Insurance FAQs and glossary terms

Default cover is a base level of cover you can receive without providing evidence of your health. The amount of cover you receive as default cover is based on your age.

Our default level of cover is:

• for members aged 14 to 69: one unit of Death and TPD cover
• for members aged 70 to 74: one unit of Death-only cover

If you apply to join UniSuper through becoming a Personal Account, you can elect to receive default cover during the application process—without providing evidence of your health. However, the cover won’t start until we receive money into your account.

Most new employer sponsored members don’t receive default cover automatically when they join. If you meet our eligibility criteria, you’d receive a default level of cover without needing to provide any evidence of your health once we receive a super contribution from your employer and you’re: 

• at least 25-years-old; and
• have an account balance of $6,000 or more.

You may also be able to elect to receive your default cover before it automatically commences.  

Unitised cover means the cost of each unit of cover stays the same over time but the value of each unit (the amount you are insured for) reduces as you get older.

Everyone’s insurance needs are different. As your life changes, your insurance needs can change too. You should frequently review your cover to ensure it’s right for you and your situation. If you’re unsure, consider speaking to our award-winning advice team.

In the meantime, our handy Insurance calculator is a great place to start when determining what the right level of cover might look like for you. This calculator uses unit values for death and TPD cover and premium rates that apply from 1 June 2024.

Your current level of cover will remain in place if you lose your job, but we’ll automatically cancel your cover if your account hasn’t received a contribution or rollover for 16 months (don’t worry, we’ll let you know in advance if there’s a risk of this occurring).

You can let us know if you want to keep your insurance by making a contribution, or by completing the Electing to keep your insurance (PDF, 66KB) form.

If you’re a Defined Benefit Division (DBD) member, your insurance cover will generally continue, but inbuilt benefits are linked to your employment so these will cease if you’re no longer employed.

Good news! If you have insurance through your super, we deduct your premiums from your super balance—so there’s no need to pay separately from your hip pocket.

It’s important to make sure your account has sufficient funds to cover your insurance premiums—if it doesn’t, we may cancel your cover automatically. The cost of external insurance is calculated according to your age, type, and level of cover.

There’s no charge deducted from DBD members’ accounts for inbuilt benefits as the cost of inbuilt benefits is built into the DBD design.

No. Income Protection doesn’t cover this scenario—it’s only paid if you’re unable to work because you’re injured or ill.

Income Protection can cover up to 85% of your salary, including up to 10% super, and it’s paid monthly while you’re off work due to injury or illness.

We provide cover through our external insurance partner, TAL, one of Australia’s largest life insurers. We bulk-buy cover from TAL – sometimes referred to as ‘group insurance’ – which allows us to keep premiums as low as possible.  

We offer external insurance for Death, TPD and Income Protection.

If you’re a DBD member, you’ll generally get automatic inbuilt benefits that can be thought of as similar to external insurance as they can cover you if you:

• can’t work due to illness or injury
• have a terminal illness, or
• pass away.

UniSuper (not an external insurer) provides inbuilt benefits and are paid in addition to external insurance cover.

We’ve built the cost of inbuilt benefits into the DBD design, so there’s no charge or premium deducted from your account—you don’t have to worry about the cost changing over time. Being part of the DBD design, you can’t change or cancel your inbuilt benefits.

See DBD insurance and inbuilt benefits frequently asked questions for more information.

A beneficiary is a person whom you’ve nominated to receive your super and insurance benefits if you pass away. Your nomination can be binding or non-binding. Your beneficiaries could be your spouse, children, financial dependents or a legal personal representative.

A binding nomination is a legally binding direction that indicates who you want to receive your super. In other words, as long as the binding nomination is valid, we’re bound to follow it.

A binding nomination can be either lapsing (expires after three years) or non-lapsing (it won’t expire unless you revoke it). Be sure to check your nominations frequently in case they’re due to lapse.

A non-binding nomination is one that we’re not legally bound to follow. If you pass away, we’ll then consider your nominated beneficiaries and decide who we’re obliged to pay, based on the current laws at the time of your death.

If you’re receiving a pension and you’d like your dependant (e.g. your spouse) to continue receiving your pension as regular payments when you pass away, you can nominate a reversionary beneficiary. Once the remaining balance for the reversionary pension is under $10,000, we’ll pay it out as a lump sum.

You can use the free AppleCheck comparison tool brought to you by external research firm Chant West to compare our investments, fees, insurance and member services with over 200 other super funds.

Inbuilt benefits is the term used to describe benefits payable to DBD members or their beneficiaries in the event of disablement, temporary incapacity, a terminal medical condition or death.

Not quite. Even though inbuilt benefits are similar to life insurance cover because they can provide financial protection against injury, illness or death, there are some differences. Unlike cover provided by our insurer, they form part of your defined benefit and there’s no charge deducted from your account.

Inbuilt benefits are aptly named—they’re built into the DBD design. Most DBD members receive these automatically, although you won’t be covered for any pre-existing medical conditions for three years after you join the DBD.

You’ll generally also receive one unit of default Death and/or Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) insurance cover without providing health evidence to our insurer if you meet the eligibility criteria. You may also be able to elect an additional two units of Death and/or TPD insurance cover within your first 180 days of membership.

Insurance premiums will be deducted from your accumulation component and insurance cover will cease if you have insufficient funds.

Everyone’s insurance needs are different. As your life changes, your insurance needs can change too. You should frequently review your cover to ensure it’s right for you and your situation. If you’re unsure, consider speaking to our award-winning advice team.

We use formulas that consider numerous factors to determine your inbuilt benefits, such as your work arrangements, salary and default member contribution rate.

UniSuper provides your inbuilt benefits, not our insurer.

We provide cover through our insurance partner. We bulk-buy cover – sometimes referred to as ‘group insurance’ – which allows us to keep premiums as low as possible.

We offer insurance for Death and TPD.

Inbuilt benefits cover you for life’s unplanned events. They may be payable if you’re temporarily or permanently unable to work, suffer a terminal medical condition or die.

As inbuilt benefits are generally provided automatically as part of your DBD membership, you can’t change or cancel them.

Your inbuilt benefits will usually only apply while you’re with your employer and eligible to contribute to the DBD.

Income Protection cover isn’t available to DBD members. This is because DBD members generally have access to the inbuilt temporary incapacity benefit, which also provides an income until you’re able to return to work.

The cost of inbuilt benefits is included in the DBD design, so no deductions are made from your account. The great news is you won’t have to worry about the cost of inbuilt benefits changing over time.

Premiums for your insurance cover are deducted from your accumulation balance, so there’s no need to pay separately from your hip pocket. However, for this reason, you should regularly check that you have sufficient funds to cover your premiums and that the level of insurance cover is right for you.