Income protection insurance premium waivers
Income protection insurance waivers may be offered when a client is receiving claim benefits, depending on the insurer. It can help relieve financial pressure, by lessening the impact on your budget. When money is tight, income cover can often be the first thing to slip off the monthly shopping list. But with premium waivers offered at the time of claim, you can help safeguard your financial future and potentially save thousands of dollars when you need it most.
Income protection insurance premium waivers explained
Premium waivers has been a feature of a few income protection insurance policies for many years. There are a select handful of insurers that offer this benefit as part of their standard policy.
Insurance premium waiver options
If you decide to purchase other policies from the same insurer (like life, trauma, and TPD insurance), ensure the policies are on the same policy schedule. Doing this further enhances the effect of the premium waiver. In the event of a claim, all premiums on other policies will also typically be waived. However before making a decision check that your insurer extends this type of premium waiver clause to other policies as not all do!
Tony's income protection insurance premium waiver
Tony is 35 years old and works as a pharmacist in country Victoria. Currently his income protection insurance covers him to age 65, with a $6,250 per month benefit (30 day wait). The premium for this coverage is $97 per month.
Tony also has $1 million worth of life insurance and 'any occupation' total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance. The premium for this is $75 per month. In addition, he takes out $500,000 of stand alone trauma insurance, at a cost of $79 per month.
Including the policy fee, Tony's total annual premium is $256 per month.
Unfortunately, a prolonged illness means that Tony cannot work for an extended period of time. To assist him in continuing to pay for ongoing expenses, Tony receives a monthly benefit of $6,250 for income protection insurance. In addition, all the premiums for his other insurances are waived, meaning Tony does not have to pay for his Life, TPD and Trauma cover during this time. (Note: Only a select few insurers offer this extended premium waiver, some insurers would require that Tony continue to pay his life TPD and trauma insurance).
Looking in detail at the waived premium, the effective cost of $256 per month is equal to $438. Then take into consideration tax at the 41.5% rate and this means the overall monthly benefit is equal to around $6,688.
If Tony was on a total disability claim for five years, select life insurance companies may waive up to $17,366, which would equate to $29,685 before tax for someone in the 41.5% tax bracket. During the five years, the policy would pay over $375,000 plus indexation.
Most importantly, Tony is able to focus on recovering from his illness without his family experiencing severe financial hardship.
Who offers an income protection premium waiver?
For more information and options on your income protection insurance contact xLife. We can discuss who offers an premium waivers and whether this would suit your situation.
References: All facts and figures in this article have been provided by AXA Insurance Australia 2010.
Source: AXA 2010
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April 2011
