Giant ANZAC Poppy - Auckland Domain

This ANZAC Day, Spratt Financial Group is truly proud to be involved in supporting the creation of the world's largest poppy in Auckland Domain. The poppy is made up of thousands of red discs, inscribed with messages of remembrance and support from everyday New Zealanders from all walks of life. It is a moving experience to behold as I did when I took the photos below. It is especially incredible now as the poppy is completely filled in, ready for the breaking of dawn on ANZAC day.

The world's largest poppy up close.

The red discs with messages of support and honor from New Zealand.

We encourage everybody in the area to get down and see the poppy for yourself. It truly is an amazing project, and it will be the site of a spectacular dawn service on ANZAC day as well. Spratt Financial was delighted to get involved, providing insurance for the poppy itself and its creators free of charge. It is the least we can do to help bring this to life.

The poppy, beginning to take shape.

We wish all New Zealanders and Australians a wonderful ANZAC day and we hope you will all take time to remember the sacrifices of the ANZACs and all those who gave their lives defending our country and our way of life. And now, you can view a special timelapse video of the poppy coming together here. Be sure to check it out.

Largest Southern Cross Travel Claims 2014/15

In the wake of Southern Cross announcing that they would be waiving the 'trivial' $100 excess from their travel insurance policies, they have also released the top 10 largest travel insurance claims from the past year, demonstrating just how necessary appropriate travel insurance can really be.

The list itself for the first time does not include only New Zealanders claiming from travel overseas. A claim totalling $236,000 was made by a foreigner who suffered a stroke while travelling through New Zealand and was forced into hospitalisation with an extended treatment. The CEO of Southern Cross Travel Insurance remarked that in comparison to any of these claims, the small cost of insuring your travel paled into insignificance.

The full list is as follows:

Highest value travel insurance claims for 2014:

1. $405,000 - surgery required for cancer in the USA.

2. $365,000 - air evacuation after a brain bleed and heart attack in North America.

3. $285,000 - blood clot while travelling caused a cardiac arrest on a plane, admitted to hospital in the US.

4. $236,000 - a tourist visiting New Zealand suffered a stroke requiring extensive hospitalisation and rehabilitation and transport to home country by air ambulance.

5. $193,000 - suffered a stroke in Europe, required air ambulance.

6. $177,000 - fell from a roof and fractured several leg bones in the USA.

7. $122,000 - family member of an international student diagnosed with cancer.

8. $120,000 - hit by a motorcycle in South East Asia.

9. $112,000 - heart attack while visiting New Zealand, required surgery and rehabilitation.

10. $105,000 - accidental fall resulting in broken bones in Europe

Source: Southern Cross Travel Insurance.

Whether you are travelling overseas, or you are a tourist looking to visit New Zealand, organising travel insurance should be the top of your priority list. Unless, of course, you have a spare $400,000 you're looking to offload.

Read how travel insurance bailed me out on my trip to the USA.

Read my experiences with the Southern Cross Travel claims process.

Need a free, no obligation quote? Use our contact form here.

Breaking Financial News

1. Asteron receives A+ rating from Standard and Poor's. - Good Returns

Asteron, New Zealand's fourth largest life insurer received a confirmation of its strong market position as S & P granted it an A+ rating for financial strength. New business has increased 14% to build further upon their 41% increase of the previous year.

2. New pandemic insurance to prevent crisis with early payouts. - Yahoo! New Zealand

In the past, governments have been forced to raise funds in the aftermath of disease outbreaks. The World Bank, the African Union and other financial institutions are attempting to circumvent this by designing insurance schemes which will pay out immediately as an outbreak happens, providing the funds to better manage the crisis before it fully takes hold.

3. Celebrities insuring their body parts for up to $40 million. - MTV.com

According to celebrity insiders, Taylor Swift's legs are worth $40 million and Kim Kardashian has had her derriere insured too. Famous singers have insured their voice and piano players have insured their fingers through brokers for a princely sum.

4. Southern Cross axes 'trivial' Travel Insurance Excess. - NZ Herald

In great news for travellers and Southern Cross members, Southern Cross have removed the $100 excess for travel insurance claims, calling the amount 'trivial' and unnecessary. Southern Cross hoped that the removal of the excess would encourage travellers to seek medical attention for minor ailments.

5. Crowded Kiwisaver market sparks concern. - Good Returns

With so many Kiwisaver providers on the market, fears are arising that things as they are will become unsustainable. A major expert in the field says that he could imagine a future with only a few large providers with multi-sector portfolios.

North Harbour Rugby Referees

Spratt Financial Group is proud to announce our status as a premier sponsor of North Harbour Rugby Referees. The association does a great job with fostering the growth and development of our national game, and play a great role in helping charities and communities throughout the North Harbour region. To say we're proud to be a part of it is an understatement.

We look forward to giving you the best in insurance and investment service, to make sure your future and your finances are secure, come what may. Both Allan Mearns and John Dooley, two leading professionals on the Spratt Financial Team, are volunteer referees and so we know first hand the great job the NHRRA does.

We invite you to take a look at our Referees welcome page to see how we may be of service to you.

Visit the Spratt Financial Group welcome page.

Visit the official North Harbour Rugby referees website.

Waitangi Day Reflections

Whenever I get a guest or a visitor from overseas, they without fail will remark that every little thing about our country is beautiful. The way that we can walk a minute from our houses, stand on the crest of a rise and see out over the harbour to Rangitoto Island. The forests that line the roads, the farmlands, the beaches, the mountains. Everything. These things somehow become normal to us, the ones lucky enough to live here, and we find ourselves just being numb to it all. Waitangi Day should be a day when we remember how lucky we are to live in New Zealand, one of the most beautiful places in the world. To that end, here are some pictures of our scenic wonders to help us all remember, and be thankful.

Happy Waitangi Day everyone and enjoy your day off!

Lake Tekapo, South Island.

                                     

Milford Sound.

Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe by Craig Potton

Cathedral Cove, Coromandel.

Hot Water Beach, North Island.

Wellington City.

Auckland City.

NZ Native Kauri Forest

Do you need trauma insurance?

Did you know:

1. 52 people are diagnosed with cancer everyday in New Zealand.

For many of us who only have basic life insurance or medical insurance, this could be a catastrophic event not only healthwise but financially. Lost income through work and the cost of care spiral upwards quickly, especially if you are the family's sole breadwinner and savings can be rapidly depleted. Upon diagnosis of a critical condition like cancer though, trauma insurance will pay out its entire sum assured to help you and your family financially through your tough times. For this reason, we recommend considering it thoroughly.

Furthermore,

2.  Although cancer rates are increasing, deaths due to cancer are decreasing.

The rate of death from cancer has fallen 16.2% in the period between 1999 and 2009. This reflects the continuing advances in treatment. As our population ages, the increase in cancer will continue, with a great proportion of those surviving the disease which is great news. However, once more, it brings into focus how costly a battle with cancer can be for an individual or family.

3. Between the ages of 30 and 65, one in five men and one in seven women will suffer a critical illness which trauma cover could insure them for.

This means that a working couple has a one in three chance of having one its members suffer a serious malady before New Zealand's current retirement age. Are you prepared?

4. 1 in 20 New Zealand adults have been diagnosed with heart disease. That totals a huge 165,000 New Zealanders.

5. A considerable number of less serious conditions and procedures entitle you to a full or partial trauma insurance claim payout.

Whilst you can certainly claim upon your full trauma cover for diagnosis of serious heart disease or when you undergo a major heart operation, many can be unaware that less serious procedures or conditions can be partially covered too. A friend recently found to his surprise that he was entitled to a payout of half of his sum assured for having a stent inserted into his artery (a relatively common procedure). The surgery itself was covered by his health insurance, so the trauma payout helped him pay outstanding bills and provided an unexpected boon to his finances. Read more about his story here.

6. The average age of a Trauma Insurance payout is 47.

This is considerably younger than most people expect to go through a serious health condition. As an average figure too, many payouts occur even younger than that.

7. 21 New Zealanders a day have a stroke.

Approximately 35% of stroke victims are aged under 40.

Visit our official website for more information.

Get a competitive quote on your trauma insurance - send a request today!

What is Whole of Life Insurance?

Much like a regular term life insurance policy, a Whole of Life policy is designed to provide a sum of money (the sum assured) to someone else or to a trust upon your death. It provides an increasing level of cover which gradually builds up a cash value through to a chosen maturity date as premiums are paid. Whole of life cover is the only form of life insurance that can be paid out whilst the policy holder is still alive, if they survive past the agreed upon maturity date of the policy.

Also, whereas a term life policy covers you for a certain period of time (for instance, until the age of 65 or for a certain amount of years after you take out your policy), whole of life insurance covers you for your entire life. As such, it is generally a lot more expensive than regular term cover and has become less and less prevalent in the NZ insurance market over time. Today, few insurers here offer whole of life cover, but many policies taken out in the past are still in force and active across the country.

Whole of Life insurance is also different from other forms in that it can have aspects which function as an investment. For some whole of life policies, premiums paid are invested into a fund and can be refunded to the policy holder if performance is greater than expected. Sometimes, premiums are expected to be paid for the entire life of the policy (as long as the policy holder lives) and in other cases, the premiums cease at a certain age although the cover goes on until death. This is established when the policy is taken out, as well as the sum assured and the fixed premiums.

Whilst few providers offer whole of life policies in New Zealand these days, if you have one that is currently active and you have any questions about your policy, you can use our website's contact form to get a reply quickly and easily at anytime.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Spratt Financial.

The whole team at Spratt Financial Services wishes you an amazing Christmas and an extremely prosperous New Year! We hope that 2015 is the year in which all of your financial dreams come true. Stay safe on those roads and enjoy the special time with your families, whether you're at home or away.

Spratt Financial Christmas News Roundup (Part Two)

1. Tips to avoid becoming a Christmas burglary statistic. - Yahoo.co.nz

It's an unfortunate fact that burglary is rife during the festive season when many of us are away on holiday. Here are some tips to stop this from happening to you. Home and contents cover is a good start, but it's a good idea to be prepared, vigilant and take precautions to make sure your Christmas is as happy and stress free as can be.

2. Onepath life introduces new products to meet consumer demand. - Good returns

In the most significant product enhancement in years, Onepath has released two new income protection covers and one redundancy cover, including enhanced features such as new loss of earnings cover and 115% cover on mortgage repayments.

3. Rising housing costs hit wallets hard. - Stuff.co.nz

Average NZ incomes have not risen at a high enough pace to keep up with rising housing costs. Whilst incomes have risen 3.1%, the average spent on housing has jumped by more than double this figure, by 8.6%.

4. Why some people work on Christmas Day - BBC News

Spare a thought for those of us working on Christmas day, providing valuable service. Here are some of their stories courtesy of the BBC.

5. Forecasters predict a warm Christmas with a chance of rain. - NZ Herald

The last weeks, Auckland has experienced some horrendous weather on and off, the weather for Christmas is forecast to be warm, with a chance of rain. Fingers crossed it passes us by, surely we are due for some good stuff!

6. Top 10 hot items for Christmas. - NZ Herald

Statistics from recent Trademe searches reveal the hottest Christmas purchases for New Zealanders in 2014.

Spratt Financial News Roundup

1. Five minutes with the head of Zurich New Zealand Claims department. - Insurance Business Online

Here, Brian Chikanya related that he believes that insurance products are very often misunderstood and this is one of the things about the insurance industry he wishes to change. We do too, both by helping simplify the insurance process, as well as better explaining the benefits to clients and the public.

2. A Christmas treat for the needy in Wairarapa on Christmas. - NZ Herald/Wairarapa Times

Carterton residents who would otherwise be alone this Christmas, or those in need of a good Christmas meal can congregate at the Carterton Events Centre where for 14 years, volunteers have dedicated their day to providing a wonderful community experience. A nice story to put a smile on your face this Christmas season.

3. Kiwis warned not to leave valuables in their cars. - NZ Herald

One major car insurance company paid out $810,000 in car theft claims, and in the wake of a survey in which a third of New Zealanders admitted to leaving valuables in their car, Kiwis are warned to take valuable items with them this Christmas.

4. Aussies currently leading the way with Health Insurance. - NZ Herald

Only 12.5% of New Zealanders over 65 are covered by health insurance, as opposed to a comparatively huge 52% in Australia. Australian investors have become excited about health insurance, showing us in New Zealand a possible way forward for the industry.

5. Kiwisaver bill has first reading in parliament. - Good Returns

This proposal could have a huge impact for Kiwisavers as it would allow members to withdraw Government tax credits, as well as their own contributions, and also doubles the subsidy for first home buyers. We will keep you and all of our clients currently with Kiwisaver updated on the progress of the bill.

6. One in five New Zealanders possibly renters for life. - Stuff.co.nz

The harsh housing market, especially in Auckland, is leading Kiwis to accept the possibility that they may be renters for life. Even in the current market however, there may be finance options available to make first home buying a reality. Send us an enquiry and our mortgage/lending team might be able to make your dreams of owning a home come true.