Putting Members'
Interests First (PMIF)

If you became a member of Hostplus before 1 April 2020 and your account balance remained below $6,000 for the entire period between 1 November 2019 and 1 April 2020 and you did not contact us to elect to maintain your insurance, your insurance cover would have ceased on 1 April 2020 as required under PMIF legislation. If your account balance reaches $6,000 in the future, automatic default cover may recommence at default values for your account type. Cover recommencement is subject to the terms and conditions of the relevant policy and if it has ended due to the PMIF laws you may only be able to recommence cover at default levels or subject to restricted cover conditions.

Refer to your Hostplus PDS for information about how you may be able to recommence cover. The Hostplus Personal and Industry plan PDS is available here. The Hostplus Executive plan PDS is available here.

If you have not previously cancelled or opted out of your default cover and you wish to obtain default insurance cover, you may be able to obtain default cover by making an election to opt-in early under the insurance section of your Member Online account. For higher levels of cover you may be able to make an application to increase your cover to our insurer¹ via Member Online.

Please note: Separate legislation that was passed in February 2019 also affects insurance in super. Under the ‘Protecting Your Super’ (PYS) legislation, members who are not receiving regular contributions may need to make a separate election to maintain their cover. This means some members may need to make more than one insurance election to have and maintain their cover with Hostplus. Read more about the way inactive accounts are impacted.

Yes, you can decrease or cancel your insurance at any time via your Hostplus Member Online account or by contacting us via phone 1300 467 875 or email us.

If your insurance was cancelled on 1 April 2020 because your account balance remained below $6,000 for the entire period on and from 1 November 2019 up until 1 April 2020, we would have contacted you to let you know that your cover has been cancelled. If your insurance cover was cancelled, you were no longer charged insurance premiums and you won't be able to make a claim for insurance benefits for events or conditions that arise after your cover was cancelled. However, it's important to note that you may still be able to claim for events or conditions that arose while you had insurance cover in place.

Members who had their insurance cover cancelled on 1 April 2020 because their account balance had not reached $6,000 during the period on and from 1 November 2019 until 1 April 2020 may have cover recommence at default levels on the first date that their account balance reaches $6,000 or more after 1 April 2020. Increases or variations of cover that differ from the default levels, or any cover you have previously instructed us to cancel, may not recommence automatically. Cover recommencement is subject to the terms and conditions of the relevant policy and if cover ended due to the PMIF laws you may only be able to recommence cover at default levels or subject to restricted cover conditions.

Refer to your Hostplus PDS for information about how you may be able to recommence cover. The Hostplus Personal and Industry plan PDS is available here. The Hostplus Executive plan PDS is available here.

If you'd like to have insurance through Hostplus again in the future, you may be able to opt-in for default cover or apply for cover. If you apply for cover your application may be subject to underwriting (which may include a full health assessment). Your application will be forwarded to our insurer¹ for assessment, who will decide whether or not to provide you with cover. 

We encourage you to review your current insurance arrangements to see if they are appropriate. You may also wish to seek independent financial advice. If you hold multiple insurance policies, including certain types of cover outside of superannuation, you may be able to apply to transfer your cover to Hostplus without the need for extensive underwriting. You can begin this process by applying via your Member Online account. Find out more information on transferring cover.

The benefits of insurance through Hostplus include:

• Because Hostplus represents over 1.8 million, we can negotiate special rates and terms that may not be available to the general public.
• As an industry fund, we don’t allow any commissions on our premiums meaning you only pay for what the product costs.
• Premiums are deducted from the balance of your super, not your bank balance, so it’s easy to enjoy the peace of mind that goes with being covered, without the hassle of paying premiums from your take home pay.
   

You can review or change the insurance you currently hold through Hostplus via Member Online.

Hostplus' insurance page provides a range of tools and calculators that may help you to determine your insurance needs and assist you to calculate the level of cover you require. As a Hostplus member you also have access to SuperAdviser² to help you get a clearer understanding of your financial objectives via a statement of limited advice. You may also want to seek independent financial advice before you make a decision about your insurance through Hostplus.

Consolidation may save you from paying extra fees and potentially help you to grow your nest egg.

Before consolidating, you should consider whether consolidation is appropriate for you, including what impact it may have on your financial situation, objectives and needs. This may include considering the insurance cover or any other benefits which may be lost if you close one or more of your super accounts. Please note that consolidating into Hostplus will mean that your other super accounts outside Hostplus will be closed and you will be unable to transfer insurance cover from those accounts or claim a tax deduction for contributions made to those accounts. If you're not sure whether consolidation is appropriate, you may want to seek independent financial advice.

For more information on consolidation, click here or log in to your Member Online account.

When a claim is submitted it is assessed based on the date the event occurred. This means that if your insurance cover has ended you may still be covered for any insurable events that happened prior to the date your cover ceased.

As a result, if you had a current claim before your cover ended because of PMIF, it will not be affected.

If, however you lost your insurance cover because of PMIF, you will no longer be covered for events that occur after the date that your cover ceases.

Under PMIF legislation, if a super fund elects to apply the 'dangerous occupation exception' the fund can continue to provide automatic insurance cover to members under 25 years of age who work in a dangerous occupation. The dangerous occupation exception only applies if the fund trustee makes an election to apply it to a member's dangerous occupation and informs the regulator (the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority).

Hostplus has applied for the dangerous occupation exception for some former-Maritime Super members. Members who don’t have insurance due to PMIF (either because they have an account balance below $6,000 or are under 25 years of age) and who work in a dangerous occupation can apply for cover with Hostplus at any time.  However, note that insurance cover is subject to acceptance by the insurer.¹

Some tailored insurance arrangements provide for members to have the cost of their cover paid for by their employer. If your employer covers the full cost of your insurance and meets its obligations under the tailored insurance arrangement the PMIF laws will not affect you.

If you became a member of Hostplus before 1 April 2020 and your employer did not pay the full cost of your tailored insurance arrangements, then your cover will have ceased on 1 April if your account balance didn’t reach at least $6,000 or you did not make  an election to maintain the cover.

For example, if your account balance didn't reach at least $6,000 before 1 April 2020 and you had obtained additional cover beyond the cover that your employer pays for under the tailored insurance arrangements (eg. you pay premiums for your own salary continuance cover), this cover would have ceased unless you made an election to maintain the cover prior to 1 April 2020.

If your employer pays the full cost of your insurance cover, then you will have retained your cover on and from 1 April 2020 as long as your employer continues to meet its obligations under this arrangement.

New members joining after 1 April 2020 under an arrangement where their employer pays the full cost of their insurance will generally have default cover automatically applied to their account despite having an account balance below $6,000 or being aged under 25. If your employer does not pay the full cost of cover offered under your tailored insurance arrangements, then you will only be able to obtain cover when your account balance reaches at least $6,000 and you are aged 25 or over (unless you make an election to obtain cover even if your account balance is less than $6,000 or you are under the age of 25).

If you cease working for the employer at any stage, your insurance cover will be cancelled if you have not made an election to maintain your cover and your account hasn’t reached at least $6,000, and, for new members joining after 1 April 2020, if you have not reached age 25 before you cease work.