Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Death Insurance
Death insurance, also called life insurance, pays a lump sum (for example, $1 million) if you pass away during the policy's term. It means your loved ones can meet ongoing expenses, such as the mortgage.
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.
What is death insurance cover?
Death insurance cover, sometimes called life insurance, pays a lump sum to your beneficiary (or beneficiaries) if you pass away.
Death cover can bring peace of mind for you and your family. It can help secure your family's future and ensure they don't need to face the burden of financial uncertainty while simultaneously coping with grief.
Lump sum payments in the event of death or terminal illness
Advance payments to help cover the immediate costs
Financial planning and counselling benefits for your family
Benefit payments available in the event of serious injury or illness
Top picks for death cover in Australia
Top pick: Winner
NobleOak Life Insurance
Finder Award
$25 million sum insured
1st place in Finder Awards: 8.45 final score
Fully underwritten policy
Cheapest average policy price
Top pick: Finalist
TAL Accelerated Protection Life Insurance
Finder AwardBonus
Pays up to $5 million in TPD
2nd place in Finder Awards
Interim accident cover
$25,000 funeral advancement
Top pick: Finalist
RACWA Life Insurance
Pays up to $25 million
3rd place in Finder Awards
TPD and trauma options
$15,000 funeral advancement
We picked these policies after analysing the results from Finder's life insurance awards for 2023.
NobleOak Life Insurance: NobleOak's maximum payout for death or terminal illness is $25 million. Most providers offer cover limits of between $1 and 2.5 million. With NobleOak, you can add as much as $5 million in TPD cover – the most out of all 10 providers we analysed for the 2023 Finder Awards.
TAL Accelerated Protection: TAL's life insurance scored highly on price in the most recent Finder Awards. It was the second cheapest provider across 4 age groups – it also offers a comparatively strong policy. It pays $25,000 in funeral expenses and you have the option to add children's cover. It also offers flexibility by not setting a maximum benefit limit.
RAC Life Insurance: RAC life insurance is underwritten by NobleOak. This means it offers similar cover levels, high benefit limits (RAC goes up to $25 million) and quality add-ons. Our research team found NobleOak was more competitive than RAC on cost – by $75 per month on average (factoring in smokers and non-smokers).
Did you know?
A recent Finder survey revealed that a third (34%) of Australians have no financial safeguards in place for their loved ones if they were to pass away suddenly.
What type of expenses am I covered for?
Some of the expenses that death cover can provide relief for, include:
Rent or mortgage repayments
Children’s education expenses
Daily living expenses and needs, such as food and clothing
Costs to hire housekeeper or nanny
Home maintenance costs
Funeral expenses
Legal expenses
Estate settlement costs
How do I determine my life insurance needs?
There isn't one death cover that is ideal for everyone, which is why it is important to assess and compare different policies to determine which plan would be most suitable for you and your family's needs. Here are a few things to consider when calculating the right amount you need:
You current annual income. Replacing your lost income for the years required
Short-term and long-term debts. This often includes mortgage, credit card debts, personal loan, and car loan
Your immediate expenses. This includes food, clothing and shelter (rent payments, if you don't own your home)
Your children's education expenses. Consider the number of children you have and their respective ages to determine the total amount of expenses
Emergency funds. Work out how much of your expenses such as a funeral arrangement, medical treatments, legal fees and estate settlement costs can be covered by your savings.
You can use a life cover calculator to give you an indication on how much you may need for a death cover. If you want further guidance, an experienced death cover agent can help you in determining an ideal amount that will match your needs situation, as well as providing tailored advice on life policies that suit what you require.
What forms of death cover are available?
The two main types of life insurance are term life insurance and funeral cover, both of which can pay out the full sum insured on death. If you are not eligible to obtain term life insurance (such as due to medical conditions or age), a funeral plan may be a good option.
Generally a more flexible and detailed type of cover than funeral insurance.
Choose from a wider range of benefits and payout conditions that suit your needs.
Often significantly higher maximum benefits than funeral insurance.
Funeral plans
You can take out a specific amount of cover, such as $8,000, which is paid to your beneficiary when you die and can be spent at their discretion.
Can cover administrative costs and mortuary fees, and the funeral itself.
You can generally have two people on the same funeral plan, and should either one pass away, the other can receive the benefits.
Death cover for different life stages
You're relatively young and healthy and your premiums are reasonably low. You might be single, or you might have a family and dependents and can find a level of cover to suit.
As your responsibilities grow you will typically be adjusting your policy and increasing your level of cover later on. Here, additional disability cover with term life insurance can deliver an important extra layer of protection for you in the event of life-changing accident or illness.
You may be married with children and you might be bearing more financial obligations. Investments and debt can also make up a significant portion of your finances which should be considered when comparing life insurance policies or adjusting cover.
If you don't have children already, you may be planning for kids in the future, and their age will determine how far ahead you need to plan for their education expenses.
Disability can be just as significant a concern as death, putting you and your family in a difficult position. With more assets, costs and dependents, as well as your retirement to think about, a comprehensive and versatile life policy can be important in this life stage.
At this point, if you have children, they will likely have moved out and you would be looking towards retirement. Protecting your investments and assets through life insurance may be an important part of retirement planning, and paying off the mortgage and other debt before retirement is also a concern.
Don't underestimate the level of cover you might need in order to provide for a long retirement spanning several decades. Consider your children's circumstances when looking at policies, as well as the likelihood of your partner being able to return to the workforce if something happens.
After retirement, your financial obligations will generally have decreased, but naturally so has your income. You can get cover to help you keep up with your plans, such as travelling, in line with your financial capacity. The assets you've spent a lifetime building may need to be protected, and any financial obligations towards your partner or other dependents.
Estate planning and aged care costs can be worth considering, as are growing medical expenses or costs relating to other health needs. Financial planning might also be important to consider, specifically in the form of estate tax mitigation and budgeting for an extensive retirement with many years ahead.
Finding a policy to match your budget and help maintain your lifestyle while protecting important obligations depends largely on your circumstances, such as your age of retirement and current income from assets.
Can death cover pay for accidents and injuries?
In the event of a fatal accident or injury, death cover of both types, funeral plans and term life insurance, can pay out, while some benefits may also be available for survivable accidents or injuries, although these are generally only available with term life insurance policies.
With funeral plan insurance policies, you may be able to institute a premium pause in the event of financial hardship, while still retaining cover for accidental death. This can let you stop paying premiums for a limited time, such as 3 months, while still knowing that the policy will pay out in the event of an accidental death.
The accidental death benefit available with term life insurance policies can pay out an additional amount should your death be the result of an accident, in order to help compensate for the suddenness of the event and additional costs that may be associated. This may only be available with term life insurance policies.
For severe but survivable accidents you may also be able to link additional forms of cover to your policy including:
Trauma, serious injury or serious illness cover: In the event of specified health events you can get paid lump sum benefits. The specific events covered will vary between policies, but can include cardiac arrest, cancer, loss of limbs, blindness, heart surgery and many others.
Total and permanent disablement or income protection insurance: Should you suffer an accident, injury or illness that leaves you permanently disabled, this type of policy can pay benefits. Depending on the type of cover, disabled might be defined by an inability to work, an inability to perform specific tasks or a percentage measurement of disability based on your physical injuries and loss of function.
If you are in the older age group and have little debt, you may want to consider a funeral plan that will take care of your funeral costs.
Why you can trust Finder's life insurance experts
We're free
You pay the same as buying directly from the life insurer. Better still, we regularly run exclusive deals that you won't find on any other site – plus, our tables make it easy to compare policies.
We're experts
Our team of life insurance experts have researched and rated dozens of policies as part of our Finder Awards and published 250+ guides to make it easier for you to compare.
We're independent
Unlike other comparison sites, we're not owned by an insurer. That means our opinions are our own and we work with lots of life insurance brands, making it easier for you to find a good deal.
We're here to help
Since 2016, we've helped 270,000+ people find life insurance by explaining your cover options, simply and clearly. We'll never ask for your number or email. We're here to help you make a decision.
Frequently asked questions
This is really up to you to decide based on your individual circumstances and needs. If you're unsure, it's probably a good idea to speak with a financial adviser or planner to figure out if death insurance is worth it for you.
Essentially, yes. Death cover is often interchangeable with life insurance. It offers a lump sum payout to your beneficiaries if you die while your policy's active. However, life insurance is also sometimes used collectively to describe various types of life cover – such as trauma cover and TPD – held within a policy.
Death insurance can be more expensive than other types of life cover, such as funeral insurance. Keep in mind death cover only pays after an insured's death. You wouldn't be able to claim it if you were to become sick or injured, unlike, say, income protection.
James Martin was the insurance editor at Finder. He has written on a range of insurance and finance topics for over 7 years. James often shares his insurance expertise as a media spokesperson and has appeared on Prime 7 News, WIN News, Insurance News, 7NEWS and The Guardian. He holds a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification, both of which meet the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146).
Life insurance can be bought directly from an insurer. Learn about the benefits and a few watch outs you should be aware of.
Feedback
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
