Given how much has been happening in the world, you would be forgiven for having missed a major change in the regulations surrounding income protection insurance in Australia.

Back in December 2019, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) determined that from 31 March 2020 Australian insurers would no longer be able to offer ‘agreed value’ income protection policies and would, instead, only be able to provide their clients with indemnity-based income protection insurance.

“Agreed-value income protection policies use the salary you had at the time you applied for cover to assess the amount payable for any future claim,” says Anthony Brown, CEO of NobleOak Life. “However, an indemnity-based income protection claim payout is based on the income you earned usually in the 12 months before you make your claim.”

It means the basis of your claim payout changes along with your earnings, without altering the terms of the policy itself. “If you keep paying your premiums, we can’t change the policy to make it less helpful for you,” says Brown.

For many insurers, this has required significant changes to the policies they offer. But for NobleOak Life, it’s validation of the indemnity-based approach to the income protection product they’ve been providing to their clients for years.

“As an insurer, we’re pleased that our income protection product didn’t need to be updated as we have always offered indemnity-based policies to NobleOak clients,” says Brown. “We’ve long recognised that it’s a good product for both us and our clients.”

Individually tailored policies

NobleOak’s income protection policies provide up to 75% of your pre-tax income (subject to an overall maximum benefit of A$25,000 per month) in cases where injury or illness prevent you from working. Like all of NobleOak’s products, the income protection policies are fully underwritten, which means that a detailed health and lifestyle assessment is conducted at application.

This means NobleOak properly assesses the risks involved in insuring each person, which in turn leads to greater certainty and less delay if you do need to make a claim.

Award-winning products

With more than 140 years of heritage, NobleOak is one of Australia’s oldest and most trusted life insurance providers. “As a purist, APRA-regulated and independent life insurer, we are able to keep our overheads low and offer hands-on customer service that larger conglomerates can struggle to match,” Brown explains.

NobleOak believes in offering clients better and more personalised service, and have maintained its customer experience at 4.5 out of 5, based on current Feefo* and Google ratings.

As a testament to their efforts, this year NobleOak won their fifth consecutive Canstar award for Outstanding Value in Direct Income Protection, a feat not matched by any other Australian life insurance provider in the past five years.

“We’re up against 15 products from 14 different providers, so it’s great to be recognised,” says Brown.

NobleOak’s success flows from a simple source, says Brown. “At a fundamental level, we believe in doing the right thing,” he says, “and that means offering clear, comprehensive income protection insurance that does exactly what our clients expect it to. It’s all part of our mission to make life insurance more affordable and accessible for every Australian.”

“At a fundamental level, we believe in doing the right thing.”

Find out more:

For an instant quote, visit nobleoak.com.au/charteredaccountants or phone 1300 108 490 and mention ‘chartered accountants’. Cover available for Australian residents only.

_{NobleOak Life Limited ABN 85 087 648 708 AFSL 247302 issues NobleOak life insurance products. See the PDS for product details and to consider if the product is right for you. General information only – it does not take your circumstances into account and is not financial advice. Online quotes are indicative only – your premium will take into account your age, occupation, sum insured, health and pastimes. You should not cancel any existing life insurance product until you have been informed in writing that your new cover is in place.}

_{* Feefo is an independent organisation which provides a platform for businesses to receive reviews independently from consumers.}