Income Protection Insurance
Income Protection Insurance protects your most valuable asset, your income, in the event you are unable to work for an extended period of time due to sickness or injury. This cover will provide you with an ongoing monthly benefit of up to 75% of your pre-disability income until you are no longer disabled or the expiry of your benefit period, whichever occurs first.
If you became unable to work due to sickness or injury would you and your family or dependants remain financially supported? If your answer to this question is no, then Income Protection Insurance is essential for you. In the event that you suffer a debilitating sickness or injury, the monthly benefit you receive may assist in continuing to meet your everyday living expenses and enable you and your family to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
Feature |
Description |
Age restrictions |
Entry ages range between 17 and 65 years depending on the insurer. |
Policy expiry |
An Income Protection policy will expire at the expiry age specified on the policy schedule, usually occurring when the life insured reaches age 60, 65 or 70. |
Amount of cover |
You can apply for a maximum monthly benefit of up to 70% of your gross monthly income for incomes equal to or less than $320,000 per annum. For incomes greater than $320,000 per annum, a lesser percentage is applied to calculate the monthly benefit. The maximum monthly benefit you can apply for is $30,000 plus an additional $30,000 which is limited to a two year benefit period. If an indexation benefit is applied to your policy then your insured monthly benefit may increase over $30,000 with inflation. |
Benefit period |
The benefit period is the number of years or the age of the life insured at which time payment of your Income Protection benefits will cease. The maximum benefit period available is generally to age 65. Your benefit period may be limited due to your age or occupation and the nature of risk it involves. |
Waiting period |
The waiting period is the amount of time in which you must be totally or partially disabled and unable to work due to sickness or injury in order to a claim an Income Protection benefit. Waiting periods range from 14 days to 2 years. For a given level of cover, the longer the waiting period is the lower your premium will be. |
Types of contracts |
Agreed value – In the event of a claim you will receive the full monthly benefit you are insured for. Note that this is no longer available to new policies in the retail market. Guaranteed agreed value – offers certainty that in the event of a claim you will receive the monthly benefit you are insured for, without any financials requested at the time of claim. Note that this is no longer available to new policies in the retail market. Indemnity – In the event of a claim, you will receive the lesser of the monthly benefit you are insured for or 75% of your average monthly earnings for any consecutive 12 month period in the 12 to 36 months prior to making the claim. |
Calculation of benefit |
In the event of your total disability, you will receive the monthly benefit in accordance with your policy schedule. In the event of your partial disability, where you are still able to work but in a reduced capacity, you may be eligible to receive a monthly benefit which compensates for the portion of income lost due to sickness or injury. The formula used by insurers to calculate a partial disability benefit is: |
Ownership structures |
Self owned Superannuation fund owned |
Common built in benefits |
Death benefit – If the life insured dies and no TPD benefit has ever been paid under this policy, a lump sum payment of a specified amount (varies between insurers) will be paid accordingly.
Future increase benefit – Allows you to increase the insured monthly benefit by usually up to 15% without providing further medical evidence. Indexation benefit – Your sum insured will increase each year at the rate of CPI. |
Common additional benefits available at an extra cost |
Accident option – If you have an accident during the waiting period which results in your total disability, you will be paid 1/30 of the insured monthly benefit for each day you are totally disabled. Only available for waiting periods of 30 days or less.
Increasing claim option – If a total or partial disability benefits has been paid for 12 months or more, the monthly benefit will increase annually at the rate of inflation or a minimum rate specified by the insurer. Rehabilitation benefit – Reimburses payments for rehabilitation programs, equipment and expenses up to a specified maximum benefit. The specified benefit varies between insurers and is usually in the form of a lump sum payment.
Relapse benefit – If you return to work full time after receiving an Income Protection benefit but within 12 months then suffer a relapse of the same or related sickness or injury, the waiting period to receive your benefits will be waived.
Specific injury benefit – If you suffer a specific injury as stipulated by the insurer, you will receive a payment equal to the monthly benefit amount for a specified period depending on the injury you suffer. Injuries include the loss of limbs, loss of sight, fracture of major bones (spine, pelvis, jaw, shoulder, collarbone, ankle, etc.). Note that this is no longer available to new policies in the retail market.
Superannuation continuance –Allows you to insure up to 100% of your monthly superannuation contributions as a monthly benefit paid into your nominated superannuation account. Trauma benefit – entitles the life insured to receive a specified lump sum benefit either in addition to or instead of their insured monthly benefit, should they suffer a listed trauma event or critical illness. The exact terms of this benefit vary between insurers. Note that this is no longer available to new policies in the retail market. |
Making a claim |
In the event that you wish to make a claim on your Income Protection policy, we will handle the entire process and assist in making this simple and efficient for you. |
General Advice Disclaimer
General advice warning: The advice provided is general advice only and in preparing it we did not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. Before making an investment decision on the basis of this advice, you should consider how appropriate the advice is to your particular investment needs, and objectives. You should also consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before making any decision relating to a financial product.