Given nearly everybody in NZ has been talking about Daniel Carter’s groin strain and its ramifications, we should as well.

The All Blacks have won the Rugby World Cup, but I want to rewind a tad.

With respect to the number 10, you would have thought that the wise men on the ABs selection panel would have been able to spot the risk to the team from orbit. If you spend four years or more grooming your key man, it probably makes sense to be working on a back-up over that time as well, just in case.

However, Colin Slade only really became part of the mix this year. And when he went the All Blacks were left scrambling with Piri Weepu, Aaron Cruden and Stephen Donald – all very worthy men, but all very late on the scene.

In my previous life as CEO of Mortgage Express (the brokerage arm of Harcourts Real Estate Group) I had a saying: We need planned outcomes for unplanned events. Like the All Blacks selectors, very few of us have one of those.

We can look back now and laugh about the panic Dan’s groin caused us, but it offers us some salient lessons.

The lessons are about what we insure and what we don’t. Most of us will insure our car or our home, but few of us insure our personal selves. Few of us will have insured our income or opted for mortgage protection. You can be sure that Daniel Carter probably has key man insurance and a whole bunch of other insurances, more particularly income protection of some sort.

It is an area we should all take a serious look at. If you were the principal income earner and you had a car accident and couldn’t work for three, six or 12 months, how would you pay your mortgage?

You may think we live in a society that has backstops like ACC to pay us out. But it is important to be certain. What would happen if you weren’t covered by ACC? And if you’re not – for whatever reason – do you have a backup plan?

And what if you suffer a debilitating lifestyle illness? ACC does not cover these things. What then?

Getting a health check on your insurance and finances from Baptist Savings doesn’t cost money, but it makes sense to do it. It could save you from future pain.

Insurance premiums are going to increase in price due to the Canterbury quakes. You may think you can’t afford it, but it isn’t as expensive as you might think. More importantly, can you afford not to do it?

Evaluate your insurance spending. Perhaps the car or house is not as important for you as other insurance. For example, you may only really need third party for your car. Your savings here can then be diverted to insuring yourself.

If you are healthy right now, that’s excellent. But don’t wait until you get sick to think about insurance because by then it will be too expensive and probably too late. Get the insurance when you’re healthy, so that you can benefit from the best deals and piece of mind.

If you are a pastor, come to my session at the Gathering in Lincoln this month and I will expand on this and other options, or talk to the team here at Baptist Savings about our free insurance health check. Or, simply click on the (red) “free health check” button on our website, www.baptistsavings.co.nz

Don’t let a groin injury destroy your future prospects!

• Andrew L’Almont, Baptist Savings’ business development manager, can be reached on (09) 582 0037 and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text29780 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it