The best life insurance for you will depend on your budget and personal circumstances. Our experts have chosen a bunch of picks that will suit a range of people, but these should only be used as a guide. You should always read the product disclosure statement (PDS) to know if a product is a good fit for you.
Best life insurance in December 2024
According to Finder research, the best life insurance providers are:
Medibank won the 2024 Finder Customer Satisfaction award. That's because it scored highly in areas of customer satisfaction, ease of application, value for money and features & benefits.
91% of Medibank customers surveyed said Medibank is a trustworthy and reliable brand.
Medibank members get 24/7 access to the Medibank Nurse phone service.
Medibank health members get 10% off their premiums each year.
Cons
Its $2.5million max cover cap is lower than some other providers.
It only offers stepped premiums which means your premium will increase as you age.
We asked 500+ customers to rate their life insurer. Here's how they scored Medibank.
Customer service: 4.3/5 ★★★★★
Ease of application: 4.1/5 ★★★★★
Features and benefits: 4.3/5 ★★★★★
Value for money: 4.1/5 ★★★★★
91% of customers said Medibank is trustworthy and reliable.
Medibank's claims acceptance rate is higher than the industry average, but its average claim time is slower than average.
Budget Direct was highly commended in the 2024 Finder Life Insurance awards because it has thorough coverage but remains comparatively well priced.
It was the 3rd cheapest brand we found in our research.
It has a maximum cover limit of $15million and a funeral benefit of $15,000. It also offers up to $5million for total and permanent disability (TPD) cover. This is similar to many other, more expensive insurers.
Cons
Its maximum entry age is 69, which is young in comparison to other insurers.
There are cheaper insurers available if cost if your primary consideration.
We asked 500+ customers to rate their life insurer. Here's how they scored Budget Direct.
Customer service: 3.9/5 ★★★★★
Ease of application: 4.2/5 ★★★★★
Features and benefits: 3.8/5 ★★★★★
Value for money: 4/5 ★★★★★
85% of customers said Budget Direct is trustworthy and reliable.
Budget Direct's claims acceptance rate is higher than the industry average, and its average claim time is also faster than average.
How much are Australians spending on life insurance?
Every month, we ask a bunch of Aussies what they're paying for their life insurance. Here's what their bill looked like in November 2024.
$160
Price based on 130+ responses about their monthly premium in November 2024.
Top 5 life insurance brands for customer satisfaction in 2024
We asked 500+ Australians to rate their life insurer for customer service, value for money and more — these are the winners.
Brand
Overall satisfaction
Trustworthy/reliable
★★★★★ 4.27
91%
★★★★★ 4.18
88%
★★★★★ 4.16
94%
★★★★★ 4.14
94%
★★★★★ 4.09
91%
How to find the best life insurance policy
Make a list of debts owing. Make a list and know what your loved ones would need to be financially stable in the event of your passing. This should take into account any mortgages, home loans, car loans, etc. This will let you know what the minimum amount for cover should be and this will help narrow down your search.
Decide if you want cover for other unexpected events. This includes things like trauma cover, total and permanent disability cover and income protection. This will help you know if you should look for a policy with lots of add ons or if a simple policy will suit you just fine.
Know the state of your health. Your life insurance premium is largely dictated by the state of your health so to understand how to best go about getting cover, it can be helpful to know what kind of health you're in. The healthier you are, the more options you have. If you've got pre-existing conditions then you might like to get life insurance via a broker or look into options via your super.
Compare at least 3 different options. The cost of life insurance can vary hugely between providers so it's important to get at least 3 different quotes so you have a good idea of what's out there. The admin can be a bit frustrating but it can be really costly to not take the time to compare.
FAQs
TAL life insurance won the 2024 Finder Award for Best Life Insurer because it offers thorough coverage with high benefit limits, yet remains one of the cheapest providers we researched. However, what's best for you will depend on your personal circumstances so you should always compare a few different providers to decide what's best for your needs.
Finder research shows that HCF is one of the most trusted life insurance providers in Australia. On average, 97% Australians surveyed said HCF is a trustworthy brand.
Clearview, St Andrews and NobleOak all have a great claims acceptance rate for policies bought directly from the provider. The industry average is 91.1%, here's the claims acceptance rate for those 3 brands:
ClearView - 100%
St Andrews - 100%
NobleOak - 98.8%
If your family wouldn't be financially stable in the event of your death, then it's probably worth getting life insurance. If they'd manage okay, then it's probably not worth it.
Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio
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 644 Finder guides across topics including:
Find out what cover is on offer from Zurich Life Insurance and receive a secure quote for cover. Zurich offers a Life, Income, TPD, Trauma, and Child Cover with additional options to tailor cover further.
Compare Life Insurance and Income Protection policies from Real Insurance and get cover in place with no medical or blood tests.
Important information about this website
Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Finder is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stand 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.
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.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
