Best life insurance in Australia

Life insurance comes in all shapes and sizes. None of them will be perfect for everybody. Luckily, you only need to find one that's right for you, and we can help.

Finder Awards: Best Life Insurance

Winner: Best life insurance Australia

NobleOak Life Insurance

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Why do we think it's the best?

NobleOak won the Finder Award for Best Life Insurance in 2020 for a second year running. With high scores in pricing and features, it's an all-rounder that works for thousands of Aussies.

• Great features, affordable price

  NobleOak has affordable premiums as well as impressive features. You can opt for a death benefit of up to $15 million. That's six times higher than any other brand we analysed.

• Heaps of added extras

  If you think life insurance is just a one-off payout, think again. NobleOak offers heaps of added extras such as a financial advice benefit, a counselling benefit and a funeral advance benefit.

• Fully underwritten cover

  Usually you have to go through a broker for fully-underwritten life insurance. Not with NobleOak. That means you can get a policy that is tailored to you, direct from the insurer.

Finder Awards 2020: Life Insurance Finalists

Want options? We've got you. The table below shows the five highest-scoring life insurance brands from the 2020 Finder Award for Best Life Insurance.

Policy	Maximum coverage offered	Stand out features and benefits	Apply
NobleOak Life Insurance	$15,000,000	Fully underwritten Future insurability Guaranteed renewability Counselling benefit Premium suspension Interim accident cover TPD and trauma options $15,000 funeral advancement	Get quote
TAL Life Insurance	$2,000,000	Future insurability Guaranteed renewability Premium suspension (up to 3 months) TPD option $25,000 funeral advancement	More info
Qantas	$2,000,000	Future insurability Guaranteed renewability Premium suspension (up to 3 months) TPD option $25,000 funeral advancement	More info
Medibank Life Insurance	$2,500,000	Future insurability Guaranteed renewability Premium suspension Interim accident cover Trauma option $15,000 funeral advancement	Get quote
ahm Life Insurance	$1,500,000	Future insurability Guaranteed renewability Premium suspension Interim accident cover TPD and trauma options $15,000 funeral advancement	Get quote
Guardian	$1,500,000	Guaranteed renewability Interim accident cover TPD and trauma option Child trauma option $15,000 funeral advancement	Get quote

Top picks for direct life insurance

Using the data we collected from our awards research, we selected some of the standout brands we thought you should know about.

Remember to keep in mind that prices and features of life insurance will vary based on your personal circumstances. While we've tried our best to cover as many different details as possible, our picks don't reflect personal circumstances and may not be right for you.

1. Best policy for features: NobleOak Life Insurance
2. Best budget policy: NobleOak Life Insurance
3. Best policy for smokers: Qantas Life Insurance
4. Best policy for seniors: Qantas Life Insurance
5. Best policy for parents: Guardian Life Insurance
6. Best for claims experience: NobleOak Life insurance

Top pick for features – NobleOak Life Insurance

NobleOak scored far higher than any of the other insurance brands when it came to features.

• How we chose these brands

  To get the feature score, we analysed different features offered by 20 different life insurance providers and awarded points for each one. The more features, and the more valuable the features, the higher the score.

Top pick for budget policy – NobleOak Life Insurance

NobleOak came out with the cheapest average price for non-smokers, at $83.44 a month for $500,000 of cover. It's a particularly impressive feat considering NobleOak also scored highest on the feature score, so you can get great cover for a low cost.

• How we chose these brands

  Using our awards data, we focused on non-smoking customer profiles aged 60 and under. We then averaged the price of all the quotes from each insurance brand to create a snapshot of how much $500,000 worth of cover typically costs within each brand. The brands in the table above are the three with the cheapest average quote.

Top pick for smokers – Qantas Life Insurance

Smokers get hit with higher life insurance premiums because they're considered higher risk. However, it is still possible to get affordable cover in some cases. Here, we've highlighted the three cheapest brands for smokers, out of the 20 we analysed.

• How we chose these brands

  We requested quotes from 20 different insurers, using 7 different smoker profiles. Only 14 insurers were able to return quotes for all 7 profiles.

  We then took those 14 insurers and applied the same algorithm used in our Finder awards, but with pricing for smokers only.

Top pick for seniors – Qantas Life Insurance

Not all life insurance policies are geared towards older Australians. We found some brands had a maximum entry age as low as 59, while Qantas allowed 74-year-olds to buy a policy. That's the highest maximum entry age of all the insurance brands we looked at.

We also found a notable price difference in the cost of cover for seniors, with some brands charging as much as $407 a month for 60-year-olds to get $500,000 worth of cover.

• How we chose these brands

  We looked at three main factors which influence older life insurance customers: price, maximum entry age and expiry age. We then awarded each insurance brand a score that correlates to its performance in each category.

Top pick for parents – Guardian Life Insurance

Some life insurance policies also let you add cover for your kids. This means you can claim if they suffer a serious medical condition that's listed on the insurance policy or if they die.

It might sound strange, but that benefit lets parents take time off work to care for their kids, pay for the best medical professionals or arrange a fitting farewell.

• Why we chose these brands

  Of the 20 policies we analysed, only 7 had the option to add cover for children. Of those 7, the above brands covered the most medical conditions. Then, we ordered them on the basis of their feature score

Top pick for claims experience – NobleOak

We looked at brands that offer life insurance directly to see which ones were paying out claims – and paying promptly. NobleOak came out on top, with a 95.2% paid claim rate for 2019-2020.

How to find the best life insurance

We've said it before and we'll say it again; there's no life insurance policy that is perfect for everyone. However, there are steps you can take to find one that's right for you.

Step 1: Choose your policy type

There are three ways to buy life insurance: retail, direct or through your super. They all have their pros and cons, so take the time to understand which one is right for you.

Step 2: Compare policies

Use Finder's online tool to compare life insurance. Our table shows key features at a glance but click "view details" and you'll see a more in-depth breakdown of each policy.

Step 3: Be honest

Don't be tempted to lie if you have a smoking habit or any pre-existing conditions. If you do, you might find your claim is denied further down the line.

Step 4: Decide on a cover amount

Don't just pick a benefit amount arbitrarily. Sit down and work out how much your family would really need to get by if the worst was to happen.

Step 5: Read your PDS

We know it's boring but do your best. The PDS contains everything you need to know about your policy and insurers are getting better at writing them without all the jargon.

Still undecided?

Life insurance is a big decision, but we've got heaps of guides that can help you get there.

• A beginners guide to life insurance

• Weekly cost of life insurance

• Standalone vs bundled life insurance