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.
TPD covers you if you get severely injured or sick. For example, if you become blind or paralysed after a car accident and become permanently disabled.
Learn more about life insurance
Our life insurance guides can help you compare and understand what cover option is right for you.
What is life insurance? Discover the ins and outs of life insurance, from how it works to why it's so important for many families.
The best policy for you will depend on the insurance type that meets your specific needs and life circumstances. To help you out, we've identified some of the highest-scoring life insurance brands based on our Finder Awards data.
Life insurance is often worth getting if you have a partner or people who depend on you financially. Many Australians automatically have life insurance included in their super. However, it's often not enough to cover all of your debts. A standalone life insurance policy can cover you for more.
A life insurance payout goes to the beneficiary, which is the person or people you choose to receive the financial benefit of your life cover policy after you die. A beneficiary can be a family member, a friend, a trust or an organisation.
It's an individual assessment depending on your cashflow, retirement funding and tax situation. While it's often cheaper and easier to hold life insurance within super, it reduces the amount in your retirement fund. Additionally, the payout is usually small and the policies typically expire when you turn 65. With a traditional life insurance policy, the expiry age is usually around 99 or there is no expiry age at all, as long as you keep paying your premiums.
In addition to paying out if you die, many life insurance policies can cover:
Terminal illness cover. This pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with an illness which cannot be cured, such as advanced cancer. The amount paid is the same as the policy's maximum cover. After a terminal illness benefit is paid, the policy expires.
Counselling sessions. This helps with the cost of grief counselling sessions, up to a set limit, such as $1,000.
Children's life cover. This option lets you add your children to your policy. If they become terminally ill or die, it can pay you a lump sum.
Financial advice benefit. You, or your family, can utilise the help of a qualified financial adviser to help with the management of your estate. The benefit pays up to a limit. For example, $2,000.
Funeral benefit. This pays out a portion of your lump sum in advance so your family can pay for your funeral, as the full payout typically takes between 2 and 4 weeks). The payout tends to range from $10,000 to $25,000. Funeral cover is also available as a standalone policy.
Interim accidental cover. You can be insured against accidents while your life insurance application is being processed. Usually, for up to 90 days.
TAL Life Limited is the largest life insurance company in Australia. It accounts for 33% of the market. AIA Australia Limited is the second largest fund (18.3%), followed by Zurich Australia Limited (13.8%).
Claims for certain high-risk activities or illegal ones such as drug use won't be covered by life insurance. You also can't make a claim linked to a pre-existing condition that you failed to disclose during your application.
To learn about more common policy exclusions that apply to life insurance, read the "general exclusions" section of a policy's PDS. A quick way to do this on your laptop or computer is to search "control + F" or "command + F" and look for "exclusions".
Yes. Currently, life insurance providers don't specify COVID-19 exclusions on individual policies. However, you should check if the policy will cover you for claims associated with COVID-19 before you buy, renew or switch insurance.
Yes, it is possible. If you have a pre-existing medical condition, there are insurers who will still cover you. But they might ask you to pay slightly higher premiums or exclude that condition from your cover. It's really important to disclose any condition you have when you apply for life insurance. Not doing so could void your cover.
Child life insurance is a feature you can add to your life insurance policy for an added fee. It will pay out a financial benefit if your child dies or suffers a serious medical condition.
Life insurance can be cancelled at any time. Keep in mind if you cancel your insurance and decide to take it out later, you'll likely have a higher premium. That's because insurers will see you as a higher risk due to your age or any further medical conditions you may have had.
Karen Eley is the founder of Women Talking Finance, which provides money coaching and financial literacy and education services. An experienced and former financial adviser who has worked in financial services industry for 22 years, Karen is a Certified Money Coach (CMC), holds a Bachelor of Accounting and an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning and CFP.
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
Compare life insurance policies on offer from OnePath and find out how to a secure quote for cover. Find out what is covered under each of the OnePath policies.
Guardian Life Insurance coverage could offer an excellent way to protect your family and loved ones financially in the event of your death or terminal illness.
BT has grown to become one of the most respected insurance groups in Australia. Find out what is covered under the BT Life Insurance policies and receive a secure quote for cover from an insurance consultant.
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.
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.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.