“Life Insurance Claim Lawyers

More ownership options

Retail insurance offers a variety of ownership options, including individual, joint, SMSF, and superannuation trustee. This flexibility is beneficial for tax planning and adapting to changing personal circumstances, unlike group insurance which is typically owned by the employer or superannuation trustee.

Renewable contracts

Insurance through super is typically negotiated between the employer or superannuation provider and the insurer, and the contract terms are often periodically renegotiated or re-tendered. Over time the terms of the cover may change and possibly for the worse. Retail insurance, on the other hand, generally offers ‘guaranteed renewable’ contracts that aren’t renegotiated or re-tendered over time, and can’t be cancelled whilst the premiums are within terms.

Premium flexibility

Most insurance in super only offers age-based or stepped premiums, whereas most retail insurance allows you to select between stepped premiums, level premiums, or a hybrid. Level or hybrid premiums may be particularly beneficial for younger clients who retain cover for the long term, as the cumulative premium savings can be significant over the life of a policy.

Retail life insurance policies are usually more expensive than super insurance policies. However, it’s important to understand that this higher cost results from a generally higher quality of a product.

Income protection definitions

Most insurance through super provides a narrow definition to qualify for a benefit that only considers your ability to perform income-producing duties. In contrast, most retail policies provide a broader three-tier definition that considers duties performed, hours worked, and income lost, which increases the opportunity to qualify for a benefit.

TPD definitions

Most insurance through super offers more basic TPD definitions such as ‘any occupation’ and ‘activities of daily living (ADL)’, whereas retail insurance provides more comprehensive TPD definitions, including ‘own occupation’. The TPD definition of retail policies generally won’t change due to unemployment whereas the TPD definition of group policies will typically revert to a basic ADL definition.

Retail insurance policies typically offer larger sums insured, longer expiry ages, more income protection waiting period and benefit period options, as well as certain other valuable features such as claims indexation (so the value of income protection payments keeps pace with inflation) and life buy-back options (which allows you to ‘buy-back’ your life insurance after a survival period after suffering a TPD event).

Retail life insurance policies generally have fewer restrictions and broader coverage than super insurance policies.

If you need to make a claim on a retail policy, we can work with your financial advisor or broker.

Direct life insurance

Top 5 Australian life insurers: