You may have insurance you have never been told about
Most super funds include life, total and permanent disability and income protection cover. People pay for it without knowing, and families miss claims because nobody knew it existed.
3 types
life, total and permanent disability, and income protection are offered by most super funds
What this is
Insurance inside super is invisible in both directions. The premiums are deducted from the balance rather than billed, so someone can pay for cover for a decade without registering it; and the cover is not mentioned anywhere the family would look, so a death or a disability claim goes unmade. Most funds other than self-managed ones offer three types: life cover, total and permanent disability, and income protection that pays a regular income for a set period if illness or injury stops you working.
Does it apply to you?
- Anyone with one or more super accounts, which is almost everyone who has worked
- Anyone about to consolidate accounts, who is about to cancel cover
- Anyone who has had a serious illness or injury and has not checked what their fund covers
How to do it
- Log in to each super fund you hold and find the insurance section. Every account can carry its own cover.
- Write down what each one covers and what the premiums are. The premiums come out of your balance, so they are easy never to notice.
- Decide whether the cover matches your situation: duplicated cover across several funds means paying several premiums for benefits you may only be able to claim once.
- Tell the people who would need to claim. A family that does not know the cover exists cannot claim it.
Where people lose the money
Consolidating accounts to save fees without checking insurance.
Closing an account cancels its cover, and replacing it may be expensive or impossible if your health has changed.
Paying premiums on several funds for the same thing.
Duplicated cover means duplicated premiums, and some benefits can only be claimed once.
Never telling anyone it exists.
The claim is made by your family or by you at the worst possible moment. Write down which funds hold cover and where.
Questions
How do I find out what I have?
Log in to each super fund and look for the insurance section of your account, or read the latest statement. If you have lost track of your accounts, the ATO's search through myGov lists them.
What are the three types?
Life cover, which pays on death or terminal illness; total and permanent disability cover, which pays if you are unlikely to work again; and income protection, which pays a regular income for a set period, commonly two years, five years, or to a set age.
Should I keep it?
That depends on your circumstances and we cannot answer it. What this page is for is making sure you know it is there, because a decision you never knew you were making is the expensive one.
Does it cost me anything now?
Premiums are deducted from your super balance, which reduces what you retire with. That is the reason to check even if you never claim.
Where these numbers come from
- Moneysmart (ASIC), Insurance through super · read 2026-09-23
Last gone over 2026-09-23. Figures change; the link above is always the current one.
Published by Income Lab, Melbourne. Responsible for this page: Jarred Krowitz.