Life Insurance and Income Protection for Rope Access Workers
Income Protection for Rope Access Workers and Their Families
Your rope access duties, how you’re paid and any cover through a job or super shape your options. We can help you with applying for cover, reviewing any cover you hold and lodging a claim.
Financial Advice for Life Insurance and Income Protection
Who We Help
- Level 1 technicians starting out in rope access work
- Blasters and painters on industrial or building jobs
- Welders and other trades whose work is reached by rope
- Inspection and testing technicians on structures and plant
- Building maintenance and facade techs on repairs, sealing and cleaning
- Casual and campaign crews moving from one job to the next
- Remote and offshore rope crews working away from home
- Level 3s and supervisors overseeing work on ropes
- Small rope access business owners and sole operators
- Technicians changing employer or moving away from rope work, with cover from an earlier job
We Can Help You
- Set out what you do on ropes, trade by trade, for a cover application
- Describe inspection, blast and paint or facade work as it is on an insurance application
- Ask with you, from the insurers willing to consider your work, how a policy would count casual and campaign pay
- Check your savings against the wait before income protection could start paying
- Use a household budget to show what you’d want coming in, beside the share of earnings a policy could pay
- Explain how disability definitions treat a supervising role or ground based work while you’re off ropes
- Go through partial benefits in income protection if you’d return to ropes gradually
- List each fund’s insurance with you, along with the job recorded against your name
- Talk through cover if a move to Level 3, away from rope work or onto an ABN changes your work
- Lodge an insurance claim with you, with the insurer or fund making the decision
What we advise on
How Each Cover Works Around Rope Access Work
Income Protection
Suppose illness or injury stopped your rope access work for a while: what could help with the bills?
Part of your income can be paid after a waiting period, subject to the policy’s terms and exclusions and the insurer’s assessment.
We’ll go over income protection with you from the insurers willing to consider your work, around your duties and pay.
Income protection can pay a share of your pre-tax income if illness or injury stops you working, usually based on earnings in the 12 months before. Most policies offer a waiting period between 14 days and two years. An insurer usually looks at your job and duties when you apply, and this can affect whether cover is offered, the benefit periods available and the amount. Exclusions can apply, including to occupations or activities, and the insurer decides on any application.
What we look at with you on income protection:
- Being unable to do usual rope access tasks for a while, and how main duties are measured in some policies
- Working on the ground or supervising while you recover, where some policies make part payments below a set level of earnings
- Inspection or training experience, and the wider test some policies move to after a set time on claim
- Your monthly bills in a budget, to see what you’d want replaced, apart from the earnings-based amount a policy could pay
- Earnings in the 12 months before your illness or injury, the usual basis for a benefit, and how campaigns and gaps could feed into that figure
- Weeks between rope access campaigns, compared with the weekly minimum some policies set
- Casual campaigns with no paid sick leave, and what your bank balance could cover before a benefit could start
- Workers compensation payments after an injury on a rope job, if you qualify, and any reduction in a policy’s benefit
- A rope access campaign finishing, planned for with savings and a buffer, as this cover is generally for illness or injury rather than losing a job
Life Insurance
Is anyone relying on what your rope access work pays for?
Your beneficiaries can receive a lump sum towards debts, everyday costs and the plans you’ve made.
We can work out a life cover amount with you from your debts and anyone relying on your income.
Life cover can pay a lump sum to your beneficiaries if you pass away, and it may come with terminal illness cover. Moneysmart notes it can help if you have large debts or a mortgage, and insurers usually ask about your age and job when you apply. If you haven’t named a beneficiary, your estate or the super trustee may decide where the money goes.
What we weigh up with you on life cover:
- Repayments on a home loan, if you have one, and the household bills rope access pay helps meet
- Business debts, if you run a small rope access business, and whose name each loan is in
- A death benefit from super, who counts as eligible, and what happens if nobody is named
- Any life insurance sitting in funds from earlier campaigns, found by reading each statement side by side
- A TPD claim on packaged cover, and what your beneficiaries could later receive from the life portion
- Inspection, blasting or other rope work described with reasonable care, when a life application asks about your job
- Cover your partner holds, if you have a partner, and how much of the household’s money comes from rope work
- A rope access employer’s life cover, if yours provides some, and what could change when the job ends
TPD Insurance
What could support the plans you’ve made if you could never work again?
If you can’t work again, as the policy defines it, a TPD payment can go towards debts and plans.
We’ll take you through how TPD definitions read skills built on rope access work, from inspecting to training.
An own occupation definition looks at your usual job, and Moneysmart notes that cover is usually only available outside super. An any occupation definition looks at any job suited to your education, training or experience, and each fund can have its own wording. Some policies use everyday activities instead, and a TPD payment may reduce any life cover packaged with it.
What we compare with you on TPD:
- Own occupation wording for rope jobs, if offered, as that definition usually sits outside a super fund
- Inspection, supervising or training experience from rope jobs, and what an any occupation test may make of your skills
- How each fund defines TPD, for someone unable to do rope work who could manage other duties
- The occupation on each fund’s record, set beside the trade you do on ropes today
- Daily tasks tests in some policies, which ask about self-care rather than rope access work
- Debts left owing after a permanent end to rope work, and the TPD amount that could go towards those debts
- Income protection during a recovery beside TPD if you never return to work, and how each sits in your plan
- Leaving rope work for the ground or a desk, and which job a TPD definition may then treat as your usual one
Trauma Insurance
Would a lump sum help with treatment costs and time away from rope work after a serious diagnosis?
Trauma cover can pay a lump sum when a condition on its list meets the definition and isn’t excluded.
Together, we’ll go through what a trauma policy lists and how a lump sum could sit beside income protection.
A trauma policy lists the conditions it covers, with a definition for each, and Moneysmart notes that medical definitions can be different between insurers. New trauma cover can’t be held inside super, which has been the rule for policies written since 1 July 2014.
What we read with you in a trauma policy:
- Named conditions in a trauma policy, with the medical wording behind each one explained to you
- Earlier stage conditions on a policy’s list, where some wordings set out a smaller payment
- Rope access pay funding the premiums, as a new policy of this type isn’t available through super
- Home and work costs while you wait for income protection, if you hold that cover, and what a trauma payment could meet
- Casual campaign work with no sick pay, and which household costs a trauma payment might meet
- One sum insured shared by trauma and life cover, if a policy is set up that way, and what could then be left for beneficiaries
- Thinking about changing a trauma policy, if you have one, and what the existing terms give you first
- An accountant’s view on tax, if a trauma lump sum forms part of your plans
Cover in Super
If you joined a fund for an earlier campaign, does its cover suit the work you do now?
Checking each fund’s cover before you change anything can show what’s there and what it costs you.
We can list any cover in your super funds with you, and the job on record, before anything changes.
Default cover through super is for a set amount, so it might not match your needs. Default cover inside super can usually be issued without medical checks, though it may carry pre-existing condition rules set out in the fund’s PDS, and increasing it is usually underwritten like any other application. Premiums are deducted from your super balance.
What we check in each fund with you:
- Any funds opened for short campaigns, each read for the insurance sitting inside it
- A rope access job recorded incorrectly by a fund, which Moneysmart suggests raising with them
- Your next campaign with a new employer, where the super generally goes, and what happens to insurance in an older fund, if you have one
- Under 25 and new to a fund: insurance may need asking for, depending on your rope access job and that fund
- Pre-existing condition rules in a PDS, which matter if you’d be relying on a fund’s insurance through rope work
- The cost of insurance taken from your super balance, and whether that cover still matches what your household needs
- Rolling funds from past rope access employers into one, if you have several, once the insurance in each has been read
- A sum insured above a fund’s default, usually underwritten, if others rely on your rope access pay
Your Trade on Ropes
How clearly does an application show what you do once you’re on ropes?
Describing your duties as they are gives an insurer a clear view of your work.
We’ll write down what you do on ropes with you for any application, and how a policy or fund records it.
Safe Work Australia describes rope access as a system for gaining access to, and working at, a workface. What you do at that workface can vary a lot between jobs, so it’s worth writing down. Since 5 October 2021, the duty when applying for consumer life cover is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation, which means answering the questions asked with reasonable care.
What we write down with you about your work:
- Time on ropes against ground work, with the share of your week each one takes
- Inspection and testing, including the work you do and the share of your week, listed as part of your duties
- Blasting and painting on ropes, and how much of your week that work takes up
- Welding or mechanical work done on ropes, named plainly when an application asks
- Facade repair, sealing or cleaning and other building maintenance, set out as the work it is
- Remote or offshore locations, if your work goes there, stated as they are
- IRATA, SPRAT or other tickets you hold, listed as a fact of the job you do
- A change in your mix of work, and when it’s worth reading your description again
Casual Work, Campaigns and ABNs
Between one job and the next, what could change for any cover you hold?
Asking about cover before a job finishes can show what continues and what you may like to apply for.
We’ll talk you through what a move between casual work, campaigns and an ABN could mean for your cover.
Fair Work says casuals don’t get most types of paid leave. Any cover that comes through your employer may not continue once you leave, so it’s worth asking your employer or fund before your last day. If an ABN offer comes, Moneysmart suggests checking if moving to self-employment affects the insurance cover through your super, and an accountant or the ATO can confirm who pays your super.
What we look at with you before the change:
- Paid leave if you’re casual, and how long savings could last without paid sick leave
- Weeks between campaigns, planned from savings, as income protection is generally for illness or injury rather than losing a job
- Cover through a job, if you have some, which may not continue, so asked about before your last day
- Which income may count for income protection after a year of casual or campaign work, asked of each insurer
- Moving from wages to an ABN, and whether that affects insurance through your super, as Moneysmart suggests
- Whether a hirer has to pay your super on an ABN: mainly labour, no set result, work you can’t delegate
- A company, trust or partnership you run as the contracting party, where the hirer doesn’t have to pay that super
- Workers compensation if you’re hurt on a job: each scheme sets who qualifies, and the scheme can confirm
- Life and TPD amounts set against what you’d owe, including a loan for your own business, if you have one
When to Review Your Cover
As your rope access work and home life change, how well could your cover keep up, if you hold some?
Extra tickets, new duties or a change at home can each be a good reason to book a conversation.
We can go through what you hold, if anything, beside the rope access work you do and your life at home.
Rope access work can move from one trade to another, from casual campaigns to a permanent role, or from ropes to supervising. Default cover through super is for a set amount, so it might not match your needs. A change at work or home is a good reason to book a conversation, and we can read through a policy or fund statement with you. The insurer decides on any new application.
Situations worth raising with us in a conversation:
- A first rope access job, and the occupation your fund or a policy you hold has on record
- Adding inspection or another trade, and how that work could be set out on a fund or policy record
- Going for Level 3 or supervising, and how income protection and TPD definitions may read the new duties
- A move away from rope work, and how a policy or fund may then read your usual job
- Casual to permanent, or onto an ABN, and what each scheme’s rules on who qualifies for workers compensation could mean
- Last days with a rope access employer, and what to find out from that employer or your fund about cover
- Under 25 with a new fund, and asking if your rope access job means insurance starts without a request
- Moving house, a separation or a new baby, if one of those is your situation, and how your cover needs could change
Making a Claim
How could someone beside you help with the forms and follow-up of a claim?
Support with forms and follow-up can make a claim easier while the insurer or fund assesses it.
Together, we’ll lodge your claim and follow it up with the insurer or fund while it’s assessed.
Moneysmart says to speak first to whoever you bought the cover from, your fund, or your employer for cover through an employment arrangement. An insurer can ask about your work duties, including physical requirements, the hours you work each week and your pay records: payslips and tax returns, or financial statements if self-employed. The insurer, or the fund for cover in super, assesses the claim, and a complaint goes first to the insurer or fund, then to AFCA.
How we help with a claim:
- Where a rope access claim starts, worked out together from the cover documents you have
- A written account of your duties, physical requirements and weekly hours on rope access work
- Pay records for each rope access employer, or financial statements if self-employed, whichever you’re asked for
- Rope access claim paperwork from your doctor: Moneysmart lists reports and test results among the items requested
- An injury on a rope job with a separate workers compensation claim, if you have one, decided under that scheme’s rules
- Money from a scheme or another source during time off rope work, and the reduction a policy’s terms may apply
- Ground based work before a return to ropes, and what some policies’ partial wording means for your pay
- A decision on your rope access cover that seems wrong, with a complaint going to the insurer or fund, and after that AFCA
Health Conditions & Illnesses
Could a health condition change the cover an insurer offers you?
Our guides explain what insurers may ask about common conditions, and a health condition doesn’t necessarily rule out cover.
We can help you prepare an application when you have a health condition or a past illness.
Underwriting is how an insurer assesses an application and decides whether to offer cover, on what terms and at what price. Possible outcomes include standard terms, a higher premium, an exclusion, a request to apply again later, or a decline.
Guides by health condition:
- Cover with a health condition: where to start
- Autoimmune conditions
- Back or joint conditions
- Blood conditions
- Cancer history
- Diabetes
- Digestive conditions
- Eye or hearing conditions
- Heart conditions
- HIV or hepatitis
- Kidney conditions
- Mental health conditions
- Neurological conditions
- Respiratory or sleep conditions
- Weight, smoking or alcohol history
- Women’s health conditions
Your work and your cover
How Your Work Shapes Your Cover
What We’d Look At Together
- Work on ropes and on the ground: Insurers usually ask about your job when you apply. Two people with a rope access title can spend their weeks very differently, so your share of time on ropes and on the ground is part of describing your work accurately.
- Your trade on ropes: Blasting, painting, welding or facade repair on ropes are part of your duties if you do them, so the share of your week each one takes is worth setting out.
- Inspection and testing work: If you inspect or test, the kind of work and the share of your week it takes are worth setting out. A TPD any occupation definition may also take this experience into account.
- Remote and offshore locations: If your work takes you to remote or offshore sites, it helps to state where and how often when an application asks about your job.
- Casual pay and campaigns: Income protection usually works from your earnings in the 12 months before an illness or injury, and some policies only cover you if you work a minimum number of hours, so weeks between campaigns are worth raising.
- Supervising and training: A move into supervising, training or assessing can change how much of your week is on ropes. How a fund or policy records your job is worth reading again when your work changes.
- Your own ABN or business: Self-employed people don’t have paid sick leave, and an insurer can ask for financial statements at claim. Moneysmart suggests checking if moving from employee to self-employed affects the insurance cover through your super.
- Back on ground based work for a while: Some policies can pay a partial benefit if you’re working in a reduced capacity and earning below a set share of your earlier income. Workers compensation is separate, each scheme sets who qualifies, and other payments may reduce an income protection benefit.
This list isn’t complete, and nothing on it decides anything on its own. We start by learning about your situation, and any decision on cover is the insurer’s.
Your options
Why Work With a Financial Adviser for Your Personal Insurance?
| A Ryker financial adviser | Directly from an insurer | An online broker or comparison site | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of advice | Personal advice Personal adviceAdvice tailored to you. Like most financial advice, it’s given under an Australian financial services licence.Personal, not general. General advice is a recommendation or opinion that doesn’t consider your circumstances. Personal advice is tailored to your objectives, financial situation and needs.In your best interests. When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests.In writing. You’ll usually receive a Statement of Advice that explains the strategies and cover recommended to you, and why.On the public register. Financial advisers who give personal advice on life insurance, super and investments must be on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register. See our financial advisers on the register:Ray RegmiRicky (Rajiv) RegmiJack OinezaDean DesoukeyRyker’s financial advisers are authorised representatives of Synchron Advice Pty Ltd, AFSL 243313. | Usually general advice | Usually general advice |
| Advice that considers your health, family, work and goals | Yes, as part of your advice | Not with general advice | Not with general advice |
| Choice of insurers | The insurers willing to consider your work | That insurer’s policies only | A panel of insurers, side by side |
| Help preparing your application | Yes, alongside you | The insurer’s own process | Varies |
| Advice on holding cover inside or outside super | Part of your advice | Not with general advice | Not with general advice |
| Support if you need to claim | Yes, we’re in your corner | The insurer’s claims team | Varies |
| Cost of advice | No cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first. Choose: | No separate advice fee | No separate advice fee |
Type of advice
- Ryker financial adviser
- Personal advice Personal adviceAdvice tailored to you. Like most financial advice, it’s given under an Australian financial services licence.Personal, not general. General advice is a recommendation or opinion that doesn’t consider your circumstances. Personal advice is tailored to your objectives, financial situation and needs.In your best interests. When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests.In writing. You’ll usually receive a Statement of Advice that explains the strategies and cover recommended to you, and why.On the public register. Financial advisers who give personal advice on life insurance, super and investments must be on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register. See our financial advisers on the register:Ray RegmiRicky (Rajiv) RegmiJack OinezaDean DesoukeyRyker’s financial advisers are authorised representatives of Synchron Advice Pty Ltd, AFSL 243313.
- Direct from an insurer
- Usually general advice
- Online broker or comparison site
- Usually general advice
Advice that considers your health, family, work and goals
- Ryker financial adviser
- Yes, as part of your advice
- Direct from an insurer
- Not with general advice
- Online broker or comparison site
- Not with general advice
Choice of insurers
- Ryker financial adviser
- The insurers willing to consider your work
- Direct from an insurer
- That insurer’s policies only
- Online broker or comparison site
- A panel of insurers, side by side
Help preparing your application
- Ryker financial adviser
- Yes, alongside you
- Direct from an insurer
- The insurer’s own process
- Online broker or comparison site
- Varies
Advice on holding cover inside or outside super
- Ryker financial adviser
- Part of your advice
- Direct from an insurer
- Not with general advice
- Online broker or comparison site
- Not with general advice
Support if you need to claim
- Ryker financial adviser
- Yes, we’re in your corner
- Direct from an insurer
- The insurer’s claims team
- Online broker or comparison site
- Varies
Cost of advice
- Ryker financial adviser
- No cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first. Choose:
- Direct from an insurer
- No separate advice fee
- Online broker or comparison site
- No separate advice fee
Your Cover for Rope Access Work, Worked Through Together
Rope Access Duties Set Out
What you do on ropes and on the ground, described as it makes up your week on any application.
Trade and Inspection Work Described
Blasting, painting, welding, facade, inspection or testing work set out accurately before you apply.
Campaign Income Laid Out for an Insurer
Casual and campaign income and your records set out, with each insurer asked how it works out income.
A Household Budget for Time Off Work
What you’d want coming in, worked out from household spending, beside the share of earnings a policy could pay.
Disability Wording Read for Ground Based Work
How a policy treats ground based work you could still do, read with you before you apply.
Each Fund’s Cover Read
The insurance and job on record at each super fund, read through with you before anything changes.
Cover Looked at Before an ABN
Any cover you hold read with you before you take an ABN offer.
A Rope Access Claim Lodged With You
Your duties, weekly hours and pay records set out with you while the insurer or fund assesses the claim.
This has really changed our lives
Ray and his team has been incredible, they look after my entire family including my brother in law. Over the years he has helped us with investments, tax and other advice. This has really changed our lives.
Read moreDean Desoukey is changing lives!!
From the very beginning he was warm, patient, incredibly knowledgeable, and genuinely cared about helping us make the right decisions for our future. The positive impact they've had on our family financially and the peace of mind he's given us has been huge.
Read moreI felt heard, understood, and respected
I can't speak highly enough of the service I received from Dean Desoukey. Financial conversations can often feel overwhelming, but he created a space where I felt heard, understood, and respected. He took the time to really listen, explained things clearly, and never rushed me through decisions.
Read moreKnowledgeable, patient and caring
I cannot recommend Ray highly enough. He is an exceptional financial adviser: knowledgeable, patient and caring. From the very beginning, he took the time to truly understand my goals and helped me to create a clear structured financial plan. I never feel rushed or pressured.
Read moreThank you Ray for protecting me and my family
Ray has been my trusted financial adviser for over 12 years. He is highly knowledgeable and passionate about making sure his customers have the right insurance to secure them and their family. I was recently sick and Ray was there right away when needed most.
Read moreHe went above and beyond
I recently dealt with Ricky Regmi at Ryker Capital, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the service I received. Ricky was incredibly patient and supportive throughout the entire insurance process. He went above and beyond, coordinating with my accountant and doctor to ensure everything was in order.
Read moreIt never feels transactional
We've been working with Jack for the past two years, and it's been an incredibly positive experience. He takes the time to build genuine relationships and really gets to know his clients beyond just the numbers. It never feels transactional; it feels like he truly cares about our wellbeing.
Read moreImmensely professional and diligent
Ray has been immensely professional and diligent in my most recent SMSF restructure and insurance review. He not only tweaked it to make it work more for me and my future goals but recommended future strategies to help build my wealth. Cannot recommend him enough.
Read moreHolistic and Experienced Financial Advisers for Rope Access Workers
Rope access work takes training, skill and real care. Buildings, facades and industrial plants stay in good repair because of work like yours, and much of it is never seen from the ground. We begin by listening: how your work runs from one job to the next, what you care about and what you’d like more of. Then we can shape a plan with you that suits your income and your life outside work.
A good stretch of work can do more than pay this month’s bills. It could go towards a home, a family holiday, time off you’ve chosen to take or a rope access business of your own one day. If someone depends on your pay, they can be part of the plan too. Whatever matters most to you, we can review the plan with you each year through ongoing advice, with those goals in view.
If illness or injury kept you from your rope access work, income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period, subject to the policy’s definitions, exclusions and the insurer’s assessment. Personal cover can also include life, TPD and trauma cover, each with its own terms. We can advise on cover alone, without a full financial plan, explaining each one in plain language and comparing cover with you from the insurers willing to consider your work. The insurer decides on any application.
Every financial decision impacts the next
Your Financial Life Is Connected
Great advice starts with understanding the bigger picture. Every stage of life presents new opportunities and challenges, from buying property and changing careers to growing your family, planning for retirement and protecting what matters most. At Ryker, we help connect every piece of your financial world into one clear strategy.
Learn more about Financial Planning and Advice for Rope Access Workers
Your
Wealth
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
Frequently Asked Questions
Ryker’s financial advisers are licensed to give personal advice under Synchron Advice’s Australian financial services licence (AFSL 243313). We start with you: your rope access work, your family, work, income, assets and goals. Then we recommend the types and amounts of cover that suit your life.
Rope access work can mean different trades and locations, as an employee, a casual, a contractor or an owner. Each can affect how an insurer assesses an application and how a policy’s definitions read a claim, so your duties, hours and pay are what we look at.
With a financial adviser, you also have:
- Access to the insurers willing to consider your work, each with its own way of assessing an application
- Help preparing your application and answering the health questions with care
- Advice on whether to hold cover inside or outside super, and the trade-offs
- Annual reviews of your cover through ongoing advice, with your health, family and work in mind
- Someone in your corner if you ever need to claim
Going directly to an insurer can mean no separate advice fee, but you’ll only see that insurer’s policies, and you’ll generally receive general advice only, which doesn’t consider your personal circumstances.
Going through an online comparison site or broker, you may see more options side by side, but they also generally provide general advice only, which doesn’t consider your whole financial picture.
When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests, which we take personally. The insurer still decides whether to offer cover and on what terms.
We’re invested in your long-term success. What we do is personal, and we take it personally.
Your financial decisions connect, so we consider the parts of your financial life that are relevant to the advice you need:
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
This is how we help you make decisions today with your longer-term goals in view.
Everybody’s situation is different, so we listen first, understand what matters to you and explain your options clearly before we make a recommendation.
Insurers usually ask about your job when you apply, and a rope access title can cover many different jobs. It helps to write down the share of your week on each: inspection, blasting, painting, welding, facade work, supervising or time on the ground.
Since 5 October 2021, the duty when applying for consumer life cover is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation, which means answering the questions asked with reasonable care. Each insurer assesses applications in its own way. We can help you describe your work as it is, and the insurer decides on any application.
Moneysmart says income protection usually bases the benefit on your annual earnings in the 12 months before your illness or injury, so a year of campaigns and gaps can feed into that figure. Some policies only cover you if you work a minimum number of hours, and how each one works out your income is worth asking.
At claim, an insurer can ask for payslips and tax returns, or financial statements if you’re self-employed. We can raise these questions with you across the insurers willing to consider your work, and the insurer decides on any application.
It depends on the policy’s definitions. Some policies ask whether you can do the main duties of your usual occupation, and some move to a wider test after a set time. Some can pay a partial benefit if you’re working in a reduced capacity and earning below a set share of your earlier income.
At claim, an insurer can ask about your work duties, including physical requirements, the hours you work each week and your pay records. Any benefit is subject to the policy’s terms and exclusions and the insurer’s assessment. We can go through the wording with you before you apply, and the insurer decides on any application.
Workers compensation is separate from personal cover. It runs through a state, territory or Commonwealth scheme, and each scheme sets who qualifies, so working on contract doesn’t settle the answer either way. The scheme’s rules also set who decides a workers compensation claim.
Income protection, if you hold it, has its own terms, and scheme payments may reduce a benefit. We can read your cover with you and plan your finances around where you stand, and the insurer decides on any claim on your policy.
Begin with the wording. Cover you already hold was issued on its own terms, and the policy wording sets when they can change, so it’s worth reading before you change or replace it. For cover in super, Moneysmart suggests asking what happens to the cover if you change jobs.
A TPD any occupation definition looks at any job suited to your education, training or experience, so supervising or inspecting skills may come into it. A new application would set out your new duties. We can work through this with you, and the insurer decides on any application.
Starting rope work for the first time, adding inspection or a trade, going for Level 3 or moving onto an ABN can each be a good reason to book a conversation.
A new loan, a baby or a separation can be too, if that’s where you are. We can read a fund statement or policy with you beside the work you do now, and go through new cover you could apply for. The insurer decides on any application.
Our ongoing advice clients have an annual review with us.
A quick online quote can give you a figure based on a few answers. It may not show how rope access work splits between trades and ground work, how a year of campaigns and gaps affects what income protection counts, or what sits in each super fund.
Personal advice looks at those details first. From there, we go through options with you from the insurers willing to consider your work, and the insurer decides on any application.
Your accountant and financial adviser bring different expertise to the same decisions. Your accountant can advise on tax reporting, structures and consequences; we help you plan how cashflow, debt, super, investments and protection work towards your goals. We can coordinate before important decisions.
What an accountant does
- Prepares and lodges tax returns, BAS and financial statements
- Advises on tax structures such as companies, trusts and partnerships
- Manages bookkeeping, payroll and ATO compliance
- Provides tax advice on the consequences of a transaction
What a financial adviser does
- Sets a long term strategy across retirement, investing and cash flow
- Builds wealth from early in a working life, starting with cash flow, a first home and super
- Recommends specific super funds, investments and personal insurance
- Operates under an Australian Financial Services Licence, which is required to give personal advice on financial products
- Handles retirement planning, Centrelink and aged care strategy, and estate planning considerations
Professional roles and authorisations matter. We provide financial advice within our authorisations and work with your accountant for specialist tax advice and lodgements.
Where they work together
- Tax position. Your accountant confirms your marginal rate, deductions and carried forward losses, which shapes decisions on super contributions, investment structures and the timing of asset sales.
- Business and entity structures. Your accountant advises on the structure itself and your financial adviser works within it for investments, insurance and succession planning.
- Cash flow. Your accountant’s figures can help us understand what’s available for debt repayment, protection and longer-term goals.
- Before key decisions. We can coordinate with your accountant on contributions, asset sales and other material choices in time to consider relevant tax consequences.
We’re a national service, so you can meet with us by phone or video from anywhere in Australia. We also have offices in three cities:
- Sydney: offices in Sydney CBD, Parramatta, Seven Hills, Ingleburn and Narellan, servicing areas including the City of Sydney, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, North Shore, Northern Beaches, Sutherland Shire, Blacktown, Liverpool, Campbelltown and all surrounding suburbs.
- Melbourne: our St Kilda Road office, servicing areas including the City of Melbourne, Port Phillip, Boroondara, Monash, Casey, Wyndham and all surrounding suburbs.
- Brisbane: our Eagle Street office, servicing areas including Brisbane City, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Logan, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and all surrounding suburbs.
Yes. New technicians, campaign crews and business owners can all start here, with what you do on ropes today.
There’s no cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first.
A good starting point is your pay records, a recent tax return, each super statement, policy documents if you have some and a rough split of your week between trades and ground work.
Reviews
Testimonials from Our Clients
Client Success Stories
A Property Sale Became a Full PlanEstimated long term financial benefitApprox $448,000
A Plan to Keep the Family HomeLife cover established$1.2 Million
Cover in Place and Fees LoweredImmediate value$1,055 a year
Super Fees More than HalvedProjected retirement uplift$416k
Income Covered for a New MortgageImmediate value$975 a year
A 13-Year Mortgage Paydown PlanPlanned mortgage paydown13 years
A First Home and Family CoveredImmediate value$1,346 a year
Age Pension Kept After an InheritanceProjected uplift at 90More than $642,000
Grow & Protect Your Wealth Today
Whatever’s on your mind, we’re here to help. You’ll speak with an authorised financial adviser who’ll listen first and get to know what matters to you.
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