Mar 26, 2020

Our Insights

Am I covered for COVID-19?

We appreciate many of you may be impacted both physically and through economic impacts of COVID-19. These are uncertain times and we are here to support you. Our research of most retail insurers indicates that there are no general inbuilt exclusions related to COVID-19 on their life, TPD, Trauma or income protection policies, however the normal policy terms and conditions will determine claim eligibility.

We are unable to comment on any insurances you may hold through your individual super funds and recommend that you check on their specific websites or contact them however, as you would imagine, they are experiencing long delays in getting through due to the larger than normal enquiries they are receiving in the current environment.

Please note, in some circumstances, there may be individual policy exclusions which were applied when you took out your policies such as any specific exclusions relating to travel, or lung related disease or respiratory-related conditions.

Types of Cover & Effect

Income Protection insurance is designed to provide income replacement where you experience illness or injury which prevents you from working and earning an income. if you are unable to work due to being ill from the virus, you will still need to wait for your waiting period to expire before being eligible to claim. So, if your waiting period is thirty days (for example), and you are still too ill to return to work as certified by a medical professional after thirty days, you would be able to lodge a claim. It is important to remember that you must be unwell during the waiting period and that if you are not able to go to work due to forced self isolation or workplace closures your waiting period will not commence.

Unless your policy is for Accidental Death cover only, you would be covered in the event of death from the virus, subject to your specific policy terms and conditions. Other insurance such as Critical Illness (Trauma) and TPD are intended to provide cover in the event of a serious health event that has material financial consequences for the life insured. In the case of TPD, this typically would mean that the health event would need to result in permanent impairment that prevents return to work. For Critical illness, whilst Coronavirus is not listed as a defined event, if the virus leads to requiring intensive care treatment, this could potentially be a claim depending on your specific policy terms and conditions.

Unable to Pay Premiums

While your life insurance policies do not cover business slow-down and closure, there may be features on your specific policies which will allow premium waivers due to Involuntary Unemployment which can see you remain covered while the premiums are waived. We want to work with you to help main-tain your cover where possible and as such please let us know if your family is suffering financial hardship due to COVID-19 and we will work with the insurers to offer you solutions to allow you to retain your insurances. We anticipate that most insurers will be offering premium relief to those affected and will communicate this with you further once confirmed. In the meantime, we may be able to negotiate this on your behalf, and therefore please feel free to call us.

Getting Insurance and/or Increasing your levels of Cover

If you are interested in increasing your cover or obtaining a new policy, the insurers are still open for business and at this stage it will be covered in line with your policy and individual underwriting terms. If you have recently travelled abroad, or are showing symptoms of COVID-19, or are in high -risk groups, then you will be individually assessed, and individual underwriting terms may be offered.

For further information on responses from your specific insurer, please follow the link below

 

Get Advice

Talk to the team at Calder Wealth Management. Call us on (08) 8373 3333.

Written by Marisa Maiolo, Life Insurance Specialist at Calder Wealth Management.

This is general advice only and does not take into account your financial circumstances, needs and objectives. Before making any decision based on this document, you should assess your own  circumstances or seek advice from a financial adviser and seek tax advice from a registered tax agent. Information is current at the date of issue and may change.

Latest News

Newsletters

Tags