TAL’s Accelerated Protection Income Protection Premier has taken out the top spot in this year’s Money Management/DEXX&R Adviser Choice Risk Award for disability income product.
Having picked up the gold award in last year’s award, the insurer is continuing to work with financial advisers to provide more flexibility through its product range in order to meet different customer demographics.
That’s according to TAL chief executive Brett Clark, who said that TAL’s customers – through its adviser network – range from very highly paid professional occupations through to more blue collar occupations.
“People are starting to appreciate the benefits of (income protection) products,” he said.
“Unlike term and total and permanent disability where the product range is largely consistent across the industry, we are starting to see more innovation around income protection.”
Taking out the silver award was the MLC Insurance Income Protection Platinum – Extra Benefits Option.
Receiving bronze for its Life Complete – Income Protection Plus Booster, Asteron was also deemed to be one of the best offerings in the category. One of the product’s key features is its booster option, which allows advisers to cover the insured for up to 100 per cent of income for the first three months.
Asteron Life executive manager, superannuation and insurance Brad Partridge said while there were similar offerings on the market, other providers might offer only one month at the 100 per cent level – or under the condition that the client was totally and permanently disabled.
“It’s a really powerful option because what we find is that the vast majority of claims are within that three-month period,” Partridge said.
It provided a transition period which allowed people time to get their affairs in order and to start looking at different ways they could structure debt and mange their savings, he added.
With customers ever more sensitive to rises in insurance premiums, Partridge said advisers often needed to re-sell the value of insurance products.
While the Income Protection Plus Booster was designed to be a comprehensive offering, there needed to be “middle ground where people just want to pay for the essentials of insurance and not have any bells and whistles at all”, Partridge added.
He said the whole market needed to pay more attention to level premiums.
