Aviva suspends premiums for unemployed clients

Aviva Australia is preparing to upgrade its life protection products this month, including introducing the option for existing clients to suspend their insurance premium payments if they are made redundant.

The distribution development manager, protection, at Aviva, Russell Hannah, said the waiver premium option already existed for those clients who became totally disabled for a continuous period of three months, but they expanded the definition of total disability to include people who had been retrenched against their will. The move was "in response to the current economic environment", he said.

The premium can be waived for 12 consecutive months for retrenched employees.

Aviva is one of only two fund managers to provide this option for employees.

Clients who opt out of their premiums due to involuntary unemployment need to have been within the insurance policy for a period of six months and previously selected the premium waiver in their insurance policy.

They must also be registered with Centrelink or a recognised unemployment agency for the premium waiver to take effect.

Aviva has also added a number of critical condition benefits to its life insurance products and upgraded a number of their non-medical underwriting requirements so clients can access higher sum-insured payments with less underwriting requirements.