Dear Clients
Given the World Health Organisation has declared the corona outbreak a global public health emergency we reached out to our insurance providers to provide clarity and confirmation regards to the coronavirus and what this means for your policies.
The Financial Services Council (FSC) has stated: “There are no exclusions in existing life insurance policies that would prevent the policy paying out for a claim related to Coronavirus, if you follow Government travel advice.”
“The life insurance industry is carefully monitoring the situation and all life insurance companies have pandemic risk management plans in place in line with APRA Prudential Practice Guide 233,”
Direct comments from our frequently used insurance providers:
MLC Life Insurance spokesperson states that there are no exclusions in life insurance policies that would prevent payment of a claim related to a Coronavirus. MLC says customers would also be covered for any TPD, Trauma or Income Protection as “… there are no exclusions on these benefits that would prevent payment of a claim related to a Coronavirus”.
BT Life Insurance spokesperson says that “BT’s life insurance policies cover existing and new customers for the Coronavirus. Customers who may have TPD, Trauma or Income Protection policies with BT are also covered. New customers are subject to our usual underwriting rules,”
AIA Australia and CommInsure spokesperson said in response to questions that its “…on-sale retail life policies do not contain any exclusions for pandemics; so policyholders are covered in the event of their death from the virus”.
As to whether they are covered for TPD, Trauma or Income Protection insurance they may hold, the spokesperson said there are no specific exclusions for pandemics in on-sale retail life policies, “… so as with any claim, a policyholder would simply need to meet the eligibility criteria for the particular insurance benefits held through their policy”. “For any new insurance applications we receive, we will take into account in our assessment any recent and proposed travel to countries where the Federal Government has raised its advice level to Do Not Travel as a result of COVID-19.”
In review of the above information we urge you to follow Government travel advice to ensure your insurance policies are not affected.
If you have further questions regarding your policies please feel free to contact us.
Thank you.
VJC Wealth Management Team
General Advice warning: the information in this article is general in nature, it is not advice specific to your needs. If you want to act upon the information in this article then you should seek advice from a qualified professional. VJC WM accepts no liability to any party for acting from this information unless they have sought advice in a formal engagement with VJC WM for this purpose.
This email has been produced with information obtained from the following source:
https://riskinfo.com.au/news/2020/03/10/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-policies/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=riskinfo%20email%201273%20200311&utm_content=riskinfo%20email%201273%20200311+CID_e4a6d5ae8da984183d710c58c0898104&utm_source=Email%20Tracking&utm_term=Read%20more
