TAL has won the life insurance of one of the country’s largest superannuation funds, Rest, in a major blow to the fund’s current insurance provider AIA, who it had been working with since 2004.
The fund announced today that it had entered a Memorandum of Understanding with TAL for its insurer to provide a new insurance offering to its members from 1 December, 2019. The agreement is a major win for TAL, as Rest currently insured approximately 1.5 million people.
The decision to move to TAL followed a comprehensive review of its insurance arrangements by Rest to ensure that it was offering members the best possible value. AIA had input into the tender process.
“Our new insurance offering with TAL will be designed to provide simple, flexible cover, representing value for members’ money,” Rest chief executive, Vicki Doyle, said.
“In recent years, we have worked with AIA Australia to simplify our insurance policy wordings and rules to make them more understandable to members, and streamline the claims process to support faster claims decisions.
“We will be working closely with TAL, AIA Australia and our administrator AAS to ensure a smooth transition of our insurance arrangements.”
The insurance company has joined this year’s awards as a principal partner.
The $135 billion fund has transitioned away from TAL Life Insurance following an “extensive tender process”.
The $80 billion fund is facing legal action over allegedly signing up new members to income protection insurance by default without active member consent.
In a Senate submission, the Financial Services Council has once again called for further clarification that the government will assess the consumer outcomes of group insurance against the enshrined objective of superannuation.