Cbus cuts insurance costs for under 50s
Almost all Cbus members will see their death and TPD premiums drop next month, however most of the fund's older members will pay more.
Premiums will rise from August 26, members were told, with the industry fund saying the increase for older members is driven by an uplift in the number of claims lodged by the cohort in recent years.
"Each year we negotiate carefully with our insurer to make sure we're getting you the best value cover we can. So, while an increase has been unavoidable for some members, we've been able to negotiate a decrease for most members," Cbus said.
All members aged 15 to 49 years will see savings, no matter the occupational category they're in.
The biggest saving to be had is on TPD cover provided to 15-24-year-olds in the manual category, with each unit of going down $1.13 to 75c. Meanwhile, the lowest saving is 2c, which is how much TPD cover is going down for those aged 35-49 across all categories.
However, all members over the age of 50 will see increases, save for a 2c drop in the unit price of death cover for non-manual and professional workers.
Manual workers will see a 17c increase per unit of death cover and 23c increase to TPD, bringing the weekly amounts to $2.06 and $2.80 respectively. Those in the Electech category will pay 14c more per unit of death and 19c more per unit of TPD each week, making these $1.76 and $2.35 each, and non-manual and professional workers will cop a 12c increase per unit of TPD to now total $1.67 a week.
The changes follow Cbus increasing most insurance premiums in July last year. It also increased premiums for some of its members in October 2021 and in April 2020. The 2020 increases were the result of Cbus moving to age-based premiums.
Cbus noted that 97.6% of all claims made in the three years to December end were paid, including 97% of all TPD claims and 100% of death claims. This came to a total of $849 million paid over the period across 8140 claims.
Cbus' group insurance is provided by TAL.
This article first appeared on Financial Standard
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