A new Platinum IP product option headlines a range of enhancements in CommInsure’s latest product upgrade.
Details of the new IP product option as well as other enhancements across the CommInsure Protection product range are outlined in an updated Product Disclosure Statement effective from 17 September. Key enhancements include:
Income Protection
- Introduction of a third income product, Income Care Platinum. This product has been introduced following feedback from both advisers and consumers. The key characteristics that identify the new product include:
- Introduction of a broader, three-tier definition of Total Disability – Duties, Hours and Income. The CommInsure Income Care range only offers a duties-based definition.
- For policies with a ninety-day waiting period or less, the claimant will not be penalised for returning to work or attempting to return to work during the waiting period
- Introduction of a capability clause in the definition of Total Disability in order to address industry sustainability factors
Other income protection product changes/enhancements applying to the Income Care range include:
- Enhancement of Crisis and Transportation benefits
- Monthly income now includes superannuation contributions for self-employed lives insured
- Increasing Claims option is now accessible to more occupations
- Removal of the Cash Back option
- Removal of the Premium Saver option
Trauma
- 23 trauma definitions clarified
- 5 trauma definitions improved, including:
- Stroke
- Heart Attack
- Dementia and Alzheimer’s
- Cardiac Arrest
- Major Head Trauma
- Modification of the 12-month trauma buy-back period, which will now commence from the date the claim was submitted, rather than from the date the claim was assessed as payable
- Introduction of a new definition for ‘relevant medical specialist’
- Removal of Evidence of Severity option due to low take-up
TPD
- Introduction of a stand-alone Domestic Duties TPD benefit for homemakers
Pricing
An average 10% premium rate increase will be applied to income protection and trauma insurance new business policies, across both stepped and level premium options. According to CommInsure, this increase is due in part to sustainability issues caused by a continued low-interest rate environment.
CommInsure presented these changes to advisers in a series of recent roadshow events in which the insurer’s Head of Life Product and Strategy, Frank Crapis, emphasised to his audience the upgrade guarantee that applies to any inforce CommInsure policies dating back twenty years to 1997.
Click here to access the new CommInsure PDS, effective from 17th September 2017, and click here for the new CommInsure Adviser Guide.
