Retail Insurance v
ALI Insurance

Deciding what type of life insurance to get is the first step to ensure you and your loved ones are protected in life’s uncertainties. Where to get life insurance is a critical choice to make too. Pay great attention when doing online life insurance comparisons. Look carefully at the price, exclusions, benefits and claims process. Consider how much life insurance you will need to cover all outstanding debt and take care of your loved ones.

Published March 2, 2021

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You’ve just bought a house, now you’re thinking of buying some insurance to support your loved ones.

You have several choices when taking out life insurance. One option is to go through your mortgage broker with an ALI type of policy that’s not medically underwritten.

Another option to consider is Retail Life insurance. A Retail Life Insurance is a type of fully underwritten policy distributed to customers through financial advisers, comparison websites or brokers. They are generally cheaper, have more features, benefits and generally have a higher claim success rate.

Price Comparison

Here is a sample of the approximate premium between some of the insurance brands we offer and ALI.

Take note, ALI’s premiums were calculated from $750,000 death and terminal illness benefit, which is the maximum sum insured offered. The policy includes a trauma benefit of 30% of the death benefit – $225,000.

Thus, for this scenario, we have calculated $750,000 life insurance with $225,000 trauma cover of 4 out of 9 brands we compare from Life Insurance Direct Comparison Engine. Also, all monthly premiums were calculated for a Male, non-smoker living in NSW (Table 1) and a Female, non-smoker living in NSW (Table 2), both from age 25 to 55.

Source: Life Insurance Direct Online Comparison Engine as of February 2021 and My Protection Plan Quote ALI Group as of January 2021

Everyone’s requirements and situations are unique. Therefore, you may want to request a quote today to discover which life insurance policy is best for you.

If you want to understand more about the differences between Retail Life insurance and ALI insurance’s one policy with three benefits – My Protection Plan, we have put this great resource together for you to read!

Life Insurance

Life Insurance	Retail Insurance	ALI My Protection Plan
Illnesses Covered		More info
Accidents Covered		More info
Terminal Illness Benefit	Diagnoses of less than 12-24 months to live	Diagnoses of less than 12 months to live
Funeral Advancement	¹ Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.
Child Cover	¹ Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.
Standard Exclusions	Suicide within the first 13 months	Suicide or an intentional, self-inflicted act within the first 13 months
Expiry Age	90-130 – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	99

TPD Insurance

TPD Insurance	Retail Insurance	ALI My Protection Plan
Total & Permanent Disablement Definition	² Any Occupation, Own Occupation – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not Available
Accidents Covered		Not Available
Illnesses Covered		Not Available
Partial Benefit Payable for the Loss of One Limb or One Eye	¹ Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not Available
Life Insurance Buy Back	Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not Available
Minimum Claim Qualification Period	3 months	Not Available
Standard Exclusions	Intentional self-inflicted injury or any such attempt by you	Not Available
Guaranteed Renewable Age	54-70 – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not Available
Expiry Age	64-99 – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not Available

Trauma Insurance

Trauma Insurance	Retail Insurance	ALI My Protection Plan
Number of Traumatic Conditions Covered	Up to 68³ – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	13
Number of Partial Traumatic Conditions Included	Up to 33³ – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.
Maximum Pay out for a Partial Condition	³ Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.
Life Insurance Buy Back	³ Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.
Trauma Reinstatement	³ Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.
Is this a Basic, Standard or Plus Policy	³ Basic, Standard or Plus policy available – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Basic
Qualifying Period	Up to 90 days	Up to 90 days
Exclusions	Suicide within the first 13 months, any intentional self-inflicted injury, attempted suicide, or any qualifying periods³	Suicide within the first 13 months, any intentional self-inflicted injury, attempted suicide, or any qualifying periods.
Guaranteed Renewable Age	69-75³ – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	64
Expiry Age	69-80³ – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	64

Income Protection

Income Protection	Retail Insurance	ALI My Protection Plan
Sicknesses Covered		Not available
Accidents Covered		Not available
Own Occupation Disablement Definition	Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not available
Monthly Benefit	Up to $60,000 – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not available
Waiting Period	14 – 730 days – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not available
Benefit Period	2 years – up to age 70 – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Not available
Standard Exclusions	Suicide within the first 13 months, intentional self-inflicted act, your participation in a criminal activity, for any period you are incarcerated, taking part in service in the armed forces, uncomplicated pregnancy, or childbirth.	Not available

Income Protection (Accident Only)

Income Protection (Accident Only)	Retail Insurance	Complimentary Accidental Injury Benefit
Own Occupation Disablement Definition	Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information	Working more than 20 hours per week in your usual occupation
Sicknesses Covered		More info
Accidents Covered		More info
Benefit Period	2 years – up to age 70 – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	Up to 3 months
Waiting Period	14 – 730 days – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	30 days
Monthly Benefit	Up to $60,000 – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	1% of the LI sum Insured up to $2500 per month
Standard Exclusions	Suicide within the first 13 months, intentional self-inflicted act, your participation in criminal activity, for any period you are incarcerated, taking part in service in the armed forces, uncomplicated pregnancy, or childbirth	Self-inflicted insured events, intoxication of the insured, flying, other than as a fare-paying passenger, an activity engaged in more than 20 metres above ground or 30 metres below it, an act of war, participation in any criminal activity, or any qualifying periods

General Policy

General Policy	Retail Insurance	ALI My Protection Plan
Worldwide Cover		Not stated in PDS
Cooling off Period	14 – 30 days – Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information	30 days
Annual Discount
Multiple Lives Discount	Varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information.	$7 a month
Multiple Cover Discount
Premium Freeze	Eligibility and availability varies depending on insurer. Refer to relevant PDS for more information
Health Rewards Program	More info
Interim Cover
Standard Exclusions	Sicknesses or injuries that first appeared, happened, or was diagnosed before your insurance started or was reinstated that have not been disclosed and accepted by the insurer. Non-disclosure (or inaccurate disclosure) can also void or affect your cover.	Exclusions for pre-existing conditions – Type A (a list of ongoing and chronic conditions) and Type B (family medical history) see PDS pg 12, Suicide/self-inflicted insured events within 13 months (Death and Terminal Illness), Self-inflicted insured events (Trauma and Accidental Injury Benefits), Any insured condition existing at commencement (or in first three months for six insured conditions marked*) see PDS pg 10

Source: Retail Insurance Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) and ALI Product Disclosure Statement. Issue date 22 June 2020 (PDS)

¹ Feature not included under a super policy.

² Own Occupation Definition not available under a super policy.

³ Trauma Cover not available under a super policy.

Retail Life Insurance Policies can be further customised

1. Customise your Insured Amount

You can choose the amount of cover so it suits your circumstances and budget. Typically, insurers have no maximum cover limit.
2. Customise your Premium Style

Several premium styles are available:

Stepped – Increase each year due to a change in your age but starts more affordable than level premiums.
Level – Start off more expensive than stepped premiums but do not increase each year due to your age change.
Hybrid – Start on a stepped level plan but convert to level premiums.
3. Ownership Structure Options

When taking out a retail policy, you can generally choose several different ownership structures:
Self Ownership – You can select to own your policy yourself, giving you control over the policy.
Joint Ownership – Joint ownership is when two or more people own the policy, such as a husband and spouse.
Cross Ownership – Cross ownership allows a husband or wife to own their spouse/partners policy.
Superannuation Ownership – If you elect to take out cover through your super fund, the super fund becomes the owner of your policy.
4. Policy Structure Options

If you are looking at taking out multiple cover types, you generally have two options:
Combined Policy – Take out a combined policy where multiple cover types are combined into one policy with one premium i.e. a combined life, trauma and TPD policy.
Stand Alone Policy – Take out individual policies for each cover type i.e. stand-alone life, trauma, TPD and income protection policies.
5. Customise Your Policy Options

One of the significant advantages of an individual retail policy is the ability to customise it to suit your needs, including choosing to add any policy options. Typical policy options for life insurance include:
Child Cover – Select insurers offer free child cover of up to $10,000 covering death, terminal, and critical illness. You can generally also elect to take additional cover out for your children of up to $250,000.
Accidental Death Insurance – Pays out a benefit if death is caused by accident. This can be a stand-alone policy, or an additional option to a life insurance policy.
Business Future Insurability – Business Future Insurability allows you to increase your insurance level if a significant business event occurs.
6. Income Protection Policy Options

Bed Confinement – Pays 1/30th of your monthly benefit for each day you are confined to your bed during your waiting period
Day 1 Accident Cover – If you are totally disabled due to an accident and continue to be totally disabled for at least 3 days, you will be paid 1/30th of your monthly benefit each day you are totally disabled.
Increasing Claims Benefit – If you go on claim, your monthly benefit will increase, allowing your benefit to keep up with inflation.
Lump Sum Benefit – If you are totally disabled to an extent that you meet the totally and permanently disabled definition, you may elect to receive a lump sum rather than a monthly benefit.
Superannuation Contribution Option – This option allows you to insure an additional 5% of your income to go towards superannuation contributions.