Insurance cover confidence misled: TAL

Almost half of Australians (45 per cent) believe they have adequate life insurance cover if they or their partner could never work again, a TAL survey showed.

The online survey also showed more than two-thirds of people have a single type of insurance out of the four forms of life insurance, and believe that is enough.

TAL argued Australians' confidence in their life insurance cover is misled, given the huge underinsurance gap.

"There is a belief that life insurance in superannuation automatically provides sufficient protection alone," TAL Group CEO Jim Minto said.

VIEW ALL

View all

"Insurance through super has been fantastic for millions of Australians but unfortunately most people just retain the low, default level cover without assessing their personal needs."

Those who think they have enough insurance are more likely to have a high household income (53 per cent), be mortgage-free (67 per cent), and be married (49 per cent).

"A rule of thumb many believe that the minimum life and lump sum disability cover is 10 to 15 times' annual salary. This in turn creates an income to meet ongoing needs," Minto said.

The survey also found younger people aged 25-34 are more likely to feel they do not have enough insurance (46 per cent), compared to older people.

The survey was done by Galaxy Research on behalf of TAL with 1266 Australians aged 18-69.