That Home Loan Hub
Welcome to That Home Loan Hub, your ultimate guide to mastering the world of home loans and property. I'm Zebunisso Alimova, here to simplify the complexities of real estate and provide you with expert insights and the latest trends.
Whether you're a first-time homebuyer, an experienced investor, or simply curious about the property market, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we unlock the secrets to property success and help you make informed decisions. Let's dive into the world of property together!
That Home Loan Hub
The Parent Visa Puzzle: Finding Insurance Solutions for Families
Bringing parents to New Zealand just got more complicated. The government's new extended parent visa offers families the chance to reunite for up to five years (extendable to ten), but there's a major roadblock many weren't expecting: mandatory health insurance.
This episode unpacks the "chicken and egg" dilemma facing families across New Zealand. Parents need comprehensive health insurance to get their visa approved, but most New Zealand insurers require applicants to be physically present in the country before issuing policies. Our resident insurance advisor Rebecca explains why this requirement exists, what coverage is needed (including emergency care, repatriation, and crucial cancer coverage), and the current workarounds available to families caught in this bureaucratic puzzle.
We explore the eye-watering costs of global health insurance options (potentially reaching NZ$40,000 annually) and why they're so expensive. For immigrant families already juggling mortgages, childcare, and other expenses, this represents a significant financial hurdle. The conversation delves into the cultural dimensions of family care within immigrant communities, where grandparents often provide invaluable childcare support while parents work multiple jobs to establish themselves.
Though New Zealand insurance companies are scrambling to develop appropriate products, none have concrete offerings yet. If you're planning to bring parents to New Zealand or are caught in this situation, reach out to us. While immediate solutions may be limited, we can guide you through available options and help secure appropriate coverage when it becomes available. Don't navigate this complex intersection of immigration, healthcare, and family reunification alone – let our expertise light the way forward.
Buy your first home in NZ Weekly Webinars
You thought it's not possible or the dream is too far away? Come to my webinar and I will show you, you are much closer to your dream, than you think you are!
Join Here - https://bit.ly/4m9SL72
Hello and welcome back to that Home Loan Hub. Today I'm joined by our resident insurance advisor. Hello, Rebecca. Hi. Good to have you back. Thanks. Good to be here. It's been a while.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it has been. Conference and other things. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you've been busy. You've been busy protecting people.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Because listeners, you are amazing. You are listening to us and then you're reaching out and you're like, hey, we need our insurances reviewed. So obviously we are striking a court here, which is cool. So what are we talking about today?
SPEAKER_00:So we've had a few inquiries about cover for the extended parent visa that's going on at the moment. Wow, hot topic, right? Yeah, absolutely. So for those who don't know what it is, um, a new visa's been introduced that'll give you five years for your parents to come over. Wow. Um, and it can be increased to 10. So they can apply for it up to 10 years once they've been here for a while. But there's requirements other than having to have a sponsor, which is usually the children that are here. But on top of that, you need to have health insurance.
SPEAKER_01:Because obviously they don't want to put a strand on New Zealand health system and pay for the parents.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So the thing there is at the moment a lot of New Zealand companies, they're looking at doing it, but they haven't done it yet. So they haven't created a policy that will work at the moment in New Zealand. If you apply for any type of personal risk insurance, you have to actually be in New Zealand to apply for it. Uh-huh. So they can't get the cover before they come here, but they need it before they can get the visa. So it sounds like a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Absolutely. So a couple of insurers are looking into doing it, but they haven't confirmed when. Um, so there are a couple of workarounds at the moment. They can look in the country the parents are from to try and get cover for now. Uh they have to get a year's worth to start with. But then once they're here, after that year is up, we can look at moving them to a New Zealand policy because when it comes to claims, it's going to be an interesting thing if they're covered overseas.
SPEAKER_01:Trying to get money from overseas. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And how quickly they'll process the claims. And we're not going to be um the advisors on those policies. So we're not going to be able to get the information and help them with the claims.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So for those that are listening, that are probably in New Zealand, but actually, funny enough, we do have a lot of people listening to us from overseas. Um, and if you are planning to bring your parents here, you have to have this visa. Um, well, visa insurance. And then if you have the insurance issued in your own home countries, you've got to make sure you're getting a proper coverage and you know who to contact and where because we won't be able to help you with it. Absolutely. But once you're in New Zealand, we will try to help you with the new cover. And hopefully insurance companies are. I think they're all scrambling. They're scrambling together at the moment, trying to find the best solution.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think as well, they're all waiting for one to do it. So then they can jump on board with a similar structure. Yeah. But they're all waiting. So one of them's, you know, eventually. I think there are two at the moment that are seriously looking at it. Um, but again, the visa doesn't open until the the end of this month. So they'll probably see what the uptake is and go from there.
SPEAKER_01:How is that different to like a travel insurance? Because you know, normally people can get a travel insurance and come to New Zealand with that.
SPEAKER_00:So the big thing is the extended amount of time, so five years for the visa. But also the levels within the cover. So there needs to be like a repatriation, there needs to be emergency care, there needs to be a certain amount of cancer cover. The cancer cover is a big one. The travel insurance, because a lot of the time they assume, you know, you'll be going back to your country if you're diagnosed with cancer here, if you're traveling, they'll assume you're gonna be going home. Um, but if they're gonna be here five, ten years and their kids are here and they get something serious, yeah, you know they're gonna need that cancer care.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Wow. So that's been a very hot topic at the moment, right?
SPEAKER_00:Across a lot of people questioning it.
SPEAKER_01:So Yeah. Okay. So what's your take on this? Do you think there is a solution to that?
SPEAKER_00:Not at the moment, unfortunately. Um, there are some global health covers that are available with uh Cygna and AXA and things like that that do have some sort of cover. And because they are a global one, they are on the more expensive side though, because of that, because it's a global healthcare, they're covering like all of the countries.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. How expensive are we talking about?
SPEAKER_00:Uh I think someone did a quote and it was gonna be close to£20,000 a year.£20,000 a year.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm. Whoa. So that's like almost 40 grand a year New Zealand dollars. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:And if you think about it, because it is the older generation that are being brought over, so health insurance obviously is more expensive for them anyway, but nowhere near that for normal health insurance, right? So it's trying to find a product that's meets those requirements that aren't gonna like no one 40,000 a year? Who can afford that really?
SPEAKER_01:So that begs the question for me, and I'll probably sound arrogant, maybe, but like, did the government think about that when they came up with their policy?
SPEAKER_00:I think they thought that insurance companies would be more onto it. Not to sound, you know, like I think they thought if if there was the market for it, that New Zealand insurance companies would try to figure out a way to work around it. I don't know how much they looked into that side of things, like and requirements for insurance companies of having to be in the country to apply.
SPEAKER_01:Because it does expensive, like if you think about it, you know, just a normal surgery, a hip surgery, you know, could be$20,000 to$50,000, right? And depends on severity. Uh if we're talking about ear surgeries and things like that, and as you get older, you tend to have more issues.
SPEAKER_00:So I mean it's worth having the cover for sure, because even if the premiums are quite high, if you have something really bad, it easily gets it's easily gonna pay for itself, right? And the cancer one. I was about to say, and we're not even talking about cancer. Yeah, like that alone, you know, if you got diagnosed with that, that alone, like even if you were paying the 40,000 a year in one year, you'd more than make up that money for with all the chemo, pharmac, non-pharmac, whatever the situation is. But it's finding that level of money, especially if the these parents are coming over, obviously then retired. Um, the sponsors here are their family, but you know, if their families are if it's a young family, they've got kids, they've got a mortgage. They'll have to work through jobs. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well that's why the parents are coming to look after the kids.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, free up the time.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, for the babysitters. Exactly, exactly. So if the the parents are coming to look after the grandkids, uh frees up the children of the parents to to go and work through free three jobs and help out. But that's what the immigrant community is all about, right? We usually look after our parents in the family. Um, I'm very fortunate that my mother managed to get her residency on time 10 years ago when we could still do the family parent sponsor visas, etc. Yeah. But um, yes, like she doesn't have insurance. She used to, but it used to be so expensive.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it is crazy expensive. Um, not as expensive as the global one, luckily, but wow. That you just blew my mind. Yeah, and it is, of course, like I mean, it is an age thing, and you can opt out. It's interesting with the health, the global health, if you opt out of the US in particular, it brings the price down. Okay, so just don't go to US. Yeah, so just opt out of that if you're applying and don't go there. Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I guess, yeah, they their system is completely shambles. Yeah, so they know that it's gonna cost a lot of money for anyone if they go there and they have a major issue.
SPEAKER_01:So Okay, no, that's awesome. Uh anything else to add before we wrap up?
SPEAKER_00:Not really. I mean, look, even if we can't help people now, we can still answer the questions if they're trying to get the global cover or what the situation is. And then in a year's time we can get them New Zealand cover. But in the meantime, the insurance companies will come out with something. So still get in touch, you know, like we'll be able to figure something out.
SPEAKER_01:No, that's amazing. Thank you so much, Rebecca. And uh for those that have missed the episode and want a quick recap, we talked about parents coming to New Zealand on a parent sponsored, child parent sponsored visa. And as part of that, you may need some, well, you will need insurance and um and reach out to us to learn more. Thank you so much. See ya.
