A life insurance policy is one of the most important purchases you will ever make. Finding the best life insurance for your needs, on the other hand, can be difficult. You may want to become acquainted with the features and benefits of top Australian insurance providers to make the best decision for your family.
When selecting a life insurance company in Australia , you should usually consider several factors. When buying a policy, you may want to consider the likelihood of your claim being paid, the premiums you’ll pay, and whether or not you’ll be eligible for a discount.
Key Takeaway
- Learn about our Top 7 life insurance companies in Australia 2022
- How to choose the top best life insurance company in Australia
What Is Life Insurance?
A life insurance policy is a legal agreement between an insurer and a policyholder. In exchange for the premiums paid by the policyholder during their lifetime, a life insurance policy guarantees that the insurer will pay a sum total of money to named beneficiaries when the insured dies.
How to choose the top best life insurance company in Australia
The best life insurance provider typically satisfies your needs and provides sufficient protection to ensure that your loved ones are cared for in the event of one untimely death or if they are diagnosed with a serious illness with a life expectancy of less than 2 years.
However, there are still many other factors that you should consider:
- Your requirements: Before you begin comparing Australian life insurance companies, you should first clarify your requirements. Calculate how much your family will need to maintain their current lifestyle by adding outstanding debts, such as your mortgage, your average monthly expenses, and also any other costs you may need to cover in the future.
- Discounts and rewards: In Australia, life insurers frequently offer discounts to new customers who purchase multiple policies. In most cases, you can find an insurer who will give you a discount if you pay your premiums in advance. When looking for insurance, it’s usually a good idea to compare discounts from various insurers.
- Financial strength ratings: Ratings are assigned by a third party, such as Standard & Poors. While an independent evaluation cannot tell you how good a company is, it can help you measure the insurers’ creditworthiness, which indicates whether or not a company will be able to pay claims now and in the future.
- Built-in benefits: Most insurers include several built-in benefits with their policies. Because each insurer is unique, it’s a good idea to read the company’s Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) to know about their benefits. However, some common built-in advantages are as follows:
- Benefits for terminal illness
- Benefits for funeral expenses
- Benefits for future insurability
- Free financial advice
- Premium freeze option
- Indexation
- interim cover
- Exclusions: Your life insurance policy is usually subject to exclusions. A standard exclusion is an event, condition, or circumstance that your insurer does not cover. For example, most life insurance companies will not pay any benefits for suicide in the first 13 months after you purchase your policy. It’s usually a good idea to read the company’s PDS to learn what you won’t be able to claim.
- Premiums: Determine whether you can afford the policy premiums now and in the future. If you want short-term affordability, a stepped premium style may be best for you. On the other hand, if you can begin with higher premiums that don’t increase every year due to your age, a company that offers level premiums may be a better option.
- Customer reviews: To learn more about the experiences of past and current members, read customer reviews and complaints about the various companies.
Top 7 life insurance companies in Australia 2022
Below is the list of the top best life insurance companies in Australia, and they include the following:
1. MetLife Insurance Limited: Protect life cover
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and its affiliates holding company, MetLife Incorporated, is the owner of MetLife Australia. With more than $504.1 million in claims paid out in 2020, the company has expanded to become Australia’s third-largest group insurer.
Features:
- Monthly premium estimate: $38.90
- Financial strength: A+
- Discounts:
- First-time clients may be entitled to a 10% discount in year one and a 5% discount in year two.
- You may be eligible for a discount if you apply multiple policies simultaneously.
built-in benefits
- Terminal Illness Benefit: If it is determined that you have less than just 24 months to live, they will pay the benefit in advance.
- Immediate Expenses benefit: they will typically advance up to $30,000 from your death benefit for final expenses upon receipt of a valid death certificate.
- Advance Payment benefit: If you die, your beneficiaries will receive up to $30,000 for funeral expenses.
- Benefit Indexation: Increases your benefit by cpi each year without the need for any additional medical disclosures, keeping your level of coverage in line with indexation.
- Accommodation benefit: If you are terminally ill and confined to a bed, this insurer will usually pay for the accommodation costs of any immediate family member who needs to travel to take care of you.
2. AIA Australia Limited: Priority Protection
With an 18.9% market share, AIA Australia is the second-largest life insurance provider. The AIA Group is the biggest Hong Kong-based company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and is active in more than 18 international markets.
Over 3.8 million Australians are currently protected by AIA, which has paid out more than $2.2 billion in claims so far in 2020.
Feature:
- Monthly premium estimate: $42.83
- Financial strength: A+
- Discounts:
- New customers receive a 10% discount in year one and a 5% discount in year two.
- Vitality members receive a 17.5% discount for maintaining a specific Vitality status.
Built-in Benefits
- Free interim accidental death cover: If you die while your policy is being evaluated, your beneficiaries may receive a specified lump sum benefit for up to 90 days from the date of the signed application.
- Final expenses benefit: a 10% advance on the sum insured, up to a maximum of $25,000.
- Complimentary Family Final Expenses: Typically pays 10% of the sum insured, up to $20,000, if your child (age 2 to 17 years old) dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
- Financial planning reimbursement: Receive a lump-sum payment of up to $3,000.
3. Zurich Australia Limited: Wealth Protection
Zurich Insurance is a global insurance company headquartered in Switzerland that was founded in 1872. They’ve been in use in Australia since 1920. They have provided high-quality life risk, general insurance, and investment products to personal and corporate customers for over 135 years.
Features:
- Monthly premium estimate: $35.36
- Financial strength: A+
- Discounts: Multi-policy and multi-lives discounts are generally available
Built-in Benefits
- Ages of entry: 10 to 70 years old
- Free interim coverage: Receive a benefit for accidental injury or death while your application is processed.
- Funeral expenses benefit: Up to $15,000 in advance payment for funeral expenses.
- Accidental injury benefit: You may be eligible for an advance payment of a portion of your death benefit. Suppose you sustain a specific type of accidental injury.
- Accommodation expenses benefit: If immediate family members must travel more than 100 kilometers to be with the life insured, you may be reimbursed for some travel and lodging expenses.
4. MLC Limited: MLC Insurance
MLC is one of Australia’s largest life insurers and is owned by Nippon Life and the National Australia Bank (NAB). They currently protect over 1.4 million lives and have paid out over $1.1 billion in claims to their customers in 2020.
Features:
- Monthly premium estimate: $43.12
- Financial strength: A+
built-in benefits
- Best Doctors Service: This service gives you access to some of the best doctors in the world.
- Accidental injury benefit: Get a lump sum payment if an accident leaves you permanently unable to use your hands, feet, or eyes within six months of the accident.
- Advance Death Benefit: Typically, a lump sum of $20,000 will be paid from your life insurance policy to assist your loved ones in covering the cost of your funeral.
- Benefit for financial planning: If the lump sum benefit paid is $100,000 or more, MLC reimburses you for a portion of the fees a qualified financial adviser charges for financial planning services.
5. TAL Life Limited: Accelerated Protection
With over 150 years of experience in the insurance industry, Tal is one of Australia’s leading insurers. Formerly known as Tower Life, it became a subsidiary of Japan’s largest insurer, Dai-Ichi Life Group, in 2011. In 2019, they acquired Suncorp’s Australian life insurance business. TAL paid out over $2.7 billion in claims in 2020 alone.
Feature:
- Monthly premium estimate: $38.03
- Financial strength: A+
- Discounts:
- The initial discount consists of a 10% discount in year one and a 5% discount in year two.
- Health Sense offers a 7.5-15% ongoing discount based on your BMI.
Built-in Benefits
- Entry ages range from 16 to 75 for stepped premiums and 60 for level premiums.
- Free Interim cover benefit: If you die or become sick or injured before your application is accepted, TAL will generally pay you a specified lump sum benefit by their terms and conditions.
- Free Child Critical Illness Benefit: This benefit pays up to $10,000 if your child, aged 2 to 15, is diagnosed with a specific medical condition or terminal illness or dies.
- Financial planning benefit: You may be eligible for a $5,000 reimbursement for financial planning advice.
6. ClearView Life Assurance Limited
According to our research prices, it’s one of the market’s most affordable life insurance options.
Policies are frequently sold through a financial advisor to assist in finding the best fit for your financial situation.
It includes many cover types to tailor to your needs, which may be overwhelming for some.
Features:
- Renewal is guaranteed.
- Indexation (coverage increases each year to ensure your benefit amount keeps up with inflation)
- Global coverage
- Upgrade guarantee (If ClearView makes changes or introduces new benefits to its products)
Note: Check the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for terms and conditions.
Built-in benefits
- Life cover: This policy will pay up a lump sum benefit in the event of death (accident or other cause) or if you are diagnosed as terminally ill with less than 12 months to live.
- TPD insurance: ClearView will pay up a lump sum benefit if you permanently cannot return to work due to illness or injury. TPD can be added as a standalone policy or bundled with life insurance.
- Trauma insurance: This benefit enables you to maintain a certain standard of living while suffering from a specific illness or injury as defined by the policy’s terms. When you are diagnosed, you will receive a lump-sum benefit that can be used to pay for treatment, or pay off debt, or finance an extended leave from work. ClearView allows you to apply for a maximum of $2,000,000 for this type of coverage.
7. BT Financial Group: Protection plan
The BT Financial Group, a division of the wealth management arm of the Westpac Group, owns BT Insurance, which was established in 1969. BT received an A+ rating in the December 2021 Standards & Poor’s Financial Strength report, indicating strength and stability.
Features:
- Financial strength: A+
- Monthly premium estimate: $41.85
- Discounts:
- You may be eligible for a discount if you apply for multiple policies.
- With the BT My Wellbeing Rewards benefit, you can save up to 10% on your life insurance premiums.
built-in benefits
- Counselling benefit: Following the payment of a death benefit, BT typically reimburses your loved ones for up to $5,000 or up to ten counseling sessions.
- Loyalty benefit: If you keep your life insurance policy for more than three years, your sum insured will typically increase by 5% without raising your premiums.
- Financial Planning Benefit: After a lump sum death benefit has been paid, you may be reimbursed up to $5,000 for receiving advice from a qualified financial advisor.
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Conclusion
If you pass away or develop a terminal illness, life insurance could provide you and your loved ones with additional financial security. The financial burden left to your family may be reduced or even eliminated with the help of claim payments from an eligible life insurance policy. These payments may be used to pay for funeral and medical expenses, debt consolidation, or even your children’s university tuition.
As well as offering varying levels of protection, various life insurance policies will have varying exclusions for the coverage they provide.
Most will have an upper age limit for when you can purchase a policy. Hence, as you accumulate debt and move through life, it’s important to consider whether a life insurance policy might make things easier for your family if you can no longer provide for them.
You can learn more from the video below:
About Author
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My name is Precious Ejiofor, I am a professional self motivated, dependable writer and editor, with over 4 year of experience in writing for variety of business and platforms. I am able and capable to write on any kind of topic.
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