Helping your clients understand the value of their cover

Introducing our latest Accelerated Protection: better for more of your clients. December 09, 2024

Part of our ambition is to ensure our products are well understood by every customer. With our latest Accelerated Protection (AP), we've introduced clearer, simpler language to make our award-winning product range easier for your clients to understand.

AP has consistently been the market leader, offering high quality, affordable cover that’s trusted by you and your peers year after year. More advisers are recommending TAL as the insurer of choice for their clients^1,².

This update continues our commitment to creating cover that’s inclusive for all Australians, designed to support fair and competitively priced premiums over the long-term. With our flexible options, you can recommend different policy structures to meet the needs of more clients, today and tomorrow, and grow your business with all our support and expertise behind you.

Here are all the details about what’s new in our latest AP available from Thursday 12 December.

For your diary

31 January

The last day to submit applications (including for tele-interviews) under the previous Accelerated Protection (PDS date 8 September 2023) is 31 January 2025.

Updated premium labels

As part of the initiative led by the Council of Australian Life Insurers, we’ve introduced new labels for stepped and level premiums.

The new labels aim to clarify how the two options work, helping your clients better understand the way their premiums change over time.

Stepped premiums are now called Variable Age-Stepped Premiums
Level premiums are now called Variable Premiums

Updated Critical Illness definitions

With our in-house experts, we conducted an extensive review of our Critical Illness benefit definitions and made some updates to ensure they align to current diagnostic terminology and contemporary medical practices.

The updated definitions give your new clients more clarity and confidence about what they’re covered for from day one.

Where applicable as part of our Guarantee of Upgrade, we’ll pass improvements back to existing clients too.

The updates include:

Improved Severe Burns (of specified severity) definition (not passed back).
30 updated definitions, following our medical office review (12 will be passed back).
Removal of Early State Prostate Cancer definition.

Clients diagnosed with prostate cancer will be assessed under the definition of Cancer (of specified severity) and, if all criteria are met, will be eligible to receive 100% of the benefit amount.

Fair, competitive pricing for our customers, today and tomorrow

We regularly review our pricing structure to make sure AP remains fair and competitively priced over the long-term for all our customers: for those who claim and those who don’t.

Our latest review has led to some changes to our premium rates for new business applications (existing policies won’t be affected) as of 12 December 2024. These changes will vary at a client level depending on their profile and policy features.

We’re confident that the changes will help ensure AP continues to remain competitive in the market. Delivering sustainable products that remain affordable for the long-term is our priority and we’re here to live up to our promise of paying claims when your clients need us the most.

More affordable cover, for the long-term

One of the most accessible BMI-based discounts around, TAL Health Sense can save your clients up to 15%* off their premiums—for life.

And all new clients now receive a 5% TAL Health Sense Plus^ discount for up to two years, which they can continue to enjoy by undertaking a preventative screening test every two years.

Remember to talk to your new clients about the programs: to make their cover more affordable and support their health as well.

The latest resources

Read more about the new AP with the latest resources available in the Forms and Documents section of the TAL Adviser Centre on 12 December 2024.

Any questions?

If you need a hand, your Business Development Manager is here to help: make an appointment with them whenever you need.

You can also get in touch with your local TAL sales team or the Adviser Service Centre on 1300 286 937 (Monday to Friday 8am–7pm AEST).

Disclaimer

1. Based on IRESS Xplan Major Provider Recommendations report, sourced November 2024.

2. Based on NMG Retail Advice Risk Distribution Monitor Quarterly Reports from Q3 2021 – Q3 2024, ‘Rolling 12 months new sales & market share by segment per competitor’ using full advice segment including aggregators, IFA and bank planners, accessed 15 August 2024. New Business Sales refer to total premiums attributable to new policies or increases of level of covers / benefit, inclusive of any stamp duty and GST, where applicable. New sales exclude premiums from replacement policies, policies lapsed during the free cover period (CFI) or any involuntary increases.

The offer of TAL Health Sense and Health Sense Plus is subject to the Terms and Conditions. TAL reserves the right to alter or discontinue the Health Sense and Health Sense Plus offer at any time.

* A maximum 15% Health Sense discount applies to non-smokers meeting the BMI criteria that hold 4 benefit types (Life; Critical Illness; TPD and Income Protection (IP)) and meeting minimum sum insured amounts for all benefit types. Lower discounts will apply for other benefit combinations and smokers. More information is available on request from TAL.

^ TAL Health Sense Plus is subject to offer and eligibility criteria. The TAL Health Sense Plus discount applies to the premiums for Accelerated Protection Life Insurance, TPD and Critical Illness Insurance plans only. The discount does not apply to per mille loadings, policy fees and stamp duties. Participation is entirely optional and does not impact the terms of existing policies held with TAL, or claims made under those policies. The costs of preventative screening consultations and tests are not reimbursed by TAL, and the results are not required to be disclosed to TAL for the purposes of confirming eligibility for the Health Sense Plus discount. By participating in Health Sense Plus and verifying eligibility for the program, TAL collects data and information which includes participants’ personal information and may include sensitive personal information (Data). By participating in Health Sense Plus, participants consent to TAL’s collection and use of the Data in accordance with the TAL Privacy Policy. Any Data shared with TAL for the purposes of the Health Sense Plus program is used only for assessing eligibility for the discount and is regularly deleted once eligibility has been confirmed. TAL reserves the right to alter or discontinue the Health Sense Plus offer at any time.