Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.

What happens if I can’t make a life insurance payment?

Adjusting or freezing your premium are among the options to consider if you find yourself unable to keep up with your life insurance payments.

Cheap Insurance

Keeping up with your premium payments it's crucial to prevent your policy from lapsing. Unfortunately, circumstances do change, new expenses arise and it’s not always possible to keep up with premiums.

Key takeaways

1. Premium freeze

A premium freeze lets you stop your premiums from increasing as you age. It's only available with stepped premium life insurance policies because the cost rises with age.

Typically it can last until you choose to cancel it, or make a claim or adjust your level of cover in some other way. You will still have to pay premiums but the price won't increase with time, as long as it's active – however, your level of cover will drop.

  • Not all policies will include this option. If you’re interested, check whether your current policy includes it or if it’s available with new policies.
  • Limited window to activate option. If your premiums have recently gone up, you may have a limited window in which to activate a premium freeze. Typically a premium freeze must be activated within 30 days of policy renewal.

FAQs about life insurance premium freezes

Finder survey: Do Australians typically have stepped or level life insurance premiums?

Response
I don't know49.04%
Level35.25%
Stepped15.71%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1110 Australians, December 2023

Which insurers may offer premium freezes?

Here are some of the brands on Finder that offer premium freezes.

BrandWhat age is this available?More info
NobleOak Income Protection (Pre-existing conditions)

NobleOak

Request a premium freeze at any time. This means your future premiums will be fixed at the amount you were paying on the date you notified the provider.
amount.

Read the review

AIA Life Insurance Logo

AIA

35

Read the review

AMP Life insurance logo

AMP Elevate

Request a premium freeze or policy cancellation at any time. This takes effect from the next extension date of the plan.

Read the review

Asteron Life Insurance Logo

Asteron

If you're paying premiums on a stepped basis, you can request a premium freeze on your life, TPD or trauma cover at any time. This excludes policy fees and government charges.

Read the review

MLC life insurance logo

MLC

30

Read the review

OnePath Life Insurance Logo

OnePath

Not specified

Read the review

Picture not described

Clearview

30

Read the review

Note that premium freeze options will reduce your sum insured amount and might not be available in super policies. Data taken from brand product disclosure statements, June 2021. Benefits, conditions and amounts are subject to change at anytime.

2. Temporarily suspend your cover

Unlike a premium freeze which merely stops premiums from increasing, this option means you stop paying premiums entirely. However, you will typically lose all your cover, and cannot make claims for anything that occurs while your cover is suspended. Not all life insurance policies will include a suspended cover benefit, and where they do it may be variously known as a premium holiday, premium pause or other variation.

  • Suspended cover works differently between insurers and policies. Some may require you to provide evidence of financial hardship while others might let anyone suspend cover without condition.
  • Length of suspension. Some insurers might let you suspend cover for a full year, while others will limit you to only a few months.
  • Terms and conditions will apply. For example, you might be limited to only one premium suspension over the policy lifespan, and it might be restricted to no more than three months. Make sure you are familiar with all conditions before committing to this option.

3. Other ways to reduce your life insurance premiums

Life insurance policies are often more complex and multifaceted than others. This can make it more difficult to navigate, but also means there are many ways to reduce costs.

  • Reduce your sum insured. If you've used the premium freeze option, you may want to consider reducing your cover before cancelling your policy altogether. For example, if your current benefit amount is $1 million, you might be able to save by reducing it.
  • Remove CPI increases. Every year you hold life insurance cover, it will automatically increase to keep up with inflation. One more way to reduce the cost of your premiums is to request to your insurer to remove the increase. You can usually do this in writing or over the phone.
  • Share a policy. You can often pay less overall or get a “bulk discount” with joint life insurance policies.
  • Shop around. It’s important to be aware of the downsides of switching life insurance policies, but it may still be worth considering. Whatever life insurance policy you have, it’s still only one option among many. Compare it side by side with other policies to see if you’re getting value for money.

Compare life insurance

1 - 7 of 12
Name Finder Score Funeral Benefit Optional TPD Cover Optional Trauma Cover Maximum Cover
Medibank Life Insurance image
Finder Award
Finder score
Funeral Benefit
$15,000
Optional TPD Cover
$1.5 million
(maximum cover)
Optional Trauma Cover
Maximum Cover
$2.5 million
Get QuoteView details
Our verdict: Medibank offers a higher payout limit ($2.5 million) than 15 other providers. It also won Most Loved, Best Value and Legendary Service categories in the Finder 2024 customer satisfaction awards.
TAL Accelerated Protection Life Insurance image
Finder Award
Finder score
Funeral Benefit
$25,000
Optional TPD Cover
$3 million
(maximum cover)
Optional Trauma Cover
Maximum Cover
No set limit
Get QuoteView details
Our verdict: One of Australia's leading life insurers. Automatically includes child critical illness cover. Plus, it comes with a level premium option (e.g. costs remain similar as you get older).

⭐ Current offer: Get up to 15% off your TAL Life, Trauma or TPD insurance policy for life - if you have a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 19 and 28 at the time of your application. Offer T&Cs on insurer website apply.
ahm Life Insurance image
Finder score
Funeral Benefit
$15,000
Optional TPD Cover
$1 million
(maximum cover)
Optional Trauma Cover
Maximum Cover
$1.5 million
Get QuoteView details
Our verdict: ahm offers a simple application process. Be approved online or over the phone. No medical or blood tests needed to apply.
AAMI Life Insurance image
Finder score
Funeral Benefit
$10,000
Optional TPD Cover
Optional Trauma Cover
Maximum Cover
$1.5 million
Get QuoteView details
Our verdict: There’s flexibility with AAMI as you can add another adult to your cover, with a competitive limit of $1.5 million. Easy application process with no medical exams.

⭐ Current offer: Save up to 10% on premiums every year for the life of the policy on AAMI Life Insurance. Offer ends 2 December 2024. T&Cs apply.
Suncorp Life Insurance image
Finder score
Funeral Benefit
$10,000
Optional TPD Cover
Optional Trauma Cover
Maximum Cover
$1.5 million
Get QuoteView details
Our verdict: Competitive maximum cover limit of $1.5 million. Suncorp lets you change your cover amount by up to $100,000 after a big life event, such as having a baby.

⭐ Current offer: Save up to 10% on premiums every year for the life of the policy on Suncorp Life Insurance. Offer ends 2 December 2024. T&Cs apply.
Real Family Life Cover image
Finder score
Funeral Benefit
$10,000
Optional TPD Cover
$1 million
(maximum cover)
Optional Trauma Cover
Maximum Cover
$1 million
Get QuoteView details
Our verdict: The application is simple; it can be done with 1 phone call and there are no medical exams. But households with larger debts may need more than a $1 million payout.

⭐ Current offer: Get back 10% of the premiums you’ve paid after 1 year.
Zurich Ezicover Life Insurance image
Finder score
Funeral Benefit
$15,000
Optional TPD Cover
Optional Trauma Cover
Maximum Cover
$1.5 million
Get QuoteView details
Our verdict: Good if you want a cheap policy from a well-regarded insurer – its 98% claims acceptance rate is higher than any other provider on Finder. Zurich keeps things simple: unlike others, it doesn’t go in for optional add-ons such as TPD or trauma cover.

⭐ Current offer: Policy discounts include 10% off for your partner if you sign up for a joint policy. You can also get 5% off income protection if you buy it alongside your life cover.
loading
Showing 7 of 7 results

Finder Score - Life Insurance

Life Insurance is a little complicated and a lot overwhelming. That's why we made the Finder Score, to make it easier to compare Life Insurance products against each other. Our experts analysed over 20 products and gave each one a score between 1 and 10.

But a higher score doesn't always mean a product is better for you. Your situation is unique, so your policy choice will be too. Don't think of Finder Score as the final word, but as a good place to start your life insurance comparison.

Read full Finder Score methodology

Why compare life insurance with Finder?

  • You pay the same price as buying directly from the life insurer.

  • We're not owned by an insurer (unlike other comparison sites).

  • We've done 100+ hours of policy research to help you understand what you're comparing.

Gary Ross Hunter's headshot
Editor, Insurance

Gary Ross Hunter was an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and news.com.au. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 2 General Advice General Insurance certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio

Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 670 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Health, home, life, car, pet and travel insurance
  • Managing the cost of living

More guides on Finder

Go to site