The Insurance Mistake Most Women Don’t Realise They’re Making
Mar 03, 2026
By Molly Benjamin, Founder of Ladies Finance Club
Listen to the full podcast here.
Insurance sits at the bottom of the life admin list for most of us. It’s not exciting. It doesn’t feel urgent. And when money is tight, it’s often the first thing people question. But here’s the truth I keep seeing again and again, both personally and through Ladies Finance Club: the biggest insurance mistake women make isn’t choosing the wrong policy. It’s assuming they don’t need it, or that they’ll “sort it later.”
In this episode of Get Rich, I sat down with insurance adviser Trish Gregory to unpack what insurance actually does, why so many women are underinsured, and what happens in real life when the right cover is in place. Because insurance doesn’t change your life when things are going well. It changes your life when they aren’t.
The income mistake most women make
Trish said something that really landed: If you are reliant on your income to pay your rent, mortgage, groceries, childcare, or bills, then your income is your biggest asset.
Yet so many women undervalue it. Particularly in heterosexual relationships, there’s often an unspoken assumption: “He earns more. If something happened to me, we’d be fine.” But income protection isn’t about who earns more. It’s about what happens if you can’t work. And here’s what Trish sees often in her work with women and insurance: relationships end. Divorce happens. Circumstances change. Suddenly, the “backup plan” disappears.
If your income stops and there’s no cover in place, the pressure becomes immediate and overwhelming. That’s why income protection is one of the most important types of insurance to understand.
Real life insurance claims that change everything
We talked through several insurance claims Trish has helped clients with, and they’re not rare horror stories. They’re normal, everyday women.
One client experienced severe burnout and needed six months off work for her mental health. Because she had income protection, she continued receiving income while she recovered. There was no panic about rent, no scramble to borrow money. Just space to get well.
Another woman, in her early forties, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer. She had trauma insurance and income protection. The lump sum trauma payment helped immediately. The income protection covered ongoing living costs while she underwent treatment.
That’s financial security in action.
The four types of insurance every woman should understand
Insurance can feel overwhelming because of the terminology. So we broke it down simply.
Life insurance
A lump sum paid if you pass away or are diagnosed as terminally ill. It’s designed to protect the people you leave behind.
Total and Permanent Disability (TPD)
A lump sum if you are permanently unable to work again. Many people have some TPD through super, but often it’s not enough.
Trauma insurance
A lump sum paid upon diagnosis of serious conditions like cancer, heart attack, or stroke. This can cover medical gaps, time off work, or treatment not fully funded by Medicare or private health insurance.
Income protection
A monthly payment, usually up to 70% of your income, if you’re unable to work temporarily or long-term due to illness or injury.
If you strip it back, insurance is about protecting two things:
- Your ability to earn.
- Your family’s financial stability if something happens.
The dangerous “I’ll do it later” mindset
One of the biggest insurance mistakes Trish sees is women waiting until something has already happened. You get a health scare. You feel burned out. You’ve had a diagnosis. Then you think, I should probably sort my insurance.
By that stage, insurers can add exclusions, increase premiums, or decline cover altogether. Insurance works best when you’re healthy. That’s when you lock in a clean cover. And this is particularly relevant for women. Pregnancy, postnatal mental health, autoimmune conditions, and even mild anxiety can affect underwriting outcomes later on.
The insurance process is much smoother when you’re proactive rather than reactive.
“I have insurance in my super, isn’t that enough?”
Most Australians have some insurance inside their superannuation. But default cover is often minimal. A couple of hundred thousand dollars of life insurance might sound like a lot. But if you have a mortgage, children, and decades of living costs ahead, it may fall short quickly. Similarly, default income protection might only run for two years.
That might be fine statistically, but what if you’re in the minority who needs longer support? This is where proper financial advice becomes powerful. Not to sell you fear, but to align your cover with your actual life.
Women and insurance: why the gap still exists
There’s a pattern Trish sees often.
Women say:
- “I don’t earn that much.”
- “My partner earns more.”
- “We’ll be fine.”
- “Insurance feels expensive.”
But when you multiply even a $75,000 salary over 20 years, that’s $1.5 million in future earning potential. That’s worth protecting. Financial security isn’t about how much you earn today. It’s about protecting the trajectory of your life.
What the insurance process actually looks like
One of the reasons women avoid insurance is because it feels intimidating. The reality? The process is structured and manageable.
It usually involves:
- A fact-finding conversation about your income, debts, lifestyle, and medical history.
- Reviewing options and costs based on what level of cover makes sense.
- A formal application and underwriting process with the insurer.
Working with an adviser can help avoid over-disclosure or misunderstandings during underwriting. Small wording differences can change outcomes, so guidance matters.
And once it’s set up, it’s largely “set and monitor.” Not something you obsess over monthly.
Insurance and private health insurance: different roles
It’s important to understand the difference between private health insurance in Australia and personal insurance like income protection.
Private health insurance covers hospital and extras. It helps you avoid the Medicare levy surcharge if you’re over certain income thresholds and can lead to health insurance savings when structured correctly. But private health insurance does not replace your income. And that’s where many women get confused. They assume because they have health cover, they’re protected. They’re not.
Health insurance pays hospitals. Income protection pays you. Both play different roles in your overall financial security.
The real point of insurance
Insurance is not about worst-case obsession. It’s about options.
When something goes wrong, you want time. Time to recover, time to decide, time to support your family without financial panic. Insurance buys you that time. And the biggest insurance mistake most women don’t realise they’re making?
Assuming nothing will happen, assuming someone else will cover them, or assuming they can sort it out later.
If this is the year you finally move it to the top of the list, you’re not being dramatic. You’re being financially intelligent. And that’s what building wealth is really about.
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