Getting the right coverage for your changing circumstances
ESSSuper - 11 Dec 2023
Big life changes can mean that your insurance needs change too. Life events cover can be a simpler way to increase your insurance cover.
We know that our emergency services members work some of the most challenging jobs in the community.
It's natural to want to have protection in place for you and your family if your circumstances change, and to want to make sure that you're well covered if you're unable to keep working.
If you have an ESSSuper Accumulation Plan with AIA insurance coverage,* we make it easy for you to increase your insurance cover when life is changing with life events cover.
How does increasing coverage usually work?
What is underwriting?
Underwriting is the process our Insurer uses to assess the risk of providing insurance to you. It takes into account information including your current health, your past medical history and your family medical history.
Many members with a defined benefit also have an Accumulation Plan account. When you first joined the ESSSuper Accumulation Plan, you may have also may have obtained insurance coverage by:
- Receiving default insurance, or
- Electing to access death and disability insurance without having to provide proof of your good health.
If you want to increase your cover at a later stage, you'll usually need to go through the underwriting process.
Life events cover makes it easy to increase your coverage
We offer the option to increase your insurance coverage in the Accumulation Plan for Death and/or Total and Permanent Disability when you're making certain major life changes — without going through the underwriting process.
You can access life events cover within 90 days of these major events:
- Marriage
- Divorce
- The birth of your child, or your adoption of a child
- Your child commencing their first day at primary or secondary school
- Death of a spouse, or
- Getting a mortgage to buy your home.
You can increase your coverage, subject to the eligibility criteria*, using the life events cover option up to four times while you're a member of ESSSuper's Accumulation Plan.
You'll need to meet some requirements, which are set out in the Life Events Insurance Increase form. Log into Members Online to access this form.
Understand your insurance options
We know that insurance is a complicated subject, and only you can make the decision about exactly how much coverage you and your family need.
We offer a range of ways you can access support to get a better understanding of your insurance options:
- Talk to an expert:
- Take a look at our online resources:
- Take a look at our Accumulation Plan Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and AP.2 Insurance Guide, both available on our PDS and handbooks web page, to learn more about what we offer
- Use our insurance calculator, available on our Calculators web page, to get an understanding of how much cover you should have and the cost of the insurance premiums.