Life Insurance Advisors: directory of firms

Inside super, premiums are deducted from your balance rather than your income, default cover is often available without medical checks, and it can be tax-effective depending on your circumstances. That last point makes it useful for people in high-risk jobs or with health conditions who would struggle to get cover elsewhere.

The costs are real too. Default cover may be lower than what you could obtain outside super, eligibility rules apply, and premiums reduce your retirement savings, which matters most close to retirement when there is less time for the balance to recover. Policies outside super may allow higher cover with more features, paid from your own pocket, and income protection premiums outside super are generally tax deductible.

Holding more than one super account can mean paying premiums on more than one policy, and depending on the policies you may not be able to claim the full benefit from each. Check before consolidating, and check before switching funds: if you are over 60 or have a pre-existing condition, you may not be able to get the cover you want again.

Insurers set premiums on age, health, occupation and lifestyle, and premiums generally rise as you get older. Moneysmart describes two structures: variable age-stepped premiums, recalculated at each renewal based on your age, and variable premiums, which cost more at the start but whose increases are not driven by age and so generally rise more slowly over time.

Neither is guaranteed. Premiums may change annually regardless of which structure you choose, and the product disclosure statement is where the insurer sets out how. Loadings are the other variable: a percentage increase on the standard premium charged to higher-risk people, such as those in a high-risk job, with a pre-existing condition, or classified as a smoker. If your fund has classified you wrongly, contact them, because you may be paying more than you need to.

Outside default cover in super, insurers will usually ask about your age and job, medical history and family health history, smoking and lifestyle, and any high-risk hobbies or sports. That determines whether they insure you, what you pay, and the terms of the policy.

Answer honestly. If you leave out important details, the insurer may change or cancel your cover, or refuse a claim. And note the inverse signal: Moneysmart points out that if an insurer does not ask for your medical history, the policy may carry more exclusions or narrower definitions instead.

Nominating who receives the money is the step most often skipped. ASIC's 2025 report into death benefit claims handling by superannuation trustees found that almost 60 per cent of super members had no beneficiary nominated at all, and only 10 per cent had a binding death benefit nomination. Without one, your estate or the super trustee decides where the money goes, and claims take longer to finalise.

The other consent is about money flowing the other way. Advisers providing personal advice about insurance need your consent to receive commissions for selling the product to you, covering life insurance, general insurance and consumer credit insurance. Ask what the commission is, how it affects your costs, and how it affects the advice.

AFCA can consider complaints about life insurance including income protection, funeral, trauma, TPD, accidental death and endowment policies, covering denial of a claim, the value of an assessed loss, delays in making a decision, non-disclosure or misleading information, and premiums incorrectly applied or calculated.

Superannuation complaints follow different rules. AFCA's powers over them come from section 1055 of the Corporations Act, a determination on a superannuation complaint is binding on both parties and takes effect immediately without you having to accept it, and the monetary caps that apply to other complaints do not apply. AFCA cannot, however, change a disablement definition or the eligibility conditions in an insurance policy, or ignore a valid binding death benefit nomination.