LI/IP/TPD/trauma insurance. Do it yourself?

I’ve recently being doing a lot more due diligence regarding my investments, retirement planning, insurance etc. I came to realise that my investments were all high fee funds (along with a margin loan) that my financial planner would have been making good money from but they have been performing significantly worse than their related index. I therefore took over all my investments and killed the margin loan and am doing it myself through vanguard in low cost diversified ETF’s.

I have now also started asking a lot more questions about my insurance. After asking a lot of questions and getting some similar insurance quotes myself for comparison (that I shared with him and suggested he see’s if he can get my current insurer to match) I have pissed my financial planner off to the point that he has stated that he is no longer going to provide me with a service. Nothing rude was said by either of us. I just think he realises I’m no longer going to be his cash cow so he wants out.

It seems that I can easily save 5K a year if I just do the insurance myself, getting a policy similar to what I have. However, I’m thinking that I should better educate myself on what is really required for me and my family and how often I should review it.

Quite a few people have advised me to find another broker for expertise in this area, especially if having to make a claim. However, I don’t really have trust in financial planners or insurance brokers anymore. No one can truly give good advice if they get a commission selling you a product. The bias is too high.

Is there recommended reading I can do to educate myself on what would be the best insurance cover for myself?

I’m 44, the main income earner (high income) and have no pre-existing health issues so shouldn’t have any prob with exclusions. I’m happy to have obligatory insurance medicals. I’ve got 3 kids. Happily married.

Interested to hear opinions on people with knowledge in this area about doing things yourself. If I have to make a claim does a broker make a big difference?

submitted by /u/Investing-now-0701
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