CommInsure Income Protection

• Summary of CommInsure Income Protection Insurance
• Pros and Cons
• Who this is and isn't for

What does CommInsure Income Protection cover?

CommInsure Income Protection can pay you up to 75% of your regular income if you can’t work because of illness or injury. It offers a choice of three levels of income protection including:

• Income Care & Income Care Plus provides total and partial disability benefits due to illness or injury, even when you're working reduced hours
• Essential Cover covers accidents only at a discounted premium
• Business Overheads Insurance helps pay the operating expenses of your small business if you can’t work due to illness or injury.

• Benefits explained

  • Total Disability Benefit provides a monthly benefit if you can’t work due to a disability.
  • Partial Disability Benefit provides a partial monthly benefit if you can only work at a reduced capacity due to a disability.
  • Recurrent Disability Benefit provides continuation of payment if you suffer a relapse, without a further waiting period.
  • Boosted Total Disability Benefit increases your monthly benefit to 100% of your income if you are totally disabled by a serious medical condition.
  • Medical Professionals Benefit provides a lump-sum payment for medical professionals who can’t work due to HIV or hepatitis.
  • Reward Cover Benefit provides up to $100,000 of free accidental death cover when you maintain your policy for three years.
  • Rehabilitation Benefit provides a benefit for up to 12 months if you are totally disabled and participate in an approved rehabilitation program.
  • Unemployment Cover Benefit provides a benefit for up to three months to help make your CommInsure loan repayments when unemployed for more than 60 days.
  • Death Benefit provides a lump sum payment of $10,000 to help with expenses if you die.

Some of the features that make income protection flexible

Other built-in features of CommInsure Income Protection designed to give you greater flexibility in your cover include:

• No premium payments while receiving Total or Partial Disability benefits
• No premium payments for up to six months if you become unemployed, go on parental leave or suffer financial hardship
• No waiting period to receive a Total or Partial Disability benefit if you are suffering from a specified medical condition
• Automatic annual cover increases to keep pace with inflation
• The ability to increase your monthly benefit by up to 10% once in any three-year period without providing further medical evidence
• A reduced waiting period for income protection taken out to complement an existing policy
• Extended coverage to age 70 if you reach 65 and still have income protection cover.

Exclusions to be aware of

All policies contain exclusions, which you cannot make claims for. Some notable CommInsure income protection exclusions are:

• Pre-existing conditions: You are not covered for health issues which were apparent prior to taking out cover, unless you had to reason to be aware of them or disclosed them to the insurer.
• Receiving benefits outside of Australia: You can only receive benefits outside of Australia for up to 6 month.
• Reduction of cover: Depending on your chosen benefit period you might be able to receive benefits beyond the age of 65, even though your cover has expired. Here, your monthly benefit payments will be reduced by 20% each year.

Additional options to consider

CommInsure Income Protection also offers a range of additional options to make your cover more flexible, including:

• Permanent Disablement Cover. which provides a lump-sum payment instead of monthly payments
• Premium Saver. which lowers your premiums if you limit your monthly benefit payments for mental illness claims to 24 months
• Total Temporary Disability Cover. which lowers premiums in return for restricted benefits
• Accident cover. which pays a benefit for three days during the waiting period for a total disablement claim due to injury
• Super Continuance. which allows you to cover your super as well as your income
• Cash Back. which gives you a partial refund of your premium if you don’t make a claim during the life of your policy.

How much will CommInsure Income Protection cost?

Premium rates are set for the first 12 months of a policy and may change after that time. Premium rate options include level premiums, where your premiums don’t increase as you get older, and stepped premiums, where they do. Other factors that affect how your premium is calculated include:

Conditions for a benefit payment

You have three months following a disabling event to inform CommInsure of a claim. Do this by calling 13 1056 to receive a claims kit and the relevant forms. You and your doctors will need to fill it and send it in. CommInsure will then assess it and let you know the outcome.

Your claims will need to include:

• Proof of age
• Financial information, such as tax returns or other financial records, or business records if you’re self-employed, a working director or in a partnership.

Note: While you are receiving benefits you may be asked to complete a record of your daily activities, as well as undergo further medical tests at CommInsure’s expense.

What is the age of eligibility for CommInsure Income Protection?

The eligible age range for CommInsure Income Protection depends on your policy type or the occupation class you are in;

• Level premiums – 17 to 54
• Stepped premiums – 17 to 59
• Aviation occupation class – 19 to 54
• Specialist risk occupations – 17 to 49.

Cover ends for all income protection policies on the policy anniversary before you turn 60 or 65. The exception is when you still have income protection at age 65, in which case cover can be extended to age 70.

Other things to know

Other things to be aware of with CommInsure Income Protection:

• Cooling off period. If you change your mind about your policy, you have 28 days to inform the insurer to receive a full refund. This must be in writing, and your policy must be attached.
• Link with other cover. Your CommInsure Income Protection policy can be linked with other forms of cover. For example, package your Business Overheads Insurance with Income Care or Income Care Plus and you’ll receive a 10% discount on your premiums.
• Flexible payment options. You can pay your premiums monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually, although paying annually will avoid a frequency charge of 4% or 8%.

Flexible premium structure. As previously mentioned, you have the choice of level or stepped premiums. Stepped premiums are cheaper early on and get more expensive, particularly after age 50, whereas level premiums cost more at first but usually become more affordable later in life as you accumulate more wealth.

Looking to receive a quote for Commonwealth Bank Income Protection?

If your interested in receiving a quote for CommInsure Income Protection or just want to find out more, you can make a secure enquiry via the form located above. A consultant will provide you with a quote for cover and explain any of the features you are not sure of. Once you have found suitable cover, they will assist you through the application process.

Receive a quote for CommInsure Income Protection