Income Protection Insurance

Income protection insurance pays a monthly, ongoing benefit in accordance with your policy’s waiting period and benefit period, while life insurance pays a lump sum payment if you pass away or are diagnosed with a terminal illness. The main purpose of income protection is to insure your income, not your life. Also, unlike life insurance, the cost of income protection insurance is generally tax deductible when taken out outside of superannuation, meaning you can claim the cost of the policy each year at tax time.

According to the Australian Tax Office (ATO), you may be able claim the cost of the premiums that you pay for your income protection insurance against the loss of your income. You also need to include payments you receive through your income protection insurance as income.

If you are considering the tax implication of purchasing and receiving benefits under Suncorp Income Protection, it is important you seek independent, professional taxation advice.

Most superannuation funds offer a range of insurance policies including life, total and permanent disability (TPD) and income protection insurance for their members. When you purchase an income protection policy through your super fund, you’re limited to the options your fund has made available (e.g. their specific waiting periods, benefit periods and age restrictions). Policies purchased through a super fund are also generally not tax deductible against your income.

You can have both workers compensation and income protection, however, if you receive a workers compensation benefit, this may reduce your income protection insurance benefit. This is because Income protection is designed to help cover your loss of income, but if you’re already being compensated for the loss of that income from somewhere else, such as workers compensation, this will be factored in and generally your Income Protection benefit will be reduced accordingly.

Yes, you are eligible to apply for income protection insurance if you’re self-employed. In calculating your benefit amount, your business expenses are excluded from your pre-tax earnings to calculate your personal income. Note that income paid from rental income, investment income, other disability income policies, retirement plans or lump sum disability payments are some examples of income we would generally not consider to be part of earnings. Please refer to the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for further information.

Income protection insurance is designed to provide cover against illness or injury that affects your ability to earn an income. A redundancy is a difficult time, but it is not related to your personal health. Suncorp income protection Insurance won’t cover you if you’ve been made redundant or lose your job due to unforeseen circumstances.

Our claims specialists will help you understand the claims process, explain what to expect for the assessment of your claim, and make the claim process as easy as possible for you. We require you to fill out a claim form and provide documentation in support of your benefit entitlement. Please contact us on 1300 618 255 as soon as you know you will be out of action for longer than your claim waiting period, to avoid delays in processing your claim.

When assessing your application, we consider various personal and lifestyle factors, including the sports and hazardous activities you engage in, and whether they are for recreation or performed professionally. Certain recreational sports and activities, such as soccer or football, may be covered without amendment or may require a higher premium rate (called a 'premium loading') to be charged. Alternatively, we might apply a longer waiting period on your policy for claims from injuries sustained while participating in that specific sport or activity. We will inform you of any loadings or amendments before you decide to purchase cover, and the impact these options have on your premium.