Interview between host Dave Parry and guest Lucas Kenyon explaining practical steps to obtain or review personal risk insurance (life and income protection). Key points: get cover while healthy (don’t wait until a claimable event); review income protection waiting periods (many super defaults use a 90-day waiting period and pay in arrears another ~30 days); policies can be funded via super (often ~15% cheaper due to tax rebate) or paid personally; Lucas’ service compares quotes across nine insurers, provides itemized quotes (often emailed within ~20 minutes of a call) and contacts clients within 12–24 hours; reviews occur annually with market comparisons every few years; no direct client fee — insurers pay commission; dedicated in-house claims support and help with transferring super funding.
Questions this video answers
Nine providers.
90 days waiting period, plus insurers may pay in arrears (commonly another ~30 days).
Every 12 months (annual check-in).
Often by the end of the conversation — about 20 minutes; clients are contacted within 12–24 hours.
No — Lucas's service charges no direct client fee; the insurer pays commission on the backend.
Chapters
Hey, so welcome, Lucas. Lucas, it's great to see you. Thanks for jumping on board. Just continuing this whole sort of concept about, as I call, risk and the four major insurances. So let's kick off. So who's Lucas when he's at home? And what drew you to this whole risk concept? Helping people out with their risk policies and life insurance, etc.
Thanks, Dave. So Lucas Kenyon is my name. And what drew me to risk is I'm from a financial planning background. I've always specialized in risk since 2018. I've moved into the general advice space in the last three years just because I can see a massive opportunity for clients to be able to come to us with insurance that they want to get in place without the need for us to go into massive detail about their financial situation, circumstances, individual needs. If a client comes to us and know what they want, we can just help them implement a policy and bypass the fees to have cover that they need.
Okay, so quick, quick access and getting the job done, which is what people want.
Yeah, absolutely.
So from your perspective, why do people really need risk insurance? Why they need to review it, have a look at it.
I think a lot of people, myself especially have had situations where family members, close friends, have had major health issues or in the worst case, passed away and left a bit of a mess behind for family where they haven't had sufficient insurances. Perhaps they've passed away and left the debt. Perhaps they were the primary income earner the wife now needs to handle the mortgage, the repayments. And I guess the major reason that people should have it is that, you know, it's peace of mind. The best case outcome is you're paying for it the entire time and you never need it. But in that event you do need it, at least you're making sure that your family's looked after.
Yeah, for sure. And of course, I make the analogy in some of the content and we've talked about this. Look, people don't have a $50,000 car. Just you wouldn't dream driving it off the lot without having some insurance. And for most people, you are your biggest asset, your ability to earn an income, provide for your family. So you've got to have a conversation. Yeah. What are some of the biggest mistakes you've seen or generally see when it comes to insurance that people have or don't have?
Look, I don't know how many times I've had a client come to me, unfortunately, in their time of need, where they've been diagnosed with a major condition, something has gone wrong in their life and that's when they're reaching out and wanting good insurance put in place. Look, unfortunately, with the insurance that we deal with, it is medically underwritten. Probably a bad analogy, but it's like you've got the panel damage on your car, the insurer's not going to cover it. At that point, the bomb's already gone off. So I think the biggest mistake would be waiting until the event to look for insurance. The best outcome is to get it in place when you fit, you're healthy and then you will have the COVID And then when the incident happens, at least you know you're protected. So not waiting too long. And I think the other big mistake is super funds are great. Their default levels of COVID work, not rubbishing that in any way, shape or form. It's just important that people investigate the levels of COVID they have, especially the waiting and benefit periods for income protection. Obviously the sum's insured, it's important to make sure that that is relevant and meeting your needs. But the income protection, especially one of the major super funds, defaults to a 90 day waiting period for their income protection. The insurers never advertise this, a lot of people won't be aware, but they also pay in arrears, so you're waiting another 30 days beyond that before you're seeing any money. So four months without any money coming into the home, where you've got someone who's a primary income earner not seeing any money for four months for a lot of families would be pretty hard to live with.
Yeah, for sure. So unless you've got the equivalent of four or five months buffer of equivalent to your salary built up, you've got to look at bringing that forward. Then of course, if you do have the buffer, you can be readjusted in time and then the policies become more cost effective. Yeah, yeah. Now and I've seen also, Lucas, you, you've, in some scenarios you're able to sort of top up or make the balance out as well to, to add extra policies to top up what's missing.
Yes, correct. Yeah. You're able to protect 70% of your income and often the default super funds will base it on the time you joined the super fund, which may be 50,000 or now you're adding 150,000. There's going to be a big discrepancy in the amount of money that will come into the home. So we can assist you at 70% of the current income and that can be adjusted in the future. As well.
Yeah, perfect. All right. And just checking, how many providers do you deal with?
We work with nine. So all your major providers in Australia we have access to.
Right. And you just work out what's the best for each client on a case by case basis.
Well, what we do is when we go through quoting with you, we have access to all nine and we provide you a quote for all nine and it's all price based and itemized so you'll be able to see from the most cost effective to the most expensive, the covers available and you decide what works best for you.
Perfect. And how often should people get their insurances reviewed?
With our business model, we're back on the phone with our clients every 12 months. What that often looks like is say the 12 month mark we've just put cover in place. It's just an update because with indexation you put a million in place today, next year it'll look like a million 25 for example. So just bring you back up to speed with the COVID levels you've got. Premiums are going to go up. So what you're paying for that and giving the opportunity to make sure that it's still relevant to your situation, making any tweaks or changes as we go along. And typically every couple of years you're given the opportunity to compare it with the market as well because the further we get from implementation, just like your mortgage or electricity, sometimes there's more competitive offerings in the market. So you're given the opportunity to look around and just make sure you still got the best rate and if not, maybe shop it around and see if you can do better.
Perfect. Perfect. Now of course I think people would understand that insurance policy you have will have a fee attached or a premium. But how much are your fees? I mean, how much do you personally charge to engage with someone and get the quotes done?
Nothing we help clients implement without the fee. We receive commission. So we do get paid, but the insurer pays that commission on the back end, which is no different to going to a financial advisor. They would receive a commission, but they've also got to charge their own fees because of the paraplanning, the admin, the statement of advice that goes into preparing the plan for you. We don't take into account your situation, needs, etc. So we don't have to go through all the rigmarole. It's just a case of clients coming to us, they know what they want, we implement it and the insurer pays us directly. So there's no out of pocket Costs to clients.
Yes. So, perfect. So if a client comes, knowing what they want, you can provide a quote. It's essentially a wholesale direct service. Yeah, it's perfect. And it gets done quick. Super quick as well, because, well, roughly, how long does it take to get a quote done?
Typically, if I'm speaking with a client by the end of the conversation, in 20 minutes, I'm emailing through an itemized quote with all the providers in there. And, yeah, we're contacting clients within 12 to 24 hours of receiving the email.
Yep. In fact, just on a personal note, you know, I recall I had a chat with a client fairly recently. They had an urgent need to review and I think within two or three hours you'd got back to them and got a quote. And he texted me back with. He was just thrilled how much he'd saved. So, yeah, it can be done pretty quick. Yeah. And what does people need to prepare? How can someone best prepare if a.
Client has an existing contract and they want to see a comparison, bring it along. It's always good to know what you're paying and then we'll provide a quote. I never asked what you're paying now. I don't want to know. But all the specifics definitely help. I'll tell you what the best rate in the market is and then you'll be able to see side by side what they look like. So definitely bringing that along is helpful. The rest of the information is normally things that people are going to know. It's just basics. Your date of birth, your address, your smoking status, your income and occupation. And with that information, that's everything we need to be able to prepare.
Perfect. And if someone goes through the, like the modules I've got in the Academy and that worksheet help, that would be a very good guide for them to do as a working basis as well, presumably.
Absolutely, yeah.
Perfect. All right, then. I just wanted to check as well, when it comes to people wanting to change super funds, that's not a problem either. The policies can often be moved around or paid that way. Yeah.
So we'll guide you through the process of your options, but you've always got the option to pay externally from your own pocket. It also can be funded through your existing Super. So it's 15% cheaper to pay through your existing super fund because of the tax rebate. You're always given that option. And if you go with Fund A today, the funds are drawn from there and let's say six months later you decide to move super funds to fund B, it's a very easy one page document to update the insurer so that next year they're taking the, the premiums from fund B.
Fantastic. And you can help with that documentation and swap from provider to provider as well. Yeah. Okay. Now what about if someone. You know, unfortunately, we hate to think about it if someone does need to make a claim on the insurance.
Yeah. So it's a strange industry that we work in because the best outcome is never needing it and having the peace of mind. But in the event of a claim, you'd call our firm immediately and we're here to do all the heavy lifting and advocate for you receiving your payout. We've got a dedicated claim support in house, so it's.
I mean, for me, from what it sounds as though, look, you could, if someone's prepared, know what they want, you can get a quote within 20 minutes. You shopped around very transparently show the nine providers, you work with them to get it implemented. If they need to change supers, you can do that as well. And if they need a claim, you'll help with processing the claim as well.
Absolutely.
So it really is an entire package solution there at no extra fees to the clients.
Yeah, that's it.
Perfect. Which is why we like working with you and Lucas. And what would be the best way for someone to get in touch with you for yourself?
Just reach out to Dave and he'll email me your contact details. And like I said, normally it's quick up, but normally within 20, 24 hours we're on the phone, as Dave mentioned, though, often at the same day.
Yeah, perfect. All right, thanks H, Lucas, great to see you and really appreciate that little educational piece. And so there you go. If any of you are watching this and you need to get this reviewed, get cracking on the summary and reach out and we'll get in touch with Lucas and get your insurances in, get your insurances sorted as soon as we can. All right. Good on you, Lucas. See you soon.
