Continuing our monthly series on the people behind Threefold, this month we’re introducing Matt Bowden, Head of Threefold Protect, and a great person to have in your corner if a personal insurance claim gets complicated.
Matt has spent 26 years in financial services, 14 of them working directly as an insurance adviser, and he’s accredited with nine of the country’s life insurance companies. Matt knows policy wordings inside and out, when to fight and when to accept an exclusion, and exactly which levers to pull when faced with a challenging claim or application. His client’s love his straight-talking advice, ability to explain complicated policies simply and clearly, and the way he steps in to support them at claim time. His reputation and professionalism were recognised industry-wide in 2026, when Matt won Outstanding Insurance Adviser (Metro) at the Kiwi Adviser Network Awards.
His clients tend to fall into two camps: growing families, and people with mortgages and assets to protect; and business owners who need their protection structured properly from the outset, think shareholder protection, key person cover, or a group health scheme their team will actually use. Whichever camp you’re in, Matt’s approach doesn’t change: he’ll take the time to understand your full picture first, and will then build cover that will hold up when it’s actually tested.
“I’ve seen how much of a difference the right advice makes when a claim comes in, or when someone’s circumstances change. My job is to make sure clients understand exactly what they’re covered for, and to be the one making sure everything goes smoothly at claim time.”
“A policy that made sense five years ago might not reflect where you are now,” says Matt. “Getting married, having children, buying a home or changing jobs are all good prompts to check your cover still matches your circumstances, rather than assuming it’s still doing what you need it to.”
“Business owners are usually good at insuring their business assets, but the key people themselves are not sufficiently covered,” says Matt. “Shareholder protection, key person cover and debt protection insurance exist for exactly this reason, to make sure the business can keep running, and the ownership structure stays intact, if something happens to one of the people behind it.”
“The best time to deal with a health question or a grey area is at application, not at claim time,” Matt says. “Full disclosure can occasionally mean an exclusion or a loaded premium up front, but it also means the cover you’re paying for will actually be there when you need it. That’s a trade-off worth making.”
A personal insurance review with our team is free and carries no obligation to make any changes. It’s simply a chance to check your cover still reflects your circumstances, and to understand your options if it doesn’t.
Get in touch to book a no-obligation, insurance review. Click here to book a review.
