TAL Life Insurance

TAL is a provider of life insurance in Australia, both direct to customers and through licensed financial advisers. TAL also provides life insurance through some of Australia’s largest superannuation funds.
TAL wins Canstar award

What life insurance products does TAL offer?

TAL provides the following life insurance products, at the time of writing:

  • Life insurance, which is designed to pay a benefit upon the death, or terminal illness diagnosis, of the person insured. TAL also offers optional additional covers of total & permanent disability, trauma/critical illness cover (recovery insurance) and income protection:
    • Total & permanent disability insurance (TPD) pays a lump sum benefit when the person insured is determined to be unable to ever work again. In TAL’s case, they must be unable to work again “in any occupation based on their previous education, skills, training or experience.”
    • Trauma/critical illness insurance pays a lump sum benefit when the person insured is diagnosed as having suffered one of the major medical events listed in their policy, such as a heart attack or cancer.
    • Income protection provides a benefit if the person insured suffers a loss of income due to a sickness or injury.

TAL Lifetime Protection is among the direct life insurance products on the market in Australia which Canstar rates.

TAL Lifetime Protection

TAL Lifetime Protection is one of the few products in the Australian direct life insurance market to offer life insurance, total & permanent disability insurance, trauma/critical illness insurance and income protection insurance in one bundled product.

As it is also one of the products that requires you to answer a series of health-related questions when you apply for insurance cover, it offers higher levels of insurance compared to some other direct life insurers, and some product features that many other direct life products do not (e.g. the ability to combine various forms of cover into one policy, which can reduce the overall cost).

At the time of writing, some notable features of TAL’s Lifetime Protection product include:

  • Cover from $100,000 to $2,000,000 (for life insurance and total & permanent disability insurance)
  • An early lump sum payment upon the diagnosis of a terminal illness, if life expectancy is less than 12 months
  • An advanced payment of up to $25,000 to help with funeral and associated costs (subject to approval)
  • Cover for over 40 medical or accident events under the Recovery Insurance (trauma/critical illness) optional add-on
  • The Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) cover offers a choice of Accident, Illness and/or Sports cover (refer to the PDS for details).

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How much does TAL life insurance cost?

TAL says the cost of its life insurance products depends on your age, overall health assessment results, smoking status, sex, and the level of cover you apply for. Your occupation will also be a factor if you apply for TAL’s optional total & permanent disability or income protection insurance. Premiums can usually be paid monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly to suit your budget.

Eligibility to apply for TAL life insurance

To apply for its life insurance, TAL says you must be:

  • A permanent Australian resident
  • Between 18 and 74 years old
  • To apply for optional total & permanent disability (TPD), trauma  or income protection cover, you must be between 18 and 60 years old. In addition, you must be employed for a minimum of 20 hours per week if applying for TPD.

Upon application, you’ll generally be asked some questions about your health and lifestyle to determine what level of cover TAL is willing to offer you.

For further details on whether or not you are eligible for cover, you can contact TAL or read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Target Market Determination (TMD) and other applicable documentation on its website.

How to apply for a TAL life insurance policy

If you fit the eligibility criteria, you can get a quote for TAL life insurance on its website. To apply for TAL Lifetime Protection, TAL says you will need to answer a series of health questions. Before taking out a life insurance policy, it may be beneficial to first compare various providers to help ensure you’re applying for a policy that suits your needs.

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TAL life insurance FAQs

What are the exclusions and limitations of TAL life insurance?

TAL says its policies can be subject to a number of exclusions and limitations, and applicants should read the product disclosure statement (PDS) carefully before proceeding. For example, at the time of writing, TAL says it may not offer cover to people who work in certain hazardous occupations, and it does not cover death or terminal illness resulting from deliberate self-injury within 13 months of the policy commencing, being reinstated or the policy benefit amount being increased.

Contact TAL for full details of the exclusions and limits on its policies, or read the relevant PDS and other applicable product documentation.

How do I lodge a claim with TAL?

You or your beneficiaries can claim with TAL life insurance by contacting TAL over the phone or by email. TAL may request that after phoning, you fill in an insurance claim form and return it together with medical certificates or other documentation it may ask for.

If your insurance claim is approved, TAL will arrange the payment of your benefit. If your claim for an income protection benefit is approved, this will involve ongoing payments while you are eligible to continue receiving a benefit, rather than one lump sum payment.

The event for which you are claiming must occur at a time while your TAL cover is current.

Will my TAL life insurance premiums increase as I age?

TAL offers stepped and level premiums. Stepped means your premiums will increase each year, while level means they stay at the same level each year as you age, unless changes are made to your policy. Additionally, at the time of writing, TAL says your life benefit amount can be increased by at least 5% each year (with a final increase on the policy anniversary after your 75th birthday). This means your premium will also be increased each year to reflect this higher level of cover. You can opt out of these increases by contacting TAL.

Do I need a medical check-up or blood test to apply for TAL life insurance?

At the time of writing, TAL says you may need to answer some questions about your health and lifestyle when applying for its life insurance, particularly for high levels of cover. It says your insurability will be determined by your answer to these health and lifestyle questions. However, in the event of a claim, TAL may require additional evidence or ask to review your medical records.

How do I change my level of cover with TAL life insurance?

After buying a TAL life insurance policy, you may be eligible to increase the amount of your cover. Your application to increase your cover will be subject to eligibility criteria such as age requirements, income and an underwriting assessment.

You should be able to change your level of cover by adding or removing features or coverage, and by increasing or decreasing your sum insured for each type of cover included in your life insurance policy. If you wish to change your policy inclusions, contact TAL to discuss your options.

Keep in mind that increasing your level of cover or adding your spouse or children to your policy is likely to result in you having to pay a higher insurance premium.

Can I get TAL life insurance if I have a pre-existing condition?

This may depend on the condition you have, and the type of cover you decide to take out. When applying for TAL life insurance, it says you must take reasonable care to tell it about any pre-existing medical conditions you have now or had in the past, as well as current medications and health issues.

About TAL

TAL was founded in 1869 in New Zealand and entered the Australian market in 1990. It now describes itself as one of Australia’s leading specialist life insurance providers, insuring the lives and incomes of over 4 million Australians .

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This content was reviewed by our sub-editor Tom Letts as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by: Sean Callery | Last updated: October 14, 2021