If you’re unable to work because of a serious medical condition, a loss of income can add additional and unneeded pressure. Comminsure’s Income Care is designed to prevent you from drawing down on your savings or taking on extra debt by replacing up to 75% of your monthly income should you be unable to work for a period-of-time.
Comminsure’s Income Care policy is one of the market’s high regarded income protection policies, and has won a few awards as formal recognition. These include the 2011 Income Protection Award from the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA)/Plan for Life Awards, and the 2012 Income Protection Product Award from the AFA Awards /Plan for Life.
How does it work?
If you’re aged between 17-59, are working full-time or part-time at least 20-hours per week, you’re eligible to apply for Comminsure’s Income Care.
If you’re being paid a claim, Comminsure requires you to give regular evidence of your disablement in the form of a medical certificate, as well as regular reporting on your proof of earnings and receipts of any business expenses you claim.
Comminsure stops paying you the benefit when the first of the following occurs:
- The benefit period ends. This is chosen by you when selecting your cover, and can range from two years to five years or up to 65 years.
- The insured person dies.
- The policy ends.
- The insured person can return to work.
Is there a waiting period to receive my benefit?
A waiting period and a benefit period applies to all Comminsure’s Income Care products, which is chosen by you when selecting your level of cover. In most instances, the longer the waiting period, the lower the premium. You can choose between waiting periods of 14-days up to two years. However, the 14-day waiting period is not available to those in high-risk occupations (construction work such as scaffolding, dogging, and rigging work).
Usually, the waiting period starts on the date that you first consult a doctor about your condition and your incapacity to work. However, if you can medically prove that your condition started before you sought medical help, the waiting period starts on the date you first ceased work due to full or partial disablement.
What conditions trigger a payout?
Comminsure’s Income Care doesn’t have a list of qualifying medical conditions. If you can prove with medical underwriting that you are unable to work for an extended period-of-time, you can make a claim.
What sort of cover can I choose from?
Comminsure offer two types of income protection – Income Care and Income Care Plus, both of which can be included as part of your super. If you take out two or more policies, such as Income Care, Life Care and TPD, you can include Income Protection within Comminsure’s Total Care Plan, a comprehensive insurance policy which combines all of your cover.
Alternatively, it can be purchased as a standalone product, or included within your Comminsure superannuation policy where premiums can be paid using superannuation money.
- Income Care
Offers a basic level of insurance. - Income Care Plus
Provides all the features of Income Care (except for Essential Cover), plus a wide range of extra benefits. Income Care Plus is not available for high risk occupations. - Business overheads
If you’re self-employed and take care of your own business, Business Overheads can be added to Income Care/Plus to cover up to $40,000 of your monthly business expenses. If you choose it with Income Care/Plus, you receive a 10% discount on the Business Overheads Cover premiums.
What’s included?
Just some of the basic benefits include:
- Automatic indexation
Comminsure will automatically increase your cover to ensure it’s on level with fluctuations in the Consumer Price Index, so your cover will be as valuable to you as the day you first took it out. - Partial disablement
If you’re only partially disabled and can work in a limited capacity, you could still receive assistance from Comminsure in the form of a partial monthly benefit. - Recurrent disablement
If you suffer from a sickness or injury and make a claim, return to work, and then suffer from that same sickness or injury again, you’ll be able to waive the waiting period for the second occurrence of your medical condition and receive the benefit quicker. - Boosted Total Disability
If you’re completely disabled by a serious medical condition and can’t perform any of your day-to-day duties, Comminsure can increase the monthly benefit by one third so it more closely reflects 100% of your lost income, rather than just 75%. This benefit could be used to help pay for housekeeping duties otherwise performed by you. - Accidental Death benefit
In the untimely event of your death, Comminsure will provide your nominated beneficiary with a lump sum of $50,000 if you’ve held your cover for three years. Comminsure then increases the Accidental Death benefit by $10,000 on each anniversary after the third anniversary until the cover reaches $100,000 in total. - Waiver your premium while on a claim
If you’re currently on a claim, you don’t have to pay any income protection premiums while a Total or Partial Disability benefit is being paid to you. - Reduced waiting period
Already have income protection through your employer or super fund with another insurer? If you apply for Income Care with Comminsure, you could reduce your waiting period without having to provide a medical certificate. - Rehabilitation benefit
If you’re totally disabled and need to take part in a rehabilitation program to get you back on your feet again, Comminsure can pay a benefit for up to 12 months. - Unemployment cover
If you have a loan with the Commonwealth Bank Group and are unemployed for 60-days straight, Comminsure will pay 1/30th of the unemployment benefit for each day you are unemployed for up to 3 months. This payment goes directly into your loan account to help you keep up with minimum repayments.
Want to compare this policy with others? You can compare Comminsure’s premiums with other policy providers through our free quote service.
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