Zurich Life Insurance: Compare and Save
When it comes to life insurance, Zurich Life Insurance Australia is one of the top providers in the market. But how do their products compare to other brands? This company offers a wide range of products, including Death cover, TPD, Trauma cover, Income Protection and Business Expenses insurance. These life insurance products could help you care for your family through financial hardship. However, it may be a good idea to do your research before making a decision.
Published October 21, 2022
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- Types of Cover from Zurich
- Financial ratings and customer satisfaction
- Is Zurich the best life insurer?
- Pros and Cons of Zurich life insurance
- Zurich Wealth Protection policy options
- How to apply for a Zurich insurance policy
- Features and Benefits from Zurich Wealth Protection – Life Cover
- Claiming from Zurich Life Insurance
Zurich Life Insurance at a glance
Zurich is a company that has been in business for many years and enjoys a positive reputation among its customers. The company was established in 1872, and the Australian office followed suit in 1961. They generally offer a wide range of policies to suit several requirements and budgets. Some options available include death cover, trauma and TPD insurance, and income protection.
Types of Cover from Zurich
- Death Cover: Life insurance typically provides a lump sum payment if the insured dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
- Income protection: Zurich Income Safeguard is usually purchased to protect you if you cannot work because of an illness or accident. Generally, it replaces a percentage of your income while recovering from an illness or injury.
- Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) Cover: Total and permanent disablement cover usually gives you a lump sum if the policyholder meets the TPD definition in your insurance policy.
- Trauma insurance: If you’re diagnosed with a critical condition which meets your PDS requirements, you may be eligible to claim your critical illness coverage. Generally, you’ll be able to use trauma benefits to cover your expense while you recover.
- Child Critical illness: Make sure that you’ll be able to care for your child should they be diagnosed with a critical illness or injury defined in your product disclosure statement by adding this option to your insurance policy from Zurich.
About Zurich Insurance
Zurich Global is the brand under which this insurer operates. This company is based in Switzerland and is part of the Zurich Financial Services Group. They are based in Zurich, Switzerland and have offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.
Zurich strives to help its customers understand and protect themselves against risk through its promise of intelligent protection. Select customers also have the option to sign up for Zurich LiveWell, a wellness program that gives incentives for practicing healthy habits.
Financial ratings and customer satisfaction
Zurich is an insurance company with a 13.8% market share, making it the third-largest insurer in Australia as per the August 2022 Plan For Life Actuaries & Researchers report. According to the insurer, Zurich has paid over 91% of claims received, totalling over $1,28 billion of claims paid in 2021. Although this is a fairly competitive claims acceptance rate, it is generally a good idea to compare this with other insurers to determine which insurer meets your requirements.
It may be a good idea to consider a life insurer’s financial ratings to determine their stability and help you decide whether they are the right fit for your requirements. Generally, insurers who have higher financial ratings are more likely to continue meeting their client’s requirements.
Review Zurich Wealth Protection
Zurich offers many different types of life insurance policies, so it is important that you compare the features and benefits of each policy before making a decision. We compare Wealth Protection policies from the September 2021 Product Disclosure Statement. We also highlight specific benefits like interim cover, inflation protection and future insurability.
Is Zurich the best life insurer?
Generally, the best life insurer is the one who meets all of your personal requirements. When choosing an insurance provider, it may be a good idea to compare several factors, including your budget. Zurich Life insurance is a well-known and reputable provider of life insurance. They are typically considered trustworthy insurers since they provide several affordable, high-quality policy alternatives. However, compare the features of the life insurance firm with those of other major brands to find the best fit for your family.
Pros and Cons of Zurich life insurance
Advantages
- 24/7 cover: You’re protected 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Cooling off period: You have 21 days from policy commencement to decide if your policy meets your requirements. Within this time, you can cancel the policy and get a full refund, provided you have not claimed.
- Worldwide cover: The policy covers you no matter where you are in the world.
- Guaranteed Renewable: As long as you pay your premiums, the insurer is obligated to continue your coverage until you lodge a claim or your policy expires.
- Guaranteed upgrade of benefits: If the insurer makes any changes to their policies, they will update your policy to reflect the changes they’ve made.
- Optional Benefits: These are a range of optional benefits you can add for an additional fee that allows you to customise your policy to meet your requirements further. An example of an optional benefit is the Premium waiver option.
Disadvantages
- Exclusions: Certain exclusions may prevent you from making a claim.
- Benefits: There are some additional benefits that this insurer does not provide.
- Complicated claims system: This insurer’s client claim services portal may be difficult to use.
Zurich Wealth Protection policy options
Zurich Wealth Protection comprises a variety of policies designed to cover a range of scenarios. Products include Death Cover, Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) cover, Trauma cover and Income Protection insurance.
Life Insurance
This type of cover typically pays a lump sum payment to the beneficiary if the insured is diagnosed with a terminal illness or they pass away. The funds might be spent on day-to-day expenditures, required payments such as mortgage or medical expenses, or debt repayment.
Entry Age: Between 10 and 70 years old
Expiry Age: 99 years old
Minimum Cover: $50,000
Maximum Cover: No maximum amount; however, your sum insured depends on your requirements.
Total and Permanent Disability Insurance
With TPD cover, a once-off payment is made to you if you suffer a total and permanent disability due to severe injury or illness that would prevent you from working in your Own or Any occupation. This payout can help you adapt to your new lifestyle and pay your bills.
Entry Age: 15 years old to 60 or 15 to 65 years with modified definitions
Expiry Age: 99 years old unless it’s linked to Trauma insurance, in which case it is 65 years old.
Plans available: TPD or Platinum TPD
Definitions available: own occupation, any occupation, domestic duties or modified definitions.
Minimum Cover: $50,000
Maximum Cover: $5 million platinum TPD (own occupation or any occupation definitions) or TPD (own occupation, any occupation, or modified TPD definitions) or $2 million for platinum TPD or TPD (domestic duties definition)
Trauma Insurance
Trauma cover provides a lump sum payment if you suffer from one of the critical illness specified in your product disclosure statement (PDS). You can use the benefit for various things, such as paying medical expenses or making mortgage repayments.
Entry Age: 15 to 59 years old
Expiry Age: 75 years old
Plans available: Trauma or Trauma Plus
Minimum Cover: $50,000
Maximum Cover: It is generally $2 million, but $1 million if you opt for domestic duties definitions.
Child Critical Illness Insurance
A Child Critical Illness Insurance policy will protect you financially if your child contracts a specific condition listed in the PDS from your insurer. You can only apply for this coverage if the parent has one of the abovementioned insurance policies. Additionally, you can generally cover up to 5 children under the policy.
Entry Age: 2 to 17 years
Expiry Age: Before the insured child’s 18th birthday
Maximum Cover: Up to $500,000. However, the death and terminal illness benefit are capped at $200,000.
Income Protection
Your ability to earn an income is your greatest asset, which is why income protection may be a good option. Income protection insurance protects you against the risk of losing your income if you are unable to work due to sickness or injury and is generally paid as a monthly benefit.
Entry Age(Stepped): 19 – 60 years old
Entry Age(Level): 65 years old
Expiry age: On the policy anniversary before your 65th birthday
Maximum cover: A monthly benefit of up to $30,000
Business expenses cover
Business expenses cover typically offers a monthly benefit that reimburses certain business costs if the insured is unable to work due to a sickness or injury for longer than the waiting period.
Entry Age: 19 to 60 years old
Expiry Age: 65 years old
Plans available: Ongoing fixed expenses or key person replacement cover
Minimum Cover: $1,000 per month
Maximum Cover: $60,000 per month
How to apply for a Zurich insurance policy
- You can apply for a Zurich life insurance policy using our comparison site.
- To apply, you generally need to decide what kind of cover you require, including any optional benefits. Once you’ve decided which policy meets your specific requirements, you can fill out an Application form and the Life Insured’s Statement, which asks about your lifestyle, pastimes etc.
- Once the application is made, your statement will be assessed by Zurich Insurance. At this point, they may raise some medicals such as an examination, blood tests or reports from your doctor.
- Depending on the outcome of the assessment, the insurer typically approves the application or issues revised terms. Revised terms, exclusions or loadings are generally issued when your profile is deemed a higher risk.
- Your policy is then issued, and a policy schedule is provided to provide you with all the policy details, including cover commencement date, sums insured, and expiry age. It also includes any exclusions, loadings or special conditions.
Features and Benefits from Zurich Wealth Protection – Life Cover
- Terminal illness benefit: The policy will typically pay a lump-sum payment upon diagnosis of a terminal illness.
- Advancement of funeral expenses: An advance payment of $15,000 can be made towards funeral expenses.
- Accidental injury benefit: If you suffered a specified accidental injury, you might get an advance payment of part or all of the Death benefit.
- Future Insurability: This typically allows an increase in cover without reassessing your personal circumstances when major life events occur, such as the birth of a child or marriage.
- Interim cover: You’ll generally be covered for accidental injury or accidental death while your policy is being assessed. Interim cover usually lasts up to 90 days or until your assessment is complete, whichever comes first.
Claiming from Zurich Life Insurance
- You or your beneficiary must contact the insurer as soon as possible. You can do this via phone, their self-service portal on the website, or email.
- Zurich’s claims team will provide you with the claim forms and request any supporting documents that may be required.
- Complete and send the claim forms and the documentation required.
- Once the documents have been received, the insurer will start their assessment.
- They might require a medical examination to confirm a medical diagnosis, after which you will typically have to send them additional information.
Frequently asked questions and answers
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Is Zurich a good insurance company?
Zurich is a large, global insurance company with a good reputation. It offers a wide range of products and has an extensive network of agents and brokers. Financial ratings for the company are strong, and customers generally have a positive experience with the company. However, like all things, it’s generally a good idea to weigh the pros and cons to make an educated decision for your personal requirements. -
What type of insurance is Zürich?
Zurich offers a wide range of insurance products, including life, trauma, TPD insurance and income protection as well as other general insurance cover types . Generally, you’ll be able to purchase a standalone policy from this insurer, or you may have the option to combine multiple policies. -
How do I contact Zurich Insurance?
To contact the insurer, there are typically several options available. You can access their customer portal or call them directly at 131 551. Alternatively, you could call us at 1300 135 205, and we’ll help you contact the insurer. -
How do I cancel my Zurich policy?
You can generally cancel your life insurance policy anytime, provided you inform Zurich in writing. If you’ve paid your premiums in advance or canceled within the 21-day “cooling off period,” you are typically entitled to refund those premiums if you have not lodged a claim. -
How long does Zurich take to pay out?
Zurich aims to pay all eligible claims within 48 hours of receiving all the required documentation. For this reason, it’s important to have all your documentation accessible so that you and your loved ones can make a claim as quickly as possible, should something happen to you.
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I am 49 and have recently undertaken a blood test which showed my psa level was lower than normal. I am about to have an mri scan to check my prostate.
As I have had no formal diagnosis of an illness am I able to take out life insurance or income protection.
Thank you.
Interesting question Darren & one that we get fairly frequently. As I don’t know your entire situation I can only provide you with general information that generally applies to the policies that we have available to us from the 10+ insurers we currently use.
Generally speaking the view from the life insurers for any pending investigations is that they would not consider any cover (terms) until you (the client) have been fully investigated for the relevant condition (in your case your prostate and / or PSA levels) and a formal diagnosis (or clear bill of health whichever the case may be) has been made or a cause has been identified and the results have been made available (to the client at their own expense).
As you can imagine until the investigations have concluded the insurer is not aware of the risks that are involved in accepting you application or not while the investigations are pending, this would apply for all benefits including Life, TPD, Trauma & Income Protection cover.
When the investigations have finalised you may want to send us the results and we can complete a pre-assessment for you to see what cover options are available and which insurer will be able to offer cover and if so who would offer the best terms suitable to your requirements.
I hope this is of assistance to you, if you would like to discuss further please contact our office.