OneCare No. 1 in Term/TPD
OnePath has once again excelled in the term and total and permanent disability (TPD) rider category in the Money Management/DEXX&R Adviser Risk Choice Awards, with TAL’s Accelerated Protection and Macquarie Life’s FutureWise products winning the silver and bronze spots respectively.
OnePath head of retail risk insurance Gerard Kerr said the simplicity was the focus of its OneCare Life & TPD, with the group’s pricing in this area reflecting the risk profile of its clients.
OnePath has also shifted how TPD payments are made. Kerr pointed out that often when clients looked at a potential lump sum payout, they saw it as a big dollar amount which did not reflect the likely outcome.
“The benefit was created to cover lost income and so we are working on moving from a lump sum insured approach to providing a regular income stream model,” he said.
“We are working through the underwriting and risk issues at present. It will be more work for us but it creates certainty of payment for clients and it resonates with them much more as they understand how the benefit will work if they make a claim.”
The product features in the term and TPD space are largely consistent across the industry, according to chief executive officer of TAL Life, Brett Clark.
He said TAL’s focus over the last few months was improving on the delivery of these products for both the adviser and the customer.
“Particularly for term and TPD we’re working on ways with the adviser that they can deliver the product more efficiently to their customers,” Clark said.
“That’s where we’ve done a lot of work and that’s coming through in some of the feedback from the advisers with respect to this product.”
TAL pays a lump sum for TPD, giving consumers the choice of the benefit amount. The group also provides the flexibility to have the cover in four different ways: on its own, attached to life insurance, attached to critical illness insurance or linked to life insurance.
Macquarie, which won bronze in this category, said the introduction of the Extended Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Partial Impairment option to its FutureWise cover in 2012 was a first for the Australian market and had continued to receive positive feedback from advisers.
“The TPD assessment under Extended ADLs closely aligns to that performed in clinical practice and provides a more objective and transparent method of assessing disability,” the group said.
“It has also made the claims process more straight-forward as fewer medical reports are required, meaning benefits can often be paid sooner than though a traditional occupational definition.”
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