St Andrew’s launches online platform

Renato Mazza

The wealth and insurance arm of HBOS Australia, St Andrew’s, has launched an online platform allowing Australian institutions to access simplified life insurance products for their members and customers.

The platform, Term Life Direct, is offered through Bank of Queensland, BankWest and RACV.

St Andrew’s director of insurance Renato Mazza said consumers have traditionally been reluctant to apply for insurance due to its complexity.

“The challenge for St Andrew’s was to develop a very simple product that consumers wouldn’t find intimidating — it had to be great value for money, easy to apply for and, most importantly, require no medical examinations,” he said.

Term Life Direct offers straight forward term life cover for up to $500,000, requires no medical examination and has up to $10,000 available — an advance benefit that includes accidental death cover.

According to Mazza, the online process means time poor customers no longer need to visit a financial planner to organise their insurance.

“For most of us, taking out life insurance means visiting a financial planner and that means an appointment, forms to fill out and lots of detail needed — it can be a long process,” he said.

“While the online process has broad appeal to a range of customers, it won’t erode the role of a financial adviser or broker because they offer advice to customers looking at more complex investments.”