Australians are falling victim to false confidence about the adequacy of their life insurance, according to a new survey from TAL.
The insurer asked over 1,000 Australian consumers about their life insurance coverage, and their understanding of the adequacy of this cover. Nearly half of those surveyed (45%) said they believed they had enough cover if they or their partner could not work again. In contrast, 33% said they were aware that they didn’t have enough life-related insurance, and 23% said they didn’t know if they had sufficient cover for their needs.
TAL said this result was surprising given the well-documented underinsurance gap in Australia.
Further, the survey revealed there was a belief that the default life insurance provided inside superannuation delivers sufficient cover for most Australian families.
The research also showed that more than two-thirds of people who held just a single type of insurance – that is, one out of the four forms of life insurance – believed that they had enough insurance overall.
…a number of common misapprehensions can give rise to a false sense of security
“I am surprised nearly half of the respondents felt they had enough cover because a lot of actuarial research shows they actually don’t,” said outgoing TAL Group CEO, Jim Minto. “In our experience, a number of common misapprehensions can give rise to a false sense of security.”
He also pointed out that people often seriously underestimate how much money they will need if they are unable to work again.
“The reality is most people need some combination of life, income protection, critical illness and total and permanent disability insurance. It can be a complex area, and we encourage people to ask for help so they can have the peace of mind that they have adequate cover rather than just hoping for the best,” Mr Minto said.
Meanwhile, in other TAL news, the insurer has been recognised for its contribution to the global insurance market, receiving two awards for innovation and technical leadership.
TAL won the ACORD Global Industry Leadership Award, presented at a ceremony in the USA, for its leadership in the areas of global technology standards development, advocacy and implementation. The Award recognised TAL for the development of web-based digital technology for the group insurance market, making the insurer the first in the world to meet a new global standard for the group life insurance industry (see: TAL Launches World-first Group Life Initiative).
TAL was also presented with the 2014 Innovation Award by global unified communications company, Interactive Intelligence, at their annual Australia and New Zealand customer engagement conference Engage. This award recognises outstanding execution and innovation using technology in the outbound call centres of TAL’s consumer brand, InsuranceLine.
TAL Chief Information Officer, David Gillespie, said: “These awards are recognition of TAL’s ongoing leadership of the life insurance industry in Australia where we have pioneered many technological advancements for our partners and customers.”
This sums up TAL’s leadership in the industry to a T. Changing wording for existing members of Australian Super from 1/11/2014
You will be considered totally and permanently disabled if…
◾…At the end of three months in a row, your injury or illness means means that you’re incapable of ever working in any job that you are suited to based on your previous education, training or experience, or any job that you may reasonably become suited to with further education, training or experience. This will be decided by considering things such as: ◦What re-skilling, training or voluntary work you have done already,
◦Any retraining or reskilling you reasonably could be expected to do, and
◦Any rehabilitation you have done already or any rehabilitation you reasonably could be expected to do.’
The new definition will apply to new and existing members of Australian Super…..”
Now COMPARE THE PAIR !
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