New Standards released by the Financial Services Council (FSC)

The FSC has released two new Standards that will result in a change of underwriting approach.  

FSC Standard No. 11: Moratorium on Genetic Tests in Life Insurance 

The FSC has been working with geneticists to ensure that people can access a level of life insurance without being asked about the result of a previously taken genetic test. This moratorium (effective from 1 July 2019 until 30 June 2024), allows customers to apply for the cover amounts listed below without having to disclose when they have had an adverse genetic test result. Customers may still wish to disclose a negative test result to us that allows us to assess whether we can provide more favourable insurance terms. 

The moratorium limits are as follows: 

  • Up to $500,000 Life and TPD cover 
  • $200,000 Critical Illness cover 
  • $4,000 per month Income Protection cover. 

We may ask for and use the result of a previously taken or planned genetic test where the total amount of cover exceeds any of the amount limits above. As such, our online application will only present the genetic test question for applications above these amounts and we have updated all relevant application forms on the TAL Adviser Centre. 

For more information about the Standard, please see the Accelerated Protection Adviser Guide or FSC information.

The FSC has also released an FAQ document on the Moratorium on Genetic Tests in Life Insurance. You can download this document here.

FSC Standard No. 26: Consent for accessing Health Information. 

The FSC and its members have worked with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to produce an industry standard medical consent for the collection of customers’ health information. 

The standardised consent will inform customers as to when and how the consent will be used and has two components. The first (Authority 1) provides us with the authority to request a report from their health professional; the second (Authority 2) provides us with the authority to access a copy of their health record, including consultation notes. 
We will always attempt to get a report from the customer’s health professional in the first instance. After 4 weeks, if the health professional has not provided a report, we will request a copy of the health record including consultation notes. We will only do this if Authority 2 has been completed.  

As a result of these changes, we have removed the medical evidence authority from all application forms. The authority is now a stand-alone form called ‘Consent for accessing Health Information’. This form will be available on the TAL Adviser Centre (TAC). We will require this consent to be completed when we need a medical report to complete the assessment of your client’s application for insurance. 

Under the Standard, each time your client applies for cover or makes a claim, we will require a fresh consent to be completed. Each time a person’s consent is used, we will inform your client.

For more information about the Standard, please see the Accelerated Protection Adviser Guide or FSC information.

 
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