MetLife Life Insurance

MetLife provides life insurance products designed to help customers move through life with financial confidence. MetLife is protecting 1.79 million Australians, with Life Cover, TPD Insurance, Trauma Cover and Income Protection.

Published August 28, 2020

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Our viewpoint: Is MetLife the right life insurance company for you?

MetLife Australia is new to the retail life insurance business. However, they are the third-largest group insurer, and in 2019, the ANZIIF Australian Insurance Industry Awards named MetLife as the Life Insurance Company of the Year, noting the company’s continued emphasis on customer satisfaction.

The company offers customers the unique ability to tailor their insurance to meet their changing lifestyle requirements by providing +Extras that can be added at an additional cost.

You can determine if MetLife offers the best policy for your requirements by comparing their price and features with other major life insurers in Australia.

About MetLife

MetLife is a US-owned life insurer with over 152 years’ experience, protecting customer in nearly 50 countries worldwide.

MetLife Insurance Limited (MetLife Australia), is a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. and the third-largest group insurer in Australia, providing group policies to companies such as Hostplus, MTAA Super, Tasplan and Vicsuper.

Financial services products offered by MetLife include a mix of Life Insurance, Home Insurance, Vehicle Insurance, Disability Insurance, and Dental Insurance, to name a few. However, it is only recently that the company launched its presence in the Australian retail market, with MetLife Protect.

Financial ratings

A company’s financial rating is generally a good way to measure its ability to pay out claims consistently.

MetLife, Inc. and its subsidiaries have a Standard and Poors Global rating of AA- indicating that the company has very good financial security characteristics and thus sufficient capacity to fulfil its financial commitments to customers in a timely manner.

Furthermore, Fitch Ratings Inc confirms that MetLife’s financial performance is expected to remain broadly in line with rating expectations, even with the global economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

MetLife Protect policy options

MetLife Protect is the company’s retail insurance product issued by MetLife Insurance Limited (MetLife). The product offers you a variety of personal insurance policies to suit your requirements. It is flexible enough to adapt as your life changes by allowing you to add ‘Extras’, for example, Home Loan Extras.

Important: The minimum and maximum cover amounts will be subject to your occupation.

Life Cover

Pays a lump sum amount to protect your loved ones should you die or become terminally ill. A life insurance policy can help your beneficiaries pay the mortgage, school fees and other living expenses.

Entry age: 15 to 73 years old on a stepped premium style policy. 15 to 59 years old for a level premium life insurance policy and up to age 54 for a fixed term option (5 or 10 years).

Expiry age: Your policy will cease when the life insured turns 130.

Minimum and Maximum cover: You can insure yourself from as little as $50,000. There is no limit for the amount of life cover you can apply for, as long as it makes financial sense.

Life Extras cover
For an additional cost, you can include Home Loan Extras or Buy/Sell Extras to your life cover policy (held outside of super), which expires at your age 65.

  • Home Loan Extras: Provides a benefit if you suffer from a specified event, for example, receive up to $500,000 when suffering blindness or loss of use of two or more limbs.
  • Buy/Sell Extras: Business owners could receive up to $3,000 to pay for expenses incurred should you die or suffer from a terminal illness.

TPD Cover

A lump sum amount is paid to you if you become totally and permanently disabled and cannot work. Designed to lighten the financial burden, the payout you receive can be used to make modifications to your home and help pay for medical treatments.
Under MetLife TPD, there are several definitions available to assess if you are considered disabled as a result of an injury or illness, including:

  • Any occupation benefit: Unable to continue work in any occupation for which you are reasonably suited to by experience, training, or education.
  • Limited earnings benefit: You don’t qualify for the Any occupation TPD, but the illness or injury resulted in your earnings to unlikely ever exceed 25% of your pre-disability income.
  • Home duties benefit: Permanently incapable of ever again performing all Home Duties (cleaning, shopping, preparing meals, doing laundry, and caring for dependent children) without another person’s help.
  • General disability benefit: Unable to do two or more of the Activities of Daily Living (bathing, dressing, using the toilet, feeding and mobility) without another person’s help.
  • Physical disability benefit: 25% of your TPD cover amount will generally be payableif you suffer the loss of a limb or become partially blind.

Entry age: 15 to 64 for stepped premiums and 15 to 59 for level premium age 65 or 70. For a fixed-term TPD policy (5 or 10 years) the entry ages are between 15 to 54.

Expiry age: Your TPD policy will end on your 75th birthday.

Minimum and Maximum cover: MetLife TPD is available from $50,00 up to $5 million.

TPD Extras cover
You can tailor your TPD cover by adding the below Extras options for an additional fee. These Extras will expire at age 65 and eligibility criteria may apply.

  • Employment Extras: When TPD is combined with life cover, you can buy back the portion of life insurance that reduces when a total and permanent disablement claim is paid.
  • Specialist Extras: Access the Own Occupation Benefit where a lump sum payment is made when you are unlikely to ever again work in your own or specific occupation.
  • Business Extras: Insuring your ability to continue working in your business.

Trauma Insurance

If you suffer a specified critical illness, for example, cancer or a specified severe injury like losing a limb, MetLife critical illness cover ensures protection with a lump sum payout.

Entry age: You can apply for critical illness cover if you’re between the ages of 15 and 64 for stepped premiums, 15 and 59 for level premiums and 15 to 54 for a fixed-term option (5 or 10 years).

Expiry age: When you turn 75 years old, your trauma policy will expire.

Minimum and Maximum cover: A minimum cover amount of $30,000 up to a maximum of $2 million.

Trauma Extras Cover
For an extra premium, you can add the below Extras Cover to your critical illness policy. These added benefits will expire when you turn 65.

  • Individual Extras: Receive a boosted payment (from 50% to 100%) for tier 2 conditions. You can also repeat specific claims, for example, angioplasty.
  • Family Extras: Pays up to $50,000 if your dependent child is diagnosed with one of the serious illnesses specified in the PDS.

Income Protection Cover

If you are temporarily unable to work because of an illness or injury, you’ll generally receive up to 75% of your regular income to help keep your life on track. You can choose either a 30 or 90-day excess period (waiting period) and a benefit period of 1 year, 5 years, up to age 65 or age 70.

Take note: MetLife has aligned their Income Cover sustainability efforts with the changes announced by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). This means that from 1 April 2020 Agreed Value and Endorsed Agreed Value Extra Cost Options have been removed from Income Cover. Only Indemnity policies are available for sale.

Entry age: For a stepped policy, you can apply for income protection when you’re between 15 and 64 years old and between 15 and 59 for a level premium style policy.

Expiry age: Your policy will expire on your 75th birthday.

Maximum cover: You’ll generally receive up 75% of your personal exertion income.

Income Cover – Extras Cover
These Extras enables you to tailor your income protection policy to meet your specific requirements better. These additional benefits come at an extra cost and will expire when you turn 65.

  • Professional Extras: Supports you in returning to work by offering benefits like reimbursing you for retraining expenses if you’ve been on a Total Disability Benefit for 6 months, broadens the definition of Total Disability and more.
  • Provide & Care Extras: Provides benefits such as reimbursing specific expenses to maintaining your home and pays out 9 times your monthly cover amount should you die.
  • Key Person Extras: Designed for business owners that would suffer financially if one of heir key employees were unable to work due to illness or injury.
  • Sole Trader Extras: Helps sole traders cover business expenses.

Does the company provide value for money insurance?

MetLife offers a variety of policy options and additional paid-for benefits. However, whether MetLife Australia meets your lifestyle, budget and familial obligations depend on you and what you consider essential. To determine if MetLife meets your requirements, you might want to compare their offering to other major players in the industry.

MetLife Healthy Lives

Receive a 10% discount on your Life and TPD covers (currently available on stepped and level premiums) when you’re in the healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) range. This discount does not apply to Home Loan Extras (Specified Events).

MetLife Protect – Pros

  • Worldwide cover: Once you’re insured with MetLife Australia you’ll be covered when you travel or relocate outside of Australia.
  • Support services: The company has a strong relationship with third-party providers to help support your return to health, or example, grief counselling and rehabilitation.
  • Flexible payment options: You can choose to pay your premiums fortnightly, monthly, or annually.
  • Interim cover: MetLife will pay a specific amount should you be become injured, ill or die while the company is considering your application. Read the PDS for details.
  • 30-day cooling-off period: Once you’ve received your policy schedule, you have 30 days in which you can cancel your policy and receive a full refund, provided no claim has been made.
  • Discounts: MetLife helps you save money by providing multi-policy discounts, multi-lives discounts and a healthy BMI discount.
  • MetLife Protect + Extras allows you to build insurance that adapts over time to suit your changing lifestyle.

MetLife Protect – Cons

When considering a MetLife life insurance policy, make sure to review their exclusions carefully. Take note that each Extras Cover benefit also has a list of events when a benefit will not be payable. One disadvantage specific to Income protection is that you only have two waiting periods (excess period) options, 30 or 90 days.

What are some of the features offered by MetLife insurance policies?

Take note: These are the general built-in benefits offered by a MetLife life insurance policy. You can add MetLife Extras at an additional cost.

How to apply for a MetLife life insurance policy

Visit the MetLife website, download the relevant forms and request to speak with a financial adviser. You can apply over the phone, online or request a callback. Alternatively, complete the MetLife insurance quote form on this page. To apply for cover, you must:

  • Be an Australian resident that is an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or
  • A permanent Australian resident,
  • Have a residential address in Australia, and
  • Be within the entry age required by each insurance product.

The overall customer experience

Since 2005, MetLife has paid over $3.3 billion in claims, $420 Million in 2018 alone. A further indication of the company’s ability to continually pay out claims is its financial strength. MetLife, Inc has a Standard and Poor’s rating of AA- which indicates a solid financial standing.

You might also want to read some online customer reviews to get a better picture of how MetLife treats their customers.

Frequently asked questions and answers

  • What is MetLife Group Life Insurance?

    Group insurance is an insurance policy that protects a group of people, like employees at the same company or members of a superannuation fund. MetLife Australia is best known for selling insurance policies through workplaces and is the third-largest group insurer in Australia.

  • How to contact MetLife insurance?

    You can contact MetLife’s customer experience team on 1300 555 625 or email auservices@metlife.com. Alternatively, visit their website and request a callback.

  • Will MetLife income protection payout if I contract Covid19?

    If you’ve been diagnosed with the Coronavirus and the symptoms persist past your excess period, rendering you unable to work as per your PDS definition, then you may be eligible for a Covid19 income protection benefit. However, it’s best to check with your insurer.

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