Why have Insurance?

Why have insurance?

People take out insurance for the peace of mind. If something valuable to you — like your car or house — is damaged, stolen or destroyed, insurance provides the finances to repair or replace it. The same principle applies to your health — depending on your cover, health insurance can help pay for hospital fees and specialist costs if you have an accident or illness.

There’s one asset that is often overlooked when it comes to insurance: your ability to earn an income. If you could no longer work due to an injury or unexpected illness, how would you continue to earn a salary? Would you be able to support your family and pay the bills? Who is financially dependent and would be affected if you were to pass away? This is where insurance can assist — with the right type and level of cover, you can protect yourself and your family if the unexpected were to happen.

The most common reasons for making a claim

In 2021, our insurance partner, TAL, paid a total of $38 million¹ in claims to 584 NGS Super members. Of that total, 90.4% of claims paid helped our members continue living their lives² while recovering from or managing an illness or injury.

Source: TAL Life Limited
* Insurance cover is provided through and subject to the terms and conditions of group policies issued by TAL to the trustee of NGS Super.

The claims figures show the wide range of conditions claimed for and varying ages for claimants. Note the unpredictable nature of these claim reasons. People don’t plan for cancer, fractures or mental health conditions — they just happen. For the 584 NGS members who successfully claimed on their insurance cover, life could have been a lot more difficult had they not been insured.

What insurance does NGS offer?

In partnership with TAL, we offer Life, Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) and Income Protection insurance cover to our members. These offer different types of protection:

• Life insurance — if you were to die or become terminally ill, this type of cover would provide a lump sum amount, so your family is protected from financial loss.
• TPD insurance — if an unexpected illness or injury permanently prevents you from working, TPD cover can provide a lump sum amount to protect you and your family from financial loss.
• Income Protection insurance — if you’re temporarily unable to work due to illness or injury, Income Protection cover can pay you a regular income so you can continue to pay for living expenses while you recover. You can get an idea of how much of each cover you may need using our insurance quote calculator.

Our insurance offering has won us the Chant West Insurance Best Fund award 4 times since 2015. We know the difference insurance can make to the lives of our members, and we’re proud of the work we do to protect them.

Benefits of insurance through super

One of the biggest hurdles in getting insurance can be the cost. Insurance through super can help mitigate that as your insurance premiums are automatically deducted from your super account, so your take-home pay isn’t reduced. Insurance through super is also often cheaper than outside super thanks to economies of scale.

After joining NGS Super, most members will have the opportunity to opt in to receive a default level of insurance cover or wait until they become eligible to receive this cover automatically. If you’re eligible for default cover, you won’t need to undergo a health check for application acceptance.

You should consider the level of insurance you may need and the impact of premium deductions on your retirement savings in super. If you’re unsure about whether insurance through super is right for you, consider speaking to a financial planner.