Allianz revolutionises life insurance

Applying for life risk insurance is as simple as sit and click, following the launch of a direct online application process by Allianz Australia Life Insurance, which claims the product will cut time and cost for applicants. But the new product also cuts advisers out of the process.

The product, Allianz Life Plan, allows the general public to buy up to $1.25 million life cover directly from Allianz and is expected to make buying insurance more affordable and simple for Australians.

Allianz Australia Life Insurance boss Jonathan Poole said applicants are likely to save up to 30 per cent on a plan and need only set aside 12 minutes to buy the product, which is good news for the country’s underinsured.

“Seven pages is all you need,” said Meredith Barnes, national manager of business development at Allianz, who compared the Allianz Life Plan product disclosure statement with competitor equivalents, which can be as long as 90 pages.

Aside from the cost, it is the product’s simplicity that is expected to appeal to Australians, according to Poole, who said the company is democratising life insurance. He believes plenty of Australians are a little confused about where to get life insurance, which has exacerbated the country’s lack of insurance.

“There is a large part of the population who don’t know to ring a planner,” he said.

For the first time, Australians will be able to access critical illness cover (trauma) and permanently unable to work cover (total and permanent disablement) at the click of the mouse. The cover is fully underwritten on the spot and policy documents are immediately issued via E-mail or by download. Additionally, applicants are not required to undergo medicals or provide blood tests and documents are plain English.

Allianz has already seen public interest in the product. People shopping online for other types of insurance, including car and home products, are among the first to buy Allianz Life Plan, according to Poole.

The product is available online and on the phone, but either way, the role of financial risk advisers is redundant in the process. However, Australian Financial Risk Management chief executive officer Philip Young urges advisers not to fear the online push.

“People will always need advice and this will be one [more] avenue, creating a general information centre,” he said.

According to Young, the more information and education about life insurance that is made available to the public the better, considering the major underinsurance margin in Australia.

“It is a very good prospect for Australia I believe, because in the past, other online products have not been cheaper [than those commissioned through an adviser],” he said.