Frequently Asked Questions

A beneficiary is the person who you nominate to receive part or all of the benefits if you pass away while you’re covered by your life insurance policy. You can nominate up to five beneficiaries, including your Legal Personal Representative, and if you’re choosing more than one beneficiary, you need to tell us what percentage of the total benefit amount you’d like each one to receive. Your beneficiaries are the ones who will receive the benefits of the claim, so it’s important that you tell them that you’ve taken out the cover and give them a copy of the policy details. There are certain rules about nominated beneficiaries, including who can be nominated and whether the nomination is binding or not, so it is important to read the Product Disclosure Statement for more information.

You can change your beneficiaries at any time. Simply call us on 132 979 (8.30am - 6pm, Mon-Fri, AEST) to find out how.

Underwriting is the process we use to work out whether we can insure you, how much we can cover you for, and how much you’ll need to pay in premiums. During underwriting, we may ask you a number of health and lifestyle questions, such as your height and weight, whether or not you smoke, and any illnesses or medical conditions you may have or have had. We may also ask you about your job, pastimes and income details. If you’re in good health and don’t have a risky job or risky pastimes, you’ll generally be accepted for cover. If you have any health or lifestyle risks, there is a chance that we may not be able to offer you the cover you were after. It is important that your answers to any underwriting questions are true, correct and complete, otherwise any claim you make in the future may be reduced or declined altogether.

Having a medical condition doesn’t always mean we won’t insure you. We look at each individual’s unique circumstances. Minor medical conditions usually don’t affect your chances of getting cover, however serious conditions such as cancer or heart disease may. If we can’t cover you under the product you were after due to health reasons, you may still be able to get cover under one of our accidental covers.

Our life insurance policies are renewable until their policy expiry age – this means that you can keep your cover in place until then, so long as you keep paying your premiums.

Yes, you can request a change to your benefit amount anytime you like – simply contact your financial adviser or call us on 132 979 (8.30am - 6pm, Mon-Fri, AEST). If you’d like to increase your benefit amount, you may need to answer some health and lifestyle questions before we can determine if we will accept the increase in your benefit amount and on what terms. You don’t need to answer any health or lifestyle questions to decrease your benefit amount.

Where your premium type is ‘stepped’ or ‘variable age-stepped’, your premiums generally increase each year due to age, changes in your benefit amount (including increases under the Indexation Benefit), the length of time you have held your policy or a premium rate review.

Where your premium type is ‘level’ or ‘variable’, your premiums do not increase due to age, but are likely to be higher at the start of your policy compared to a variable age-stepped premium type. Variable premiums can also increase due to increases in your changing benefit amount, the length of time you have held your policy or a premium rate review.

Premium rates are not guaranteed. Regardless of whether you have stepped, variable age-stepped, level or variable premiums, we may review premium rates in the future. Any change to premium rates will be made when we consider that they are necessary to protect our legitimate business interests and will apply to all policies in a defined group. We will not single out an individual policy.

From the PDS dated 13 May 2024, ClearView’s premium type labels have changed. If you have cover under the PDS date 2 April 2023 or earlier, variable-age stepped premium is referred to as a stepped premium, and variable premium is referred to as level premium. This change will be implemented across the industry by 31 December 2024 and is being co-ordinated by the Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) in response to the ASIC and APRA review of premiums in the life insurance industry.

For more information on life insurance premiums, read here.

All of our cover options have built-in discounts for higher benefit amounts. We also offer the ability to participate in a health rewards program to maintain a discount.

As a valued ClearView customer, you have options if premium affordability becomes a concern.

ClearView ClearChoice policies allow monthly premiums to be waived for up to three months while you are involuntarily unemployed. Limitations and conditions apply.

Depending on your cover, there are several other ways you may be able to reduce your premiums to help you stay covered.

For example, you may be able to:

• Suspend your cover for up to 12 months: During this period, you will not have to pay the premium, however you will be unable to claim in respect of any event, sickness or injury that occurs during the suspension period.
• Lower the amount you are covered for: This will reduce your premiums and the insurance benefit under the policy. You should be aware that if you reduce your cover, you may not be able to increase it again on the same terms or at the same cost.
• Lower the benefit period if you have Income Protection: The benefit period is the maximum length of time you can receive money if you make a claim. Generally, the shorter the benefit period, the lower premiums you pay for cover. If you wish to change your benefit period back, it may not be on the same terms or at the same cost.
  

If you take up one or more of these options, it may affect your policy (such as the amount you are covered for). Limitations and conditions do apply and you should read the latest Product Disclosure Statement for more information. We recommend that before making a decision, you speak to a financial adviser to discuss your specific cover needs.

For information about options to make your cover more affordable, call us on 132 979 between 9am and 5pm (Sydney time), Monday to Friday.

Premium rates are not guaranteed. Regardless of premium type, premiums may increase or decrease in the future. Please refer to the ‘Premiums and Other Costs’ section of the Product Disclosure Statement for more information.

For additional information, you can also read our article on ‘How inflation impacts your life insurance – and how you can manage it’ or refer to clearview.com.au/vulnerability.

If you hold Life, TPD or Trauma Cover outside of superannuation, premiums are generally not tax-deductible and benefits are generally tax free. If you hold Income Protection Cover or Business Expense Cover outside of superannuation, premiums are generally tax-deductible and benefits are generally treated as income and taxed at your marginal tax rate. However, there are some special considerations that apply to some of the features included Income Protection and your individual circumstances can be quite different. We recommend you speak with an independent tax expert regarding your own situation to determine if your premiums are tax deductible.

To change your name and address details, please call us on 132 979 (8.30am - 6pm, Mon-Fri, AEST).

A certified document is a copy of an original document that has been certified as a true copy of an original document. To obtain an originally certified copy, you will need to present the original document and a photocopy of that document to one of the people¹ outlined below.

Examples of people who can certify your documents are:

• Financial adviser*
• Accountant (provided they hold a current membership to a professional accounting body)
• Pharmacist
• Qualified school or tertiary/university teacher
• Justice of the Peace
• Solicitor
• Police Officer
• Magistrate
• An employee of Australia Post*
• An officer of a bank, building society, credit union or finance company*

*provided they have two or more years of continuous service

You can also find a full list of people who can certify documents here.

1 Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007

You might be considering paying for your insurance via your superannuation. This may be a tax effective strategy or otherwise a way to fund personal insurance if you have limited cash flow. Using superannuation monies to fund insurance premiums will reduce your accumulation balance for retirement. It is important to speak to a financial adviser to see if this strategy is right for you. You should consult the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether to acquire or continue to hold the product. Please note that some benefits and optional extras are not available if cover is held inside superannuation. Please refer to the relevant benefit or option to understand if this is the case.