other job/occupation.

Let's look at an example. Let's say a qualified professional like a Doctor, Lawyer, accountant, Builder, etc has got a TPD product and they incur a disability which makes them incapable of ever doing their job. They are still capable of doing some other type of job like data entry or working at a fast food joint.
Guess how their claim will be looked at if they have a product with the Any occupation definition? Yes, no claim as they can still do some other job.
The Own Occupation definition would pay out on the claim.
Now most of these 'Any Occupation' types of definitions are the only definitions in Policies which are sold directly to the public (online or through Banks) with no Adviser in the middle to look out for these fish hooks.
So why would you risk buying these insurances directly and get caught out when you can consult a professional Adviser for no cost?
Or in other words, why would you self-medicate through the internet for an ailment when the Doctor's home visit is free?

Insurance policies are very different from provider to provider and the inferior ones can have some nasty hooks. Almost all of the nasty ones are sold directly to consumers through the internet or over the counter sales like Banks because they know the lay person would not have a clue about these dangers. They are not sold through professional Advisors as these policies wouldn't stand a chance of being recommended to their clients.

Let's look at one such example.
An exclusion on a Bank Life insurance policy which states that the insured person is not covered if the death is caused by an illegal act.
In New Zealand, we do not have a reminder system to renew our licenses when they expire. We have it for our Rego and sometimes WOFs but not for Drivers Licenses, and since these licenses are issued over long periods of time like 5 and 10 years, when it does expire, there is a very high chance that you will have driven around for quite some time before it comes to your attention that you are driving without a currently valid license. Now if you die from an accident whilst driving at such a time, that Insurance policy can very easily decline a claim because you were driving illegally.
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HAVE A THINK ABOUT THAT.
Now is it worth rolling the dice and buying these sorts of policies directly or is it better to go through a non aligned Insurance Advisor to get free advice (they would not charge you any fees as they get paid commissions from the providers) and get the best product without such wordings for a similar price that you would anyway pay for the directly sourced shonky ones?