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Life Insurance for married couples
Insurance for whatever stage of life you're at
Life insurance guide for married couples
With so much going on in your day-to-day life, whether it's work, play, travel or study, insurance can often be the last thing on your mind. For many, getting married means sharing everything – including finances.
You might have just taken on a mortgage, personal loans or credit card debt to cover the wedding itself. Perhaps you’ve already got children, or are planning to have a baby soon, and you want to takes steps towards protecting your new family’s future.
For these reasons, and the potential commitment to financially support a spouse or partner, many people consider life insurance options when deciding to get married or move in together. If something were to happen to you or your partner that dramatically reduced your income, would the other person be able to make ends meet on their own?
What types of cover should my partner and I consider?
You know you want to give your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend support should your income fall dramatically. But how do you decide what type of cover is best for you? Broadly speaking, there are two things you might want to initially consider:
The financial obligations that your partner will need to manage on their own if something happens to you.
Whether you're looking for cover that will help keep you and your partner afloat in the shorter term – when injury stops you working, for example – or cover to help provide for and protect them after you've passed away.
Once you've got a handle on what you might need to cover, see the products below to compare the different types of policies we offer.
Life Protect
You might leave your partner financially vulnerable
Our life insurance policy - Life Protect - is designed to pay out a lump sum to you if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness, or to your nominated beneficiary (e.g. your partner) in the event of your death.
The money could be used to help your partner get their life back on track, by going towards things such as:
- Immediate funeral expenses
- Mortgage or rent
- Food and groceries
- Petrol or other travel costs
- Credit card or other loan payments
- Utility bills
You might have savings or sick pay, but how long could you rely on them? What happens if they run out while you're still recovering?
Income Protection
An illness or injury could prevent you from working
Income protection is designed to pay a benefit if sickness or injury prevents you from working, so you’ll still have some money coming in to help keep you financially in control. Covers up to 75% of your income (max $10K/month).
It’s about getting financial support to help keep up the lifestyle you’ve built together until you’re back on your feet. With a successful claim, the monthly benefits could be used to:
- Stop you having to rely entirely on your partner’s income
- Help you keep up with mortgage or rent payments
- Reduce the drain on your savings that might occur when trying to make ends meet
- Help cover everyday expenses like bills, groceries, and petrol
- Make payments towards your credit card or other loans
Accidental Injury Insurance
You could get injured in an accident
Accidents can happen to anyone at any time. Imagine – you’ve just moved into your new home, you’re decorating it just the way you planned, and then the unexpected happens – you trip over the ladder and fall – fracturing your ankle. Would you be able to afford to take a break from work to recover, or to get someone to help finish making your house a home?
Accidental injury insurance can provide a lump sum pay out if you suffer certain serious injuries in an accident, anytime, anywhere. Receive up to $100,000 depending on the package chosen and injury. The pay-out could be used to:
- Help pay for necessary hospital treatment for your injury
- Hire someone to help around the house to take the pressure off your partner
- Enable you to take a break from work to recuperate
- Help cover everyday expenses like bills, travel costs, your rent or mortgage
Unsure how much you need?
Are you confident that any existing cover you have, or the life insurance provided by your super, is enough to support you and your partner if something were to happen to reduce your income? If you're not sure, use our life insurance calculator to help you work out an estimate of the cover you might need.
Life Insurance through Superannuation – Is It Enough?
What is Life Insurance through superannuation? And how do you know if life insurance through superannuation is enough? Samantha Rush explains the basics of life insurance in these two videos.
What is Life Insurance through superannuation?
This means paying for Life Insurance with the money that sits in your super fund. You’ll generally get the default level of cover your super fund offers. You can choose this option through your employer or when you set up your super fund. As long as your employer, or you, contributes super to your account regularly, you will have some level of Life Insurance cover.
What am I covered for under Life Insurance through superannuation?
Life Insurance through a super fund usually includes one or more of three different kinds of cover:
- Death cover, which pays a lump sum or an income stream benefit amount to your beneficiaries if you die.
- Total and permanent disability cover, which pays you a benefit amount if you’re seriously disabled and not likely to work again because of this.
- Income protection to cover loss of income over a certain period if you can't work because of a temporary illness or injury.
How do I work out how much Life Insurance I need?
To get an idea of how much insurance cover you need, start by tallying up the total cost of the things you pay for that your loved ones would still need if you’re no longer earning an income.
This might be things like your bills, debts, mortgage, and personal loans. The total sum of these gives you an idea of the amount of cover your loved ones would need to continue to meet your financial responsibilities in your absence.
Try our life insurance calculator online now.
What’s the difference between my super Life Insurance policy and a policy through an insurer?
Life Insurance through an insurance provider is different in a few ways. Firstly, there can be more flexibility around the kind and level of cover available, meaning the amount you pay can be adjusted to increase or decrease the level of cover. Also, benefit amount payable to you or your family are usually delivered quicker by an insurance provider because they are passed directly to the beneficiaries rather than to a super funds trustee.
Is Life Insurance through super enough?
When thinking about Life Insurance, consider what you need cover for, the premium you can afford, and the benefit or limits you and your loved ones require to keep the lifestyle that you want. For example, if someone has an underlying medical condition they might opt for Life Insurance through an insurance company to make sure they’re covered in particular circumstances. On the other hand, another person might only need a benefit amount if they’re injured at work and can no longer do that job.
Try our life insurance calculator online now.
Life Stages & Events
Whatever stage of life you're at, Suncorp could help you plan for life's unexpected turns. See what some people in your stage of life buy to help protect themselves financially and why.
Select a lifestage that's relevant to you
Young singles
Couples
Getting married
Having children
Families
Kids have left home
Seniors
Death or illness in the family
Need to talk?
Our friendly team of insurance specialists at our Australian based call centre can answer all your questions. Alternatively, if you feel your financial requirements are more complex and you require financial advice, you can turn to a Suncorp Financial Planner for help in assessing your risk and working out the cover that could meet your needs.
