Life Insurance and Income Protection for Tow Truck Drivers and Traffic Crews
Income Protection for Tow Truck Drivers and Traffic Crews and Their Families
Your towing, salvage or incident duties, how you’re paid and any loans you have all come into the cover you choose. We can help you put your duties into words, apply for cover and lodge a claim with you.
Financial Advice for Life Insurance and Income Protection
Who We Help
- Employed tow drivers at accident and trade towing businesses
- Call-out roster drivers recalled outside normal hours
- Tilt tray operators moving broken-down and sold vehicles
- Heavy recovery drivers winching trucks, buses and machinery
- Tow truck assistants working beside a driver
- Owner-operators running one tow truck
- Towing company owners with a fleet and staff
- Road agency response crews clearing and managing incidents
- Motorway crews clearing lanes and setting up diversions
- Company drivers buying a truck of their own, with any cover from an earlier job
We Can Help You
- Describe your accident towing, trade, tilt tray, salvage or incident duties accurately on a cover application
- Find out with each insurer how any call-back pay or tow truck driver’s allowance counts for income protection
- Compare income protection waiting periods against how long a towing employer’s sick leave or your savings would last
- Explain each income protection policy’s definition of disability, and how it relates to the towing or incident work you do
- Check each income protection policy you compare for how its disability definition treats psychological injury following a serious incident on a tow or crew job
- Look at income protection with you before you leave wages for a tow truck of your own
- Work out how much life and total and permanent disability (TPD) cover a truck loan, home loan or family costs could call for
- Go over the insurance in each super fund you hold, including whether it lists you as a towing or crew worker
- Talk through cover when you take on your own truck, a towing business or an incident crew job
- Lodge a claim with you and handle the follow-up, so the insurer or fund has your towing or crew records
What we advise on
How Each Cover Works Around Towing and Incident Work
Income Protection
With illness or injury keeping you from towing or incident work for a while, what would help at home?
Income protection can pay part of your income once a waiting period ends, under the policy’s terms and the insurer’s assessment.
Together, we’ll look for income protection with you from the insurers willing to consider your work.
Moneysmart says income protection usually bases the benefit on your annual earnings in the 12 months prior to your illness or injury. An insurer usually looks at your job and duties when you apply, and this can affect whether cover is offered, the benefit periods (how long a benefit can be paid for) and the amount. Exclusions can apply, including to occupations or activities. The insurer decides.
What we look at with you on income protection:
- Quieter months, if your pay varies, and how they could lower earnings counted in the 12 months before an illness or injury
- Call-back pay and a tow truck driver’s allowance, if you receive them, and asking each insurer whether it counts them
- A minimum number of weekly hours in some policies, compared with the hours your towing or incident work usually runs to
- Sick leave from a towing business or road agency, or savings of your own, used to help pick a waiting period
- Each policy’s definition of disability, and the conditions to meet before a claim, explained for your towing or incident work
- Workers compensation as a separate claim after a towing job: each scheme sets who qualifies, and its payments may lower a benefit
- A physical or psychological injury claim after a serious incident, measured against the disability definition, with clauses that can limit or exclude mental health conditions
- Back on lighter towing work for a while and earning less, where some policies pay a partial benefit for reduced capacity
Life Insurance
Thinking of the people at home, what would you want them to have if you weren’t here?
Life cover can pay a lump sum if you die, and some policies also include terminal illness cover.
We’ll add up with you what a life cover amount would need to meet, from debts to the people relying on you.
Moneysmart says it’s important to nominate who you want the money to go to if you die (your beneficiaries). For cover outside super, that’s the beneficiaries you nominate or your estate. For cover in super, the trustee decides who receives it unless a valid binding nomination applies. Insurers usually ask your age and job when you apply.
What we work through with you on life cover:
- A tilt tray or wrecker loan, if you have one, counted with debts at home in the amount your family would need
- Everyday bills and housing costs your towing or incident pay covers, added up as part of the amount
- Naming beneficiaries for life cover you hold in your own name, with your estate receiving the payment if nobody is named
- Cover held in super, if you have some, where the trustee decides who is paid unless a valid binding nomination is in place
- A life and TPD package, where a TPD claim paid first may reduce what’s left for the people at home
- Your towing, salvage or incident duties, described accurately when a life insurer asks about your job
- A partner’s income, if your partner also earns, and how much life cover each of you would want the other to receive
- Super accounts from earlier jobs, searched for life cover you may not know you have, before you apply for more
TPD Insurance
For the years ahead, if you could never work again, what would a lump sum need to cover?
TPD cover can pay a lump sum if you meet the policy’s definition, and each insurer has its own.
We’ll go over each TPD definition with you, beside the skills you’ve built in towing or incident work.
Moneysmart describes own occupation cover as being unable to work again in the job you were working in before your disability, and says it’s usually only available outside super. Any occupation cover means being unable to ever work again in any job suited to your education, training or experience. Whether a policy offers own occupation cover for your work is for the insurer, which also assesses each claim.
What we compare with you on TPD:
- Own occupation cover for a tow truck driver or incident crew member, if a policy offers it, usually only available outside super
- Coordinating jobs, quoting or training drivers, and how an any occupation definition might count those skills
- TPD in a fund from a towing or road agency job, if the fund provides it, before you cancel or replace it
- A move between towing and an incident crew, and which of the two a TPD definition would treat as your usual job
- Your fund’s record of your job after a move into towing or onto an incident crew, if it no longer matches
- Activities of daily living tests in some definitions, which look at basic self-care tasks rather than towing or crew work
- A truck loan, if you have one, and whether a TPD lump sum could clear the loan and leave enough for home
- Income protection for months off towing or incident work, beside a TPD lump sum, so the two are chosen together
Trauma Insurance
Treatment for a serious illness can mean weeks off work: what would help with the costs?
Trauma cover can pay a lump sum if a listed condition meets the definition in the policy and isn’t excluded.
We’ll explain what a trauma policy lists with you, and where a lump sum sits beside income protection.
A trauma policy lists the conditions it covers, and each has its own definition, which can differ between insurers. New trauma cover can’t be held inside super, which has been the rule for policies written since 1 July 2014. The insurer assesses any claim against its own policy wording.
What we explain with you in a trauma policy:
- The conditions a trauma policy lists and the medical definition behind each one, compared across policies with you
- Partial payments some policies make for an early-stage or less severe condition, and what remains afterwards
- Trauma premiums paid from your towing or crew pay, since new trauma policies can’t sit inside super
- Rent or loan repayments a trauma payment could cover while you wait for income protection to start, if you hold it
- Trauma cover for an owner-operator, kept separate from any insurance on a truck or yard
- A trauma and life combination on one policy, where paying the trauma benefit may lower the life amount
- A trauma policy taken out before you started towing, if you hold one, and how its wording compares with current terms
- An accountant’s view on tax for trauma cover, from the premium you pay to a lump sum if one is paid
Cover in Super
Does each super fund you hold still suit the towing or incident work you do now?
Knowing the cover in each fund and its cost can show what’s worth keeping before you change anything.
We’ll list the cover in each fund with you and check it before anything changes.
The ATO says you can usually choose your super fund, but not always: for example, you may not be eligible if you’re a federal or state public sector employee. Default cover through super is for a set amount, so it might not match your needs. A higher amount is usually underwritten, which means you’ll usually need to answer questions and may need medical checks. Premiums come out of your super balance.
What we check in each fund with you:
- Fund choice on a road agency’s incident crew, where you may not be eligible to choose, confirmed by your employer or fund
- A fund’s default life and TPD amounts, if it provides them, beside your debts and what the people at home would need
- A fund listing you under an old job instead of towing or incident work, which Moneysmart says to raise with the fund
- New members under 25: insurance isn’t automatic unless they ask, or work in a dangerous job and the fund gives automatic cover
- A new towing or crew employer, which generally pays into the fund you already have unless you pick a different one
- Staying with the same fund as you change jobs, where insurance there will usually stay with that fund
- What any cover in super costs each year, paid from your balance, which leaves less to grow for retirement
- Rolling several funds into one, but only after checking which insurance you may lose from each account
Towing, Salvage and Incident Duties
Would a clear picture of your towing or incident duties help your cover match the work you do?
Describing a usual week as it is gives an insurer an accurate picture of your work.
Together, we’ll describe your duties for any application, and check how your fund records them.
Jobs and Skills Australia lists tasks for tow truck drivers such as travelling to the scene of an accident, winching vehicles onto a tilt-deck truck, and winching and heavy salvage. One state road agency says its emergency response crews provide clean up and recovery services for incident sites, as well as traffic control and diversions. Since 5 October 2021, the duty when applying for consumer life cover is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation.
What we describe with you about your work:
- The share of a usual week spent on accident towing, if your work includes accident jobs
- Breakdown and trade towing, such as moving sold, broken-down or illegally parked vehicles, described the way you do the work
- Loading and winching vehicles onto a tilt tray, which Jobs and Skills Australia lists among tow truck drivers’ tasks
- Heavy salvage and winching, if your work includes it, with the size of vehicles you recover
- Setting up traffic control and diversions at an incident, if your crew’s role includes that work
- Clean up and recovery at incident sites, if your crew handles that work, described with your usual weekly hours
- Maintaining equipment, keeping records and any work in a holding yard, counted as well as time on the road
- A change in the mix, such as more heavy salvage or more time coordinating jobs, and how you’d describe the new work
Your Own Truck, Licence or Towing Business
Moving from wages to your own truck or towing business: what could change for the cover you hold or need?
Before your last day on wages, a look at your cover can show what stays and what to apply for.
Together, we’ll talk through cover with you before you leave wages, buy a truck or take on drivers.
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. A business may have to pay your super if more than half the dollar value of the contract is for your labour, payment isn’t dependent on achieving a specified result and the work can’t be delegated, but not under a contract with your own company, trust or partnership. An accountant or the ATO can confirm.
What we look at with you before the change:
- Any cover through work or super, asked about before your last day so you know what may not continue
- Savings to fall back on if you’re self-employed, as Moneysmart notes you won’t have paid holidays or sick leave
- Whether a company you tow for must pay your super: mainly for labour, not a result, and work that can’t be delegated
- Towing through a company, trust or partnership you own, which means the business you work for doesn’t have to pay your super
- A truck and gear in the contract price, where the ATO counts equipment and other non-labour items separately from labour
- Financial statements kept up to date if you’re self-employed, since Moneysmart lists them among claim documents
- A first year of invoices, where earnings may look different from wages when an insurer works out income
- Taking on drivers, and keeping cover for you personally separate from insurance the business holds
When to Review Your Cover
Does your cover still fit the work you do now and the life you have at home?
Fresh duties, a new truck or a change at home can be a good reason to look at your cover again.
Together, we’ll go through any cover you hold, beside the work you do now and your life at home.
Towing and incident work can move from wages to your own truck, from breakdown work to accident towing, or from towing to an incident crew. 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 the insurer decides on any new application.
Changes worth raising with us in a conversation:
- A first tow truck certificate or accreditation, and how your new duties would be described for cover
- Joining an after-hours call-out roster, and whether call-back pay changes the income you’d want protected
- Buying your own tow truck, and how much life and TPD cover any new loan could call for
- Taking out your own operator licence and hiring drivers, and keeping personal and business cover apart
- A move to an incident crew job, and whether you can choose the fund your new employer pays into
- Your last weeks with a towing business, and which cover through that job may not continue once you leave
- Joining a fund under 25: cover won’t start automatically unless you ask, or work in a dangerous job the fund covers automatically
- Buying a home, having a baby or separating, if one applies, and the cover amount the people at home would then want
Making a Claim
Who would help you through the forms, reports and follow-up if you needed to claim?
Having us beside you for the paperwork can make a claim easier while the insurer or fund assesses it.
Together, we’ll lodge a claim with you and follow up each step while the insurer or fund assesses it.
Moneysmart says you may have to provide details of your work duties, including physical requirements, and the number of hours you work each week, plus payslips and tax returns, or financial statements if you are self employed. The insurer, or the fund for cover in super, assesses the claim. A complaint goes first to the insurer or fund, then to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
How we help with a claim:
- Whether the claim goes to an insurer, a fund or a cover provider through work, worked out with you first
- Your towing or incident duties, physical requirements and weekly hours, described as your work stood before you stopped
- Pay records from a towing business or road agency, or financial statements if you are self employed, collected for the insurer
- Medical reports the insurer asks for on a towing or crew claim, gathered with you
- Workers compensation, claimed separately through its scheme, which sets who qualifies and decides the claim
- Scheme payments, sick leave or other money while you can’t tow or work at incidents, which may reduce a benefit
- Easing back into towing or crew work on fewer hours, and partial payments if the policy’s terms allow them
- Challenging a claim decision on your towing or crew cover: a complaint to the insurer or fund comes first, AFCA after
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
- Towing, salvage or incident work: Insurers usually ask about your job when you apply. Accident towing, trade towing, heavy salvage and incident response each involve different tasks, so describing your usual week accurately matters.
- After-hours call-outs: If you take call-outs, it’s worth describing them accurately when you apply. Income protection usually works from your earnings in the 12 months before an illness or injury, so it’s worth asking each insurer how it counts call-back pay.
- Wages, allowances or your own invoices: When you claim, an insurer can ask for payslips and tax returns, or financial statements if you are self employed. Records kept up to date through the year make that easier.
- Any certificate, accreditation or licence: In some states, driving a tow truck needs a certificate or accreditation, and running a towing business needs its own licence. Where your work needs one, it can be part of describing your job when you apply.
- Your own tow truck and any loan: If you take out a truck loan, it adds to what you’d owe, which is worth counting when you work out life and TPD amounts. A broker can arrange the loan itself.
- A towing business with drivers or a yard: Cover for you and your household is separate from cover for the business. A general insurance broker can advise on the truck, the yard and public liability.
- A road agency or private employer: If you have no existing super fund and haven’t chosen one, your employer can pay your super into a default fund it chooses. The ATO says you can usually choose your fund, but not always. Moneysmart notes default cover through super is for a set amount.
- A serious incident at work: A workers compensation claim and a claim on any cover of your own are separate. Each scheme sets who qualifies and its own rules for psychological injury, and its payments may reduce income protection payments. If you hold income protection or TPD, the policy’s terms can limit or exclude mental health conditions.
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. Each insurer can look at towing and incident work in its own way, so contact us to learn more about how we could look for a cover solution with you.
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 Towing and Traffic Crew Work, Worked Through Together
Towing and Incident Duties Described
Your accident, trade, salvage or incident work described accurately with you for an application.
Insurers Asked How They Count Call-Back Pay
Each insurer asked with you how it works out income if call-back pay varies.
Waiting Periods Matched to Leave and Savings
A waiting period, the time before payments can start, chosen with you around any sick leave and savings.
Cover Looked at Before Your Own Truck
Cover you hold, if any, talked through with you before you leave wages or buy a truck.
Life and TPD Amounts Worked Out
Amounts worked out with you from what you owe, such as a truck loan, and the people relying on you.
The Cover in Your Fund Explained
Default cover in your fund, if it has some, and the occupation it records, explained with you before anything changes.
TPD Definitions Explained for Towing Skills
Own and any occupation definitions explained with you beside the skills you’ve built in towing or incident work.
A Towing Claim Lodged With You
Your duties, hours and records brought together with you, and each step followed up as the claim is assessed.
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 Tow Truck Drivers and Traffic Crews
Towing and incident work takes skill, a steady hand and calm with people on a hard day, often late at night or before sunrise. Each time a road is cleared and traffic moves again, people get where they need to be. We start by listening: the work you do, the goals you’re working towards and who you’d like to look after. Then we’ll build a plan with you around the way you’re paid and the life you want away from the job.
Steady planning can turn good weeks into something lasting at home. That might be a deposit, a family holiday, a truck of your own or more choice in the years ahead. Anyone who relies on your income can be part of the plan from the start, and their needs can shape it as much as yours. Each year we can review the plan with you, so it keeps pace with your work, your household and the goals you’ve set.
If illness or injury kept you from towing or traffic incident 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 Tow Truck Drivers and Traffic Crews
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 towing or traffic incident work, your family, work, income, assets and goals. Then we recommend the types and amounts of cover that suit your life.
Towing and traffic incident work can mean accident or trade towing, salvage or incident response, on wages, call-backs or invoices, for a towing business, a road agency or motorway operator. Each can affect how an insurer assesses an application and how a policy’s definitions apply to 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.
Moneysmart says income protection usually bases the benefit on your annual earnings in the 12 months prior to your illness or injury. If call-backs vary, those 12 months can include busy and quiet stretches.
How each policy counts call-back pay and allowances depends on its terms, so it’s worth asking each insurer before you compare. Payslips and tax returns show what you earned. Together, we can put those questions to the insurers willing to consider your work, and the insurer decides on any application.
Insurers usually ask about your job when you apply, and your duties are part of that. Accident towing, breakdown or trade work, heavy salvage and work at incident sites can make up very different weeks, so it helps to describe the share of your time on each as it is.
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 an application in its own way. We can help you describe your work accurately, and the insurer decides.
Start with cover through work, if you have it. 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. For cover in super, Moneysmart suggests asking what happens to the cover if you change jobs.
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. If you’re self-employed after the move, an insurer can ask for financial statements when you claim. We can go through this with you, and the insurer decides on any application.
Workers compensation and your own cover are separate things. Workers compensation runs through a state, territory or Commonwealth scheme, and each scheme sets who qualifies. Some schemes treat some owner-drivers as workers, so owning your truck doesn’t give a yes or no on its own, and the scheme decides any claim.
Income protection, if you hold it, can pay under its own terms, and scheme payments may reduce a benefit. We can plan your finances with you around both, and the insurer decides on any claim on your policy.
Income protection and TPD look at whether an illness or injury, physical or psychological, stops you working as the policy defines it. Each policy’s terms shape how a claim is assessed and can limit or exclude mental health conditions.
Workers compensation is a different test. Each scheme sets who qualifies, including whether an owner-operator counts as a worker, and its own rules for psychological injury.
Savings or any sick leave can help until the waiting period ends on any income protection you hold. We can help you understand how cover and its conditions treat a mental health condition linked to a serious incident at work.
Free, confidential support is available from Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 and Lifeline on 13 11 14.
The ATO says you can usually choose your super fund, but you may not be eligible if, for example, you’re a federal or state public sector employee or your super is paid under a state award or registered agreement. Your employer or fund can confirm.
Default cover through super, where your fund provides it, is for a set amount, so it might not match your needs. If your fund has your job recorded incorrectly, Moneysmart suggests contacting them. Personal cover can also be held outside super, on its own terms. We can look at both with you.
Moneysmart describes own occupation, any occupation and activities of daily living definitions. Own occupation means you’re unable to work again in the job you were working in before your disability, and it’s usually only available outside super. Any occupation means you’re unable to ever work again in any job suited to your education, training or experience.
Whether a policy offers own occupation cover for your work is up to the insurer. Skills such as coordinating jobs, quoting or training drivers may come into an any occupation test. The insurer assesses any claim, and we can go over each definition with you.
Joining an after-hours roster, buying your own tow truck, taking out an operator licence and hiring drivers, or moving to an incident crew job can each change your pay, your debts and what you’d want from cover. So can a new home, a baby or a separation.
We can look at any cover you hold with you and compare options, and the insurer decides on each application. Our ongoing advice clients have an annual review with us.
An online form can show a price quickly from the questions it asks. It may not show how call-back pay comes into income protection, how heavy salvage or incident work should be described, or how the cover in your super sits beside a new policy.
With personal advice, we start from your duties, how you’re paid and what your household would want, then compare cover with you from the insurers willing to consider your work. Book an initial conversation to talk through how that could look for you. 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. A new tow truck driver, an owner-operator or a long-serving incident crew member can all start here, with the work you do now.
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. It helps to bring recent payslips or tax returns, a statement from each super fund and any insurance papers you hold, and we’ll choose a sensible next step together.
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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