Supporting you and your customers through COVID-19

The novel coronavirus (COVID‑19) has had a profound impact on our daily lives and it’s become more important than ever that we take care of one another and support those that need us most. For many Australians, the pandemic has placed a sudden and severe strain on their finances, so we’ve added to our existing financial hardship arrangements to offer (External link)additional support to new and existing customers, as well as those currently on claim. Every one of your clients will have unique needs and concerns right now; these measures will give you flexibility to develop a solution that best suits them.   Kind regards,   Niall McConville General Manager, Retail Distribution

Support for new customers

PROTECTING AUSTRALIA'S HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

We have made a commitment to help relevant healthcare workers to be able to access new life insurance cover or increase their existing life insurance cover, including in situations where they may be exposed to COVID-19. No COVID-19 exclusions apply to any of our policies.
We’re proud to have worked with the FSC and others in our industry on this initiative.  (External link)Learn more about it here.

Support for existing customers

BE CONFIDENT YOUR CLIENT'S ARE FULLY COVERED FOR COVID-19

All existing TAL and Asteron Life customers are covered in accordance with policy terms and conditions for COVID-19, which means:

• No exclusions exist in our policies for COVID-19
• Doctors, nurses and medical professionals are covered for COVID-19
  

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL HARDSHIP SUPPORT

For TAL and Asteron Life clients who are experiencing financial hardship because of the pandemic, we’ve introduced additional support options, outlined below.

Options to temporarily reduce or change cover

If your client reduces their sum insured between now and 30 June 2020 due to COVID-19 related financial hardship, they can increase their sum insured back to its original level within six months, without medical and financial underwriting. Some additional limitations will apply to some types of cover. Please visit our COVID-19 Support Hub for more information.

If your client reduces their death cover and then passes away due to COVID-19, we’ll continue to provide that cover at the original sum insured, up to a maximum of $750,000 across all their policies until 30 September 2020.

Options to pause cover

• There are some existing TAL and Asteron Life customers who have the option to pause their cover and pay no premiums.
• We are working to extend this feature for your eligible TAL clients who don’t currently have this feature built-into their policy, and are experiencing financial difficulty due to COVID-19. We expect this to be available from 27 April 2020.
• This option may allow for a client to suspend their policy for a period of up to three months at a time for a maximum of 12 months. We will automatically reinstate to the original level of cover without any additional underwriting assessment at the end of the agreed period. Importantly, during the suspended policy period, your client will not be covered for any benefit nor pay any premiums. There are additional terms and conditions that will apply upon reinstatement – we will ensure that you are provided with this information in advance.
• In addition, as with our option to temporarily reduce or change cover, we’ll continue to provide cover at the original sum insured, up to a maximum of $750,000 across all their policies, if your client passes away from COVID-19 on or before 30 September 2020.

We encourage you to contact us to discuss your client’s circumstances and see if this option will be suitable.

Please note that in some circumstances, some of the above options may not be available to all customers, particularly if the policy is funded through a superannuation fund. Visit our COVID-19 Support Hub for the details and to learn how your clients can apply for any of these support measures.

Support for customers on claim

As always, we’re committed to treating every client’s claim with understanding and compassion. Right now, for those that are having trouble gathering documentation to support their claim, we’ll ensure that wherever possible we’re flexible and pragmatic about what’s achievable given social distancing, self-isolation and other restrictions. We’ll also;

• Provide certainty wherever possible, by scheduling up to three months of Income Protection benefit payments when your client’s condition is likely to continue in the short term
• For policies that include our grief support, we have doubled the benefit so your client’s family can be reimbursed for up to six support sessions (up to a maximum of $2,000) if your client passes away due to COVID 19. 

We're here to help

Like so many organisations, we are currently receiving many calls and emails from customers seeking support and reassurance. We’ve significantly increased numbers in our customer service teams to make sure we can provide that support and we’re putting as much additional information as we can on our website. There may still be some delays during peak periods and we’re grateful for your patience and understanding.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

If you require any additional information, please visit the COVID-19 Support Hub, contact your local TAL Sales team member or call the Adviser Service Centre on 1300 286 937.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This information has been prepared for use by licensed advisers in their professional capacity only, and is not intended to be provided to nor used by your clients for the purposes of making a decision about any financial product. Any advice is general in nature only and does not take into account your client’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on it, the appropriateness of the advice for your client should be considered, having regard to those factors. Before deciding to acquire or to continue to hold Accelerated Protection, advisers and their clients should consider the Accelerated Protection Combined Product Disclosure Statement and Policy Document, and where cover is structured through TAL Super the Accelerated Protection through TAL Super PDS, available at www.tal.com.au. Before deciding to acquire or to continue to hold Asteron Life Complete, advisers and their clients should consider the Asteron Life Complete Product Disclosure Statement provided to them when they acquired their policy or available at www.asteronlife.com.au.

This information is current at 21 APRIL 2020 and may be subject to change.