Income
Protection Insurance

How much you pay for your Income Protection insurance may depend on your level of cover and age, as well as your occupational rating, your waiting period and your benefit period. If you’re on parental leave, you may be eligible for premium-free cover with our Parental Leave Premium Waiver.¹

It’s important to understand that insurance premiums are deducted from your super balance, which reduces your retirement savings. If you wish to cancel your insurance, you can do so at any time.

When you apply for Income Protection cover, you’ll be asked some questions about your occupation. Every occupation receives an ‘occupational rating’, which reflects how dangerous a job is. It affects the insurance premiums you pay for your insurance – for example, if you have a White Collar rating, you’ll pay lower premiums than if you had a Heavy Blue rating.

It’s a good idea to check your occupational rating, as you may be eligible for a lower-risk rating – which in turn may reduce your premiums. If you change jobs, you should also check that your occupational rating matches your new position.

Your waiting period is the amount of time you must wait before you can receive a payment. To be eligible for Income Protection payments, you must be unable to work as a result of your injury or illness at the end of your waiting period.

We offer a number of different waiting periods, depending on the type of Income Protection you’ve chosen. In general, the longer the waiting period, the cheaper the policy – so it’s worth thinking about your savings and emergency funds, and how much leave you have, when you’re considering waiting periods. 

Your benefit period is the length of time you’ll receive payments if you remain unable to work due to your illness or injury.

We offer benefit periods of two or five years, or up to age 65. Longer benefit periods are more expensive, but you also have greater protection if you’re unable to work for a long period of time.