FAQs

Group insurance is a type of insurance policy that provides cover to a group of people. Typically, the individuals in the group are:

• Members of the same superannuation fund.
• Employees of the same company.

Group insurance can provide important protection for the individuals in the group, sometimes at a lower cost than they could negotiate themselves.

Group insurance can also add value to an employer's employee benefits program or allow superannuation funds to provide competitive insurance to their members.

Group Insurance is often referred in the market as institutional insurance.

Group life insurance provides insurance cover for a group of people under a single policy. It generally provides a benefit for:

• Death.
• Terminal illness.
• Total and permanent disability.

Group life insurance can provide a valuable lump sum benefit for individuals and their families to help them through this difficult time.

Income Protection insurance provides a replacement income if you’re unable to work due to sickness or injury (as defined in the insurance policy). Generally, Income Protection covers up to 75% of an individual's pre-disability income (occasionally with an extra 10% to replace superannuation contributions).

Yes. We work closely with employers, companies and super funds, to create tailored insurance policies to suit their needs.

A group insurance policy must have at least 50 members.

Automatic acceptance is where members in a group are automatically provided with a certain level of insurance cover, without having to be individually assessed. There’s a maximum that applies for the policy, and members need to meet some criteria, like being in active employment.

The automatic acceptance limit is set at the policy level, and depends on the size of the plan, the benefit structure and the eligibility criteria. We’ll let you know what this limit is when we provide you with a quote on your group insurance policy.

To find out how much it would cost to set up a group policy, contact a Business Development Manager on 1300 555 625 or email auinstitutional@metlife.com

The minimum annual premium for group insurance is $10,000.

Generally, all benefits are paid to the policy owner – not the individual members of the group. However, the group is generally responsible for passing on a benefit to the relevant member.

The exception is for Income Protection benefits — if the policy owner asks us to, we may pay the benefit directly to the individual member.

We offer a range of waiting periods on our Income Protection policies. Standard waiting periods include:

• 30 days
• 60 days
• 90 days
• 120 days

Depending on your needs, you may be able to select a different waiting period for your group, corporate or retail policy.

We offer a range of benefit periods on our Income Protection policies. Standard benefit periods include:

• 2 years
• 5 years
• To age 60

Depending on your needs, you may be able to select a different benefit period for your group, corporate or retail policy.

If you’re planning on travelling when you first apply for cover, some restrictions and exclusions apply (e.g. sanctions restrictions). But once your cover is accepted, you’re generally covered 24 hours a day wherever you are in the world.

For more information, please call us on 1300 555 625.

If you decide the policy isn’t right for you, you can cancel it during the cooling off period, and we’ll refund the full premium to you (provided you have not made a claim). But, if you cancel after the cooling off period ends, you’ll only get a refund if you’ve paid premiums in advance, for example, either half-yearly or yearly.

For more information, please call us on 1300 555 625.

Generally premiums aren’t tax deductible. But if the insurance is for business purposes, like key person insurance, or replaces income, like Income Protection insurance, then a tax deduction may apply.

Remember, tax can be complex, depending on your situation. So we recommend seeking professional advice.

Sometimes, you may want cover that’s different to your automatic acceptance amount. But you can apply to change the types and level of cover you have at any time, provided the policy is still current.

If you want to increase your cover, we may need you to give us more information, like your medical or financial details. We’ll only ask for the information we need to help us make a decision about your cover.

For more information, please call us on 1300 555 625.

Yes. If your business relies on the wellbeing of other people, key person cover can help protect the business if things go wrong.

So if a partner or director dies or suffers death or permanent disability, the business has some extra funds at hand, to help it through this challenging time.

For more information, please call us on 1300 555 625.

It’s only fair that if we’re happy to insure you while you’re in good health, we shouldn’t turn you away if your situation changes. So we guarantee that, once your policy is in force, we’ll continue to provide cover under your policy even if there is a change to your health, provided you pay your premiums on time.

But, if you’re applying for new cover, or increasing the cover you already have, you will need to tell us about any change in your health or financial circumstances. We’ll then take this into account when assessing your application.

For more information, please call us on 1300 555 625.

You can nominate up to five people to receive your death benefit if you die. They can be any age, and can generally be anyone you choose.

For more information, or to nominate a beneficiary, go to the Forms page, and download the Nominating/adding/changing a beneficiary on your policy form.

Yes. And it can save you money, compared with being insured under separate policies. But it’s important to note that there may be some restrictions, depending on the terms of the policy.

For more information, or to nominate a beneficiary, go to the Forms page, and download the Updating or adding to your existing cover form. Or contact us on 1300 555 625.

You can authorise your partner to get information about your policy, by writing to us to let us know.

But if you want them to be able to make changes to your policy, they’ll need to have a Power of Attorney.

‘Guarantee of upgrade’ simply means that, if we enhance our products in the future in any way, we’ll automatically upgrade your cover to match – starting from the next policy renewal date. That means that as things change, you’ll never be left behind.

For more information, please call us on 1300 555 625.

Claim time is our chance to show our worth. So we want to make it as easy as we can for you.

If you need to claim, it’s essential that you let us know what’s happened as soon as possible. We’ll then ask you to fill in a claim form and send us any extra information we need to help us asses your claim.

Please visit our Claims page for more information.

We understand that sometimes payments are late. But if we haven’t received your premium within a certain specified period (usually 30 days) of when it was due, your insurance cover may lapse.

If there’s a good reason why, we may choose to reinstate your cover once the premiums are paid. In these cases, you may also need to complete a reinstatement form – and the decision is entirely at our discretion.

Having said that, we want our customers to continue to enjoy the security that quality life insurance brings. So if you’re having difficulty meeting your premium payments, please call us on 1300 555 625. We can work together to find a solution or payment option that better suits your needs.

Yes – if you have a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF). And there may even be tax advantages in doing so. The trustee can take out a Term Life policy, with the option of Total and Permanent Disability cover – with premiums paid from the fund.

Remember taxation and super can be very complex, so we recommend you seek professional advice.

The answer is: it depends. Some policies will increase as you get older, or to keep up with inflation (in line with the Consumer Price Index). Other products may offer options to reduce or stop premium increases, including a Premium Freeze.

For more information, please call us on 1300 555 625.

Your policy document is an important document, so we recommend you keep it safe. But if you do lose it, you can generally replace it by completing a Statutory Declaration.

For more information, please call us on 1300 555 625.

We’d love to help, but we transferred all our allocated pension, annuity and superannuation business to Challenger in 2007. So you’ll generally need to get in touch with them directly with any enquiries.

But if you opted to have MetLife continue to administer your policy, we’re still able to help. Please call 1300 555 625 to find out more.

No. While we try to protect you from unexpected breaks in your income, Income Protection insurance won’t pay a benefit if you’re made redundant from your job.