I was reminded this week on two fronts about the importance of being insured. Our son has been staying with us for a few months after injuring his back. It escalated this week to the point that he needed to be hospitalised. Of course, being 26, he hasn’t chosen to have private health insurance. It’s really hard when you are that age. You have so many choices on what to spend your newly increased income that unfortunately, health cover just doesn’t make the top 10 list. Luckily, he was admitted immediately to a public hospital and received the quality care he needed but, reality struck when he was placed in a small ward with 3 other patients. He was told by the medical staff that rest was currently his best friend. But it’s hard to run off into the sunset with your afore mentioned best friend when you have 3 men 3 times your age making elderly men noises a spitting distance from your bed. I am guessing that he will be sprinting towards meerkats looking for the best hospital cover as soon as this health crisis is over.
The second reminder was after one of my lovely clients was injured at work. In my 7+ years in public practice, I have never had to deal with a business owner injured at work. But every new situation is a learning experience so I started my searches with the Workcover legislation. I had a feeling in my water that employers wouldn’t be covered by WorkCover, as you exclude their wages when you make the Annual wages declaration. And I was right. Employers need to be insured separately for loss of income due to injury. But it was kind of hard to find on the website. Even the helpful Workcover service consultant had trouble. See the link below
https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/claims-and-insurance/workcover-insurance/types-of-insurance
Thankfully, when my client set up their business, their insurance broker convinced them to take out a policy to cover them for an injury so all is right with the world. But it made me think about all my other clients and their insurance cover. We don’t usually get involved with business insurance discussions, but it is something I will be mentioning to our clients over the next few weeks to check, or at least be informed, before they make their insurance decisions. Stay safe!
