Welcome to Partners Papers 14 - Here's one for the children...

We decided to focus this issue on kids to highlight some of the realities around insuring children. Paying claims exposes us to some of the most harrowing and devastating times in a person’s life and without question, the most difficult of these cases for us are the ones that concern children. As devastating as these claims are, we are privileged to be able to soften the blow and at least remove some of the financial stress when life is interrupted by a childhood illness or injury.

You have probably all seen the Givealittle appeals and fundraising events for children who have suffered an awful trauma. Insuring children against these events can assist parents to be as prepared as possible to navigate these difficult times, without the uncertainty of trying to raise funds at a time when they are dealing with the worst life stress possible.

Insuring children can be a difficult topic for a parent – are you tempting fate by even thinking about the possibility? What are the legalities? Are there even any options available? This issue of Partners Papers will attempt to answer these questions and more. We are also blessed to share the incredible stories of two young men: one who overcame a disabling tragedy as a child and has gone on to Paralympic glory, and another of a brave young boy currently navigating his way through a difficult illness.

Children bring joy to each and every one of our lives, be they in our own family or those of our friends, or colleagues. As a mother myself, this issue is particularly close to my heart – I hope you find it interesting and helpful.

The idea behind Partners Papers is for the Partners Life team to be able to talk to you about the workings of life insurance in general, as well as the philosophies unique to Partners Life. It provides us with a forum to answer customer questions, address customer concerns and explain why we do what we do. You will not find us advertising any products directly to you in Partners Papers.

We respect the relationship you have with your adviser and we understand that the decisions around which products are best suited to your needs and how much cover you need should be decided between you and your adviser. Instead we simply want to bring you up to speed with some of the detail around how life insurance products work which you may not otherwise be fully aware of, as well as sharing the stories of some of our clients with you and finally letting you know the role Partners Life is playing in our New Zealand community.

As each edition of Partners Papers is received by both long-standing customers as well as brand new customers for whom this edition is their very first, we would encourage you to check out the previous editions of Partners Papers, as you may just find we have already answered your questions in previous articles. Happy reading everyone.