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AIA Life Insurance Review
- How to assess AIA life insurance
- AIA’s life insurance products include:
- Life Insurance
- Income Protection
- Total and Permanent Disability(TPD)
- Crisis Recovery
- Business Expenses
- What are the benefits of AIA life cover?
- Exclusions referred to in the AIA life insurance PDS
- Understanding AIA life insurance claims
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NEOSWhen you’re looking to protect your family and their financial future, it’s helpful to know if the insurer you’re interested in provides the type and level of coverage that will meet your requirements.
AIA Australia has over 45 years of life insurance experience. With more than 3.7 million Australian customers they are now one of our country’s biggest speciality insurer’s. Renowned for their financial stability, longevity, and fairness, they’ve paid out an impressive $1.4 billion in claims in 2018 alone.
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How to assess AIA life insurance
Reviewing AIA life insurance is an important first step in your decision-making process. When purchasing an eligible AIA Priority Protection policy you’ll gain access to their health and wellness program, AIA Vitality.
They are reinsured by Hannover and have an A+ Standard and Poor’s rating. However, you must read the AIA PDS (Product Disclosure Statement) to gain a thorough understanding of the coverage they offer. This terms and conditions document is imperative when considering whether AIA Insurance suits you.
AIA’s life insurance products include:
- Life cover;
- Income protection;
- Total and permanent disablement (TPD); and
- Crisis recovery insurance;
- Business expenses;
Life insurance products offered by AIA Australia
AIA offers a number of insurance products to their Australian customers, including life cover, income protection, total and permanent disablement (TPD), and crisis recovery insurance.
These cover types are constantly under review, which means that AIA is continuously working to improve and evolve their offering to meet the changing needs of the Australian population.
From one year to the next, your life is changing, you start a new career, get married or divorced, you have a baby or you’re getting ready for retirement. With this in mind, AIA’s product range is designed to be flexible so you can adapt your cover to fit your ever-changing requirements.
AIA Priority Protection
AIA Australia understands that each person has different needs and financial concerns. Which is why they offer a diverse range of products.
Life Insurance
AIA’s Life Cover Priority Protection policy pays out a lump sum benefit to your beneficiaries when you pass away or have been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
This lump sum payment is designed to help your loved ones pay off outstanding debts and to support them in maintaining their current lifestyle.
Some of the built-in benefits you might receive include:
Complimentary Family Final Expenses
Pays a benefit if your child passes away or is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Available for kids between the ages of 2 and 17.
Financial Planning Reimbursement
Pays a certain amount to reimburse you for obtaining financial planning advice within the first 12 months after you’ve received a claim payout.
Complimentary Interim Accidental Death Cover
Should you pass away due to an accident while your policy application is being assessed, AIA will pay you a lump sum amount. This benefit applies for up to 90 days from the date you signed your application.
Income Protection
AIA income protection generally covers you for up to 75% of your income, paid as a monthly benefit, to help pay for ongoing expenses while you recover from a serious injury or illness that has left you unable to work for longer than your waiting period. You waiting period options are generally 14, 30 or 60 days, 3 months or 1 or 2 years.
You can choose how long you want to receive the monthly benefit: 2 or 5 years, or up to your age 65 or 70.
Your choice of waiting and benefit period generally depends on your occupational category.
If you’re on a tight budget you can also choose their more affordable
‘Income Protection Accident Only’ cover which pays a monthly benefit
should you become Totally or Partially disabled due to an accidental
injury.
Some of the free and paid-for benefits available on an AIA income protection policy include:
Partial Disablement
Pays a monthly benefit when you meet the insurer’s definition of partial disablement.
Recurrent Disablement
If you return to work and the same disablement occurs within 12 months, your monthly benefit will continue on the same claim without you have to serve another waiting period.
Severity Benefit
The insurer pays an additional third of your monthly benefit if you’ve received payments for 6 consecutive months and you are still totally disabled to the extent that you cannot perform at least 2 of the Activities of Daily Living.
Guaranteed Future Insurability
You can increase your insured monthly benefit by 15%, up to $2,500, when your salary increases, without you having to provide further evidence of your health and insurability.
Total and Permanent Disability(TPD)
Pays a lump sum benefit if you are totally and permanently disabled due to an injury or illness. This product can be purchased as a stand-alone policy or as part of your life insurance cover.
AIA offers you a choice of TPD Definition: Any Occupation, Own Occupation, Loss of Independence or Home Duties.
There are a number of options offered by AIA Australia which can be purchased at an additional cost to further enhance your policy, including TPD Buy Back, School Fees Protector, Family Protection and Forward Underwriting.
Crisis Recovery
Crisis recovery insurance pays a lump sum benefit when diagnosed with a critical illness as defined by AIA. Illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s, and heart attacks.
You can purchase this cover type as a stand-alone benefit or combine it with your life cover. Take note, if you decide to purchase the stand-alone option, you must survive for at least 14 days from the date of diagnosis.
Additional cost options include Forward Underwriting, Crisis Reinstatement, Crisis Recovery Buyback and Family Protection.
Business Expenses
To protect your small business, AIA Priority Protection provides Business Expenses Insurance, which offers a monthly benefit to cover fixed business costs if you are unable to work.
Fixed business costs covered include accounting fees, regular advertising costs, rent, leasing costs and more.
What are the benefits of AIA life cover?
One of the reasons for their popularity is the number of benefits that are generally built into the AIA Priority Protection life insurance products.
- Worldwide cover: You’ll have full cover anywhere in the world 24/7, so you can travel with confidence.
- Interim cover: You’ll receive a lump sum payout in the event of your accidental death or injury during the first 90 days your application date, while your policy is waiting to be underwritten and approved.
- Cooling off period: You can cancel your policy within 28 days and get a full refund of all premiums paid, so long as you haven’t made a claim yet.
- Premium freeze: If your policy has become too expensive or unaffordable and you are on the stepped premium option, you can freeze your premiums. Meaning, your cover amount will reduce each year so that your premiums will not increase.
- Premium discounts: You might qualify for a large sum insured discount when your lump sum is greater than a certain amount. For example, save 30% on your premiums when purchasing $1 million or more life cover.
- Wellness program AIA Vitality: Access to a health and wellness rewards program, which helps you improve your health while earning rewards.
- Terminal illness benefit: AIA will payout your life insurance policy in advance if you are diagnosed with a Terminal Illness. You can use this payment as you see fit, whether it’s paying for medical bills, outstanding costs, or helping your family cope with financial uncertainty.
Exclusions referred to in the AIA life insurance PDS
Generally, most life insurance products have exclusions. Exclusions refer to circumstances under which AIA will not pay a claim.
General exclusions which apply to AIA Priority Protection products:
- Neither life insurance nor income protection will pay a claim if death was due to suicide within the first 13 months of your policy commencing.
- TPD, trauma and income protection insurance will not payout if any crisis event or disablement was as a result of an intentionally self-inflicted injury.
- Accidental death will not be paid if caused directly or indirectly by the effects of alcohol and/or drug abuse.
- Non-permanent residents of Australia will not be eligible to claim for accidental deaths.
- If accidental death was due to you engaging in unlawful acts, a claim will not be paid.
- Your accidental death claim will be rejected if due to training for or participating in professional sports or speed contests, this includes any form of aviation other than on scheduled airlines as a fare-paying passenger.
You will find the full list of exclusions for each specific policy type in the AIA PDS.
Understanding AIA life insurance claims
To claim for your AIA policy, you must:
- Notify AIA at your earliest possible opportunity. You can contact their AIA claims team via phone or email. Their contact details are available on their website.
- Request claim forms and ask which supporting documents you need to include.
- Complete the claim forms and provide it to AIA as soon as possible.
- Additional information might be requested, like additional documents as proof of any entitlement to claim, and you may need to be medically examined by a Medical Practitioner appointed by AIA.
Frequently asked questions
What does AIA stand for?
AIA stands for the American International Assurance Company (Australia limited). The name was given when it was still part of AIG, the Australian arm of the Hong Kong based AIA Group limited. However, since splitting from AIG in 2009, it was renamed the AIA Group.How much does an AIA life insurance policy cost?
The cost of your policy depends on a range of variables, like your age, your occupation, your gender, your health and smoking status and the state you live in, whether you choose stepped, level, or hybrid premiums, and any discounts that might apply to your policy.
While price isn’t everything, it’s an incredibly important factor when it comes to finding the right life insurance policy for you. That’s why it’s so important to compare policies when you’re in the process of searching for life insurance.How can I apply and is my policy renewable?
You can apply for life insurance from AIA by filling in the quote form above or contacting the insurer directly via phone or email.
Regardless of changes to your life and health, AIA will renew your benefits every year, as long as you keep paying your premiums until the expiry date of the benefit, as indicated in your PDS.How can I pay my premiums?
AIA allows you to choose whether you want to pay your premiums monthly, half-yearly, or yearly. It’s worth noting that an extra 5% charge applies if you pay half-yearly, and an 8% charge applies if you pay monthly. This means that the yearly option is the cheapest.
You can pay your AIA life insurance premiums in one of 3 ways:- Credit card: You must use a Mastercard, Visa, Diners Club or American Express credit card.
- Direct debit: You will need to supply your banking details from your nominated bank account.
- BPAY and Post Billpay: This option is available if you pay your premiums yearly or half-yearly.
How does AIA Vitality work?
AIA Vitality is a separate health and wellness program that you can add to your policy. It is designed to help you improve your overall health and well-being by giving you access to knowledge, tools, and motivation in the form of Vitality Points. By using a variety of online resources and completing health checks and assessments, you can achieve a healthier lifestyle.
You can earn points by completing the following assessments and actions:- Online health reviews and checks;
- mental wellbeing and fitness assessments;
- dental and nutritional assessments;
- joining a partner gym (like Fitness First and Virgin Active);
- buying partner fitness devices and apps (like Fitbit and Garmin);
- getting vaccinations and advanced screenings; and
- when you quit smoking.
The more points you earn, the higher AIA Vitality status you will achieve, which unlocks more benefits and rewards.Do they still offer funeral protection products?
While AIA no longer offers their Funeral Protection policy, they have replaced this with MaxLife Final Expenses. This stand-alone policy provides a lump sum benefit to your nominated beneficiary(s) in the event of your death to help your loved ones pay for your final expenses.
Benefits of AIA MaxLife Final Expenses cover:- Level premiums, which means your premiums won’t continue increasing every year.
- Guaranteed acceptance when meeting the policy requirements.
- Worldwide cover so that wherever you go, your final expenses will be covered.
- Joint policy discount if you and your partner both take out MaxLife Final Expenses.
- Your choice of cover amount: 5,000 to $10,000.
How can I cancel my policy?
You can cancel your policy by sending AIA your cancellation request via email, letter, or fax, together with your policy document and your policy schedule.
If you have paid any premiums in advance, it is possible that you’ll be refunded the unexpired portion of the premium after they have deducted any cancellation fees.Will AIA allow me to change my insurance?
With AIA you can request to increase your cover at any time, but you will most likely have to be underwritten again. Similarly, you can reduce your sum insured and/or monthly benefit at any time your premium is due, just as long as you don’t reduce it below the minimums in force during the time of your decrease.
