The Insurance in Superannuation Voluntary Code of Practice (the Code) was the superannuation industry’s commitment to high standards when providing insurance to fund members. 

The Code recognised the significant benefits of insurance in superannuation and aimed to improve these offerings by promoting industry standards and expectations on a range of key issues – including: 

• simpler processes for members to opt out of automatic insurance 
• improved communications including the impact of insurance fees on retirement outcomes 
• increased help for members making a claim.
   

As a participating member of the Insurance in Superannuation Working Group that developed the Code, Hostplus strongly believed that the Code helped to ensure the right balance between providing adequate insurance cover and protection of members’ superannuation savings for retirement. As a result, we adopted the Code in 2018 and implemented numerous enhancements to improve the experience of our members. We were compliant with the key elements of the Code by December 2019.   

Since the Code was established, most of the requirements have been superseded by legislative and regulatory reforms which Hostplus has implemented. For this reason, in July 2021 the Code Owners (the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, Autralian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and Financial Services Council) announced that they were replacing the Code with two guidance notes that address the Code requirements not covered by legislation, relating to improving outcomes for vulnerable members and improving claims handling. 

While the Code has been replaced, Hostplus remains strongly committed to adhering to the principles of the Code and the new guidance notes. 

The Hostplus claims team is passionate about being there for members and beneficiaries at a difficult time when we're needed the most. Our role is to guide and support the member or beneficiary through the entire claim journey with compassion and respect.

We promise to be there for our members and families, to guide and support them through the entire claim journey.

Our aim is to provide our members and their beneficiaries with:

• an in-house claims team with dedicated claims relationship officers who will proactively and compassionately manage the relationship (and any other interested parties) and keep claimants informed at every step of the way
• assistance in identifying any cover held within Hostplus which may be eligible to claim on
• a single point of contact at the start of the claim to assist throughout the claim journey and to explain the process in simple, clear language
• accurate and detailed information upfront to assist in managing a claim completely and efficiently
• support through the process at a difficult time and in no way discourage the lodgement of a claim
• honesty and transparency and delivery on our promises
• accountability and prompt resolution of any issues
• respectful treatment of the claimant at all times
• acknowledgment and consideration of the claimant’s individual circumstances
• the commitment to work together to make the claim experience as simple, easy and positive as possible
• doing everything that is reasonable to pursue an insurance claim for the benefit of a member or beneficiary, if the Trustee considers that the claim has a reasonable prospect of success.
  

Recognising this is a difficult time, Hostplus seeks to ensure all genuine claims are paid quickly with compassion and empathy. We will ensure that the insurer treats the claimant fairly and assesses the claim promptly.

Any adverse decision by the insurer will be reviewed by our Claims Review Committee (CRC). Where they believe the insurer has acted unreasonably or unfairly in a claim decision, they will take whatever action is necessary to resolve the outstanding claim.

The intention of Total and Permanent Disability cover is to provide you with an insured benefit if you become totally and permanently disabled as a result of an illness or injury. It is designed to replace your future earning capacity via a lump sum payment and provide you and your dependants with the financial support you need.

Total and Permanent Disability insurance cover is available to you regardless of your working hours or the basis on which you are employed, whether you are casual, part-time, contract or permanent. 

Your capacity to work is assessed by Hostplus’ insurer and is determined by your ability to be employed or engaged in any gainful occupation, business, profession or employment for which you are reasonably suitable by your education, training or experience, not just your usual occupation or job you were performing when you become injured or ill. If you are not working or employed in any capacity 12 months prior to becoming injured or ill, different conditions may apply.

When reviewing your education, training or experience, we may consider for example the level of schooling you completed, further studies undertaken since then and any subsequent qualifications and certificates you have obtained or are obtaining, the skills and abilities you have acquired through work you have undertaken (both paid and unpaid), as well as any hobbies or interests.

The insured benefit is determined as at the date of the event occurring and the level of insurance cover at that time.

Income Protection insurance helps to protect your income if you can’t work because of illness or injury (temporarily and totally) by providing regular monthly payments to help you meet your living expenses.

You can apply for cover of up to 90% of your monthly pre-disability. If you are insured for this amount and in event of a successful claim, 75% of your monthly pre-disability salary is paid to you and 15% of your monthly pre-disability salary is paid into your Hostplus account, capped at $30,000 per month. You may, of course, choose to have Income Protection insurance cover that is less than 90% of your pre-disability salary.

We offer three waiting periods of 30, 60 or 90 days. A waiting period is the period during which you must be totally or partially disabled before an Income Protection benefit is payable. You do not receive a monthly benefit for the waiting period.

The benefit period is the maximum period of time that a benefit will be paid for any one illness or injury which you are totally disabled or partially disabled. You can choose a benefit period of two years, five years or up to age 65.

Premiums vary depending on which waiting period or benefit period you choose. Generally, the longer the waiting period and the shorter the benefit period, the lower the premium.

For claimants with a non-English speaking background who need assistance in making a claim, we can work with an interpreter from Translating and Interpreting Services (TIS) to help make the process easier to understand.

To ask for an interpreter, call us on 1300 803 745 between 8.30 am-4.30 pm Monday to Friday EST.

Use of TIS for insurance claims is free for all claimants, and our claims team can guide you through this process.

To find out more about Translating and Interpreting Services, visit tisnational.gov.au.

On 1 July 2017 Hostplus entered into an arrangement with MetLife that included a Premium Adjustment Mechanism (PAM) in respect of the Death and Total & Permanent Disability insurance cover and the non-default Income Protection cover. This arrangement reduces the insurer's risk exposure due to claims volatility and allows Hostplus to negotiate lower overall premiums for members.

Any premium adjustment payment made to us is allocated to a separate insurance reserve for this arrangement and is governed by our reserving policy. Our reserving policy requires that any premium adjustment payments we receive from the insurer are only passed-on to members through future premiums charged. The Hostplus Board will be exclusively responsible for approving the use and/or distribution of any of the PAM Proceeds and we will report details of any distribution of the PAM proceeds in our annual reports.

The PAM arrangement does not currently apply to default Income Protection (Salary Safe) cover referred to in section 8.17 of our PDS.