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Life insurance

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Family violence response organisation Orange Door has had to close on some days due to staff shortages.

How life insurers are cracking down on financial abuse

Australian life insurers have been urged to step up and improve support for customers experiencing domestic violence amid warnings that perpetrators are using life insurance policies to financially abuse victims.

  • Cindy Yin

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When it comes to actually claiming the insurance inside our super, it can become a bit of a mess.

The bureaucratic nightmare plaguing our super – and how to avoid it

Superannuation, and insurance inside super, are caught in a tangled web of rules that many people don’t know about until they’re trapped too.

  • Bec Wilson
ASIC is taking action against Cbus, chaired by former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan.

Super funds warned over delays in assessing life insurance claims

ASIC believes the scale of alleged failings at $94-billion super fund Cbus are a broader industry issue, and it’s flagged there could be more “enforcement action to follow”.

  • Sumeyya Ilanbey and Clancy Yeates
The life insurance industry has been allowed to ask for genetic screening results when issuing some policies.

Insurers banned from jacking up premiums based on your genes

People who undergo genetic testing for medical purposes will never be obliged to share their results with insurers, and insurers will not be allowed to ask.

  • Natassia Chrysanthos
Mother-of-two Louise Kruger says genetic testing saved her after she discovered she had the gene for breast cancer in her 20s.

Louise says genetic testing saved her life. But others are being put off

Concerns about how life insurance deals with genetic testing are deterring people from getting important tests. Even the industry welcomes government intervention.

  • Natassia Chrysanthos
Hayriye Uluca, a principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, says it is important to check that your super entitlements have been paid.

Billions of super is going unpaid. Here’s what to check in your account

Hundreds of thousands of workers continue to be owed super – and it could have more dire consequences than having less money in retirement.

  • John Collett
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Cherelle and Dave Bailey on their wedding day in 2005.

Cherelle’s husband died suddenly. It took a year for her to access his super

Cherelle Bailey is one of a growing number of Australians facing long delays to claim death benefits and insurance from super funds.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Former managing director of insurer Select AFSL, Russell Howden, was banned from managing corporations for five years.

‘Unconscionable conduct’: Insurers hit with $13.5 million fine

Three insurance firms have been penalised for using “high-pressure tactics” and a former managing director banned from managing corporations for five years.

  • Millie Muroi
ASIC deputy chairwoman Sarah Court said insurers need to make sure all the terms in their contracts reflect the rights of customers.

Insurer HCF Life to contest ASIC action over ‘pre-existing condition’ claims

The regulator says HCF Life’s policies suggest a consumer could be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition even if they didn’t know they had it when taking out cover.

  • Emma Koehn
letch

Should I keep my life insurance once I retire?

You must examine your situation and ask yourself how your family would get on if you died, became disabled or came down with a critical illness.

  • Noel Whittaker

Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/topic/life-insurance-how