Insurance and inactive member accounts

Did you know you insurance through super could be cancelled?

Did you know your insurance could be cancelled if your super account becomes inactive?

Eligible First Super members receive insurance cover for Death and Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) without having to apply. This is called default (automatic) insurance cover.

Insurance starts as soon as you:

are age 25 or older, and
have $6,000 in your superannuation account, and
receive a superannuation contribution from your employer (or make one yourself) or receive a rollover from another superannuation fund.

But if your super account becomes “inactive”, you could lose this cover.

What is an “inactive” super account?

If your super account has not received a contribution or a rollover for 16 months, it becomes inactive. A contribution or rollover includes super paid by your employer or yourself, or super you have rolled in from another fund.

Under superannuation law, we cannot keep providing insurance cover and charging insurance fees if your account becomes inactive. This means your insurance will be cancelled.

But you can stop this from happening.

I want to keep my insurance in super

How do I keep my insurance?

If you want to stay protected and keep your automatic level of insurance with First Super, the good news is that you’re in control. You can elect to stop your insurance from being cancelled, but you need to let us know before it is cancelled.

You can keep your cover by:

completing the online opt-in form or
contributing to your account, which will make it active again.

If we don’t hear from you or receive a contribution, your First Super insurance cover will stop soon.

How much cover do I have?

Automatic insurance includes 4 units of Death (including Terminal Illness) and TPD insurance.

You can check how much you have by looking at your Annual Member Statement, logging into firstonline or calling our Member Services Team on 1300 360 988.

What are the advantages of insurance through super?

You’re protected. Rest easy knowing that you’re protected in case of serious illness, injury or death.
Better cash flow. Insurance paid for through your super account means you don’t feel the hurt of paying for your insurance each month. You’re making contributions as part of your pay, which you’ll barely notice.
It’s cheaper. Our bargaining power enables us to negotiate competitive fees for our members – which means you’re paying less for your level of cover than if you were to buy insurance as an individual outside of super.

If your insurance is cancelled, then you decide later that you want it again, how would you get it back?

Unfortunately, it is not as easy as just switching your insurance back on again.

You will need to meet some conditions, such as being in active employment on the last day of the 24-month period after reinstatement.

If not, then limited cover continues until you return to active employment for 30 consecutive days. You should read the Insurance Guide to find out more.

It’s your call – will you decide to stay protected?