{"id":383,"date":"2026-05-20T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shopattheponds.com.au\/news\/?p=383"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:34:24","slug":"a-couple-from-ballarat-dropped-all-their-insurance-policies-for-three-years-their-financial-adviser-was-lost-for-words-when-they-showed-him-the-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shopattheponds.com.au\/news\/a-couple-from-ballarat-dropped-all-their-insurance-policies-for-three-years-their-financial-adviser-was-lost-for-words-when-they-showed-him-the-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"A couple from Ballarat dropped all their insurance policies for three years: their financial adviser was lost for words when they showed him the numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>They were both in their early thirties, living in <strong>Ballarat<\/strong>, tidy house on a quiet <strong>street<\/strong>. Over coffee one winter, they made a <strong>decision<\/strong> most people consider unthinkable: cancel every optional <strong>policy<\/strong> they held, and see what three years without insurance would <strong>do<\/strong> to their money.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>They tracked every <strong>dollar<\/strong> in a shared spreadsheet. They set rules, and they kept <strong>score<\/strong>. When they finally showed the results to their financial <strong>adviser<\/strong>, he stared at the page and simply <strong>exhaled<\/strong>. \u201cI\u2019m not often short of <strong>words<\/strong>,\u201d he said, \u201cbut this is a very unusual <strong>outcome<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>The math that made them brave<\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>In year one, Jess and Tom listed their recurring <strong>premiums<\/strong>: private health, life and TPD, income protection, home and <strong>contents<\/strong>, two cars, and a small pet <strong>policy<\/strong>. Total, about AUD <strong>12,100<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>They cancelled the lot \u2014 aside from the compulsory <strong>injury<\/strong> cover tied to car <strong>registration<\/strong> \u2014 and siphoned every former premium into their <strong>offset<\/strong> account. Their mortgage rate hovered around <strong>6%<\/strong>, so every dollar \u201csaved\u201d from insurance also reduced <strong>interest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Over three years, that added up to roughly <strong>AUD 36,300<\/strong> in skipped premiums, plus about <strong>AUD 5,700<\/strong> in interest they didn\u2019t <strong>pay<\/strong> because of the swelling offset <strong>balance<\/strong>. The cell at the bottom of the spreadsheet read <strong>42,000<\/strong> \u2014 their self-insurance \u201c<strong>dividend<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe weren\u2019t trying to be <strong>reckless<\/strong>,\u201d Jess said. \u201cWe wanted to test whether our biggest risk was actually monthly <strong>drag<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>The risks they chose to carry<\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>They carried genuine <strong>exposure<\/strong>. No policy would have swooped in if something went <strong>wrong<\/strong>. They knew the specific <strong>ways<\/strong> it could all backfire:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul><\/p>\n<li>A house fire or major <strong>theft<\/strong> could erase years of careful <strong>saving<\/strong>. An at\u2011fault car crash could mean full <strong>repairs<\/strong> out of pocket, plus potential third\u2011party <strong>damage<\/strong>. A sudden illness could force time off work without income <strong>support<\/strong>. Re\u2011entering private health later could invite <strong>waiting<\/strong> periods and potential lifetime loading on future <strong>premiums<\/strong>. And without life or TPD, a catastrophic event could destabilize the whole <strong>household<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<p>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Tom shrugged when asked about <strong>fear<\/strong>. \u201cWe weren\u2019t fearless; we were <strong>calculating<\/strong>. We priced the biggest disasters and asked if we could survive <strong>them<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>How they tried to make luck<\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>They didn\u2019t rely on <strong>luck<\/strong> alone. They built a $25,000 emergency <strong>buffer<\/strong> in month three, ring\u2011fenced from travel and impulse <strong>spend<\/strong>. They drove less, and when they did, they drove <strong>slower<\/strong>. The cars were older, fully owned, cheap to <strong>fix<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>At home, they upgraded locks and installed <strong>sensors<\/strong>. They serviced the heater before <strong>winter<\/strong>. They trimmed trees and cleared gutters before <strong>storms<\/strong>. Small outlays, big <strong>coverage<\/strong> in their minds.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Health-wise, they leaned on <strong>Medicare<\/strong> and paid attention to the boring <strong>stuff<\/strong>: stretching, dental checkups, meal prepping, early <strong>nights<\/strong>. \u201cWe accepted that if we needed a private <strong>hospital<\/strong>, we\u2019d pay cash or wait our <strong>turn<\/strong>,\u201d Jess <strong>said<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>They also wrote down red <strong>lines<\/strong>: if either lost a job, was diagnosed with anything major, or if the offset fell under a set <strong>threshold<\/strong>, they\u2019d reinstate key <strong>policies<\/strong> within a <strong>week<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>The adviser\u2019s stunned silence<\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>When their adviser finally saw the <strong>numbers<\/strong>, he blinked. \u201cYou saved forty\u2011two <strong>grand<\/strong> while the dice never rolled <strong>against<\/strong> you. That\u2019s hard to <strong>argue<\/strong> with,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>But he also winced. \u201cThis is survivorship <strong>bias<\/strong> in the flesh. One storm, one <strong>driver<\/strong> texting at the wrong time, and your graph would look very <strong>different<\/strong>.\u201d He underlined the line about future private health <strong>loading<\/strong> and potential waiting <strong>periods<\/strong>. He circled \u201closs of <strong>income<\/strong>\u201d three <strong>times<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Jess nodded. \u201cWe knew there was no <strong>safety<\/strong> net we didn\u2019t build <strong>ourselves<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>What their experiment teaches<\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>This wasn\u2019t a manifesto against <strong>insurance<\/strong>. It was a narrow test run that happened to end in their <strong>favor<\/strong>. The key was context: two adults, no <strong>kids<\/strong>, stable jobs, modest assets, and a thick emergency <strong>fund<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Where could a similar approach make any <strong>sense<\/strong>? Possibly for people with:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul><\/p>\n<li>High savings discipline, low <strong>debt<\/strong>, older paid\u2011off <strong>assets<\/strong>, stable income, and comfort with public <strong>systems<\/strong> like Medicare and the courts, plus a realistic grasp of tail\u2011risk <strong>pain<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<p>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Where is it almost certainly a bad <strong>idea<\/strong>? Households with dependents, large <strong>mortgages<\/strong>, specialized incomes, fragile <strong>health<\/strong>, or any low tolerance for catastrophic <strong>loss<\/strong>. For many, targeted cover \u2014 say, home and income <strong>protection<\/strong> with higher excesses \u2014 gets you 80% of the benefit with less <strong>ruin<\/strong> risk.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Their story also hints at a middle <strong>path<\/strong>. Rather than cancel everything, raise deductibles to cut <strong>premiums<\/strong>. Bundle where it\u2019s actually <strong>cheaper<\/strong>. Insure what you can\u2019t afford to <strong>replace<\/strong>, self\u2011insure what you can comfortably <strong>absorb<\/strong>. Park the premium savings in an offset or high\u2011yield <strong>account<\/strong> and track it like a <strong>hawk<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>The quiet after three years<\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>On the final day of year <strong>three<\/strong>, they didn\u2019t celebrate so much as <strong>exhale<\/strong>. The spreadsheet was tidy, the offset <strong>fatter<\/strong>, the roof still on, and the cars still <strong>running<\/strong>. \u201cWe got lucky,\u201d Tom <strong>said<\/strong>. \u201cBut we also got very <strong>deliberate<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The adviser closed the <strong>laptop<\/strong> and chose his words <strong>carefully<\/strong>. \u201cYou won the coin <strong>toss<\/strong> this time. If you keep <strong>playing<\/strong>, the house eventually <strong>collects<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>They smiled, because they already had a <strong>plan<\/strong>: reinstate a couple of core <strong>policies<\/strong>, keep the emergency fund <strong>intact<\/strong>, and never outsource their understanding of <strong>risk<\/strong> again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A couple from Ballarat dropped all their insurance policies for three years: their financial adviser was lost for words when they showed him the numbers - 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