Coversure Insurance for Migrants

Disclaimer: Pre-existing conditions are covered subject to the acceptance of the insurer as per their policy wording.

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Pamela Venu (Chief Operations Officer) and Brent Denny (Director of Fire and General) from Coversure join Aaron to discuss the insurance landscape for migrants. Pamela specialises in personal insurance including life, trauma, income protection, and health insurance, whilst Brent focuses on business and commercial insurance covering physical assets, liability, and business continuity.

Personal Insurance for Work Visa Holders

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For migrants on accredited employer work visas, serious illness or injury often results in loss of visa status and forced repatriation. Pamela recommends keeping personal insurance basic but effective: life cover with repatriation benefits, trauma cover providing lump sums for serious diagnoses (covering treatment costs back home), and injury cover to bridge gaps before ACC responds. Work visas under two years don't qualify for public healthcare or standard private health insurance, requiring specialist visitor visa policies instead. For longer visas, private health insurance helps avoid lengthy public system wait times, indirectly protecting income by enabling faster return to work. Income protection proves problematic for temporary visa holders due to 13-week waiting periods - by the time policies would respond, visas are typically revoked - making trauma and injury products more appropriate.

Business Insurance and Key Considerations

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For entrepreneurs purchasing businesses, Brent emphasises protecting investments through material damage policies (covering buildings, contents, stock, equipment), business interruption cover (ensuring staff wages and costs continue during incidents), and liability protection including public liability, professional indemnity, and statutory liability for regulatory compliance. Directors and officers liability protects business owners against personal liability - particularly relevant for migrants unfamiliar with New Zealand's regulatory environment. Key person insurance becomes crucial when purchasing businesses with essential employees, funding replacement staff or sick leave costs. Common mistakes include underestimating coverage needs, overlooking cyber liability and employment practices insurance, and undervaluing personal income protection whilst over-insuring physical assets. New Zealand insurance differs significantly from overseas markets - investment-style life policies don't exist here, and coverage levels can be dramatically better value. Using brokers provides access to multiple insurers rather than single-provider bank products, and migrants should secure insurance immediately upon arrival since health changes after arrival can prevent obtaining cover.

A big thank you to Pamela Venu and from Brent Denny Coversure for joining us.