Premium and Cover Pause

Managing your premiums during times of financial difficulty

You may have recently requested to apply Premium and Cover Pause to your AIA Australia policy.

Premium and Cover Pause can help you during times of financial difficulty, by allowing you to put your premiums and cover on hold for a specified period of time.

It is important that you fully understand how Premium and Cover Pause works and how it impacts your cover. On this page you will find more information about Premium and Cover Pause. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to email us at au.clientservices@aia.com and we’ll be happy to help. We strongly recommend that you speak to your financial adviser before you decide to put your policy on pause.

Frequently asked questions

 
Priority Protection policies are eligible with the exception of:
 
  • Superannuation policies, including Priority Protection for Platform Investors (PPPI) superannuation policies (SMSFs allowed)
  • Policies linked to superannuation policies (e.g. Maximiser, Super Extras, Super PLUS)
  • Policies in force less than 24 months
  • Policies that have increased cover in the last 12 months (other than Benefit Indexation increases)
  • Policies where the life insured is currently receiving Income Protection benefits, has submitted a claim for Income Protection benefits or has received Income Protection benefits in the last 12 months

 
If you are experiencing financial hardship, Premium and Cover Pause allows you to temporarily suspend your premiums and insurance cover for a specified period of either 3, 6 or 12 months – up to a maximum of 12 months over the life of your policy.
 
While your policy is on pause, you will not be required to pay any premiums, but you will also not be covered for any claimable event that occurs while your policy is on pause. At the end of the requested pause period, your cover and premiums will automatically resume. The premiums charged at the end of the pause period will reflect any changes that would have been due during the pause period. This may include changes such as Benefit Indexation and age-based increases. You won’t be charged any premiums for the period of the pause. 

 
Financial hardship can occur when your usual levels of income are reduced and this results in difficulty paying your usual living expenses, including your insurance premiums.
 
Examples of financial hardship can include, but are not restricted to:
 
  • Employer approved leave including maternity, paternity, or sabbatical leave,
  • Unemployment,
  • Business closure or bankruptcy,
  • Injury or illness,
  • Leaving paid employment to become a full-time caregiver for a spouse, partner or dependent child,
  • Death of a spouse, partner or child,
  • Natural disaster where the event affects a Life Insured’s ability to undertake their usual work

 
  • If you pay your premiums monthly, you can apply for either a 3, 6 or 12 month pause period, effective from your next premium due date.
  • If you pay your premiums half-yearly, you can apply for either a 6 or 12 month pause period, effective from your next premium due date. If you require a 3 month pause period, you will be required to convert your payment frequency to monthly. Please note, monthly premiums include a higher premium frequency charge than half-yearly premiums.
  • If you pay your premiums yearly, you can apply for a 12 month pause period, effective from your next premium due date. If you require a 3 or 6 month pause period, you will be required to convert your payment frequency to monthly. Please note, monthly premiums include a premium frequency charge.
If you choose to change your premiums to monthly, you can ask us to change your premiums back to half-yearly or yearly after the Premium and Cover Pause ends, but if you do not and decide to keep your premium payments on a monthly frequency, it will include the monthly frequency charge. 

 
It’s very important to note that, both during the Premium and Cover Pause period, and any subsequent period after your premiums and cover have recommenced, you will not be eligible to claim for any sickness, injury, specified medical event, death or any other event (including signs, symptoms or diagnosis of such Illness, Injury or condition) that occurred for the first time during the Premium and Cover Pause period.

A sickness, injury or specified medical event is considered to have happened when:

  • a Medical Practitioner first gives you advice, care or treatment or recommends that you seek advice, care or treatment for the sickness, injury or specified medical event; or
  • in relation to a health condition, you experienced symptoms which, to a reasonable person, would have indicated the presence of that health condition or the need to seek medical treatment or investigation that would have revealed the presence of that health condition prior to the end of your Premium and Cover Pause period, notwithstanding that you were not in fact aware that you had the health condition.
We strongly recommend that you consider this carefully and that you speak to your financial adviser before you decide to put your policy on pause. If you don’t have a financial adviser, we can help put you in contact with one.

 
Once you select your specified period of 3, 6 or 12 months and it has been put into effect, it is not possible to resume your premiums or cover before the end of that period.
 
If you would like to extend the pause period, simply contact us at least 7 working days prior to the end of your scheduled pause and we can arrange that. Please note however, that you can only put your Cover and Premiums on pause for a maximum of 12 months per policy. This includes any pause period used on an AIA policy that your current policy has replaced.

 
If you have any existing policy benefits that have a specific eligibility or application period (e.g. Guaranteed Insurability options, Buy Back options or Crisis Reinstatement) the option must be applied and accepted within the original timeframe specified in your policy, even if this is during a period of Premium and Cover Pause.
 
Any amended cover and premium resulting from actioning such an option won’t be applied until the end of the pause period, when cover has resumed. Any cover resulting from a Buy-Back option will not be reinstated until the end of the pause period.

 
No. All benefits on a policy must be paused at the same time.

 
No. It is not possible to cancel and replace your policy with another AIA policy until the pause period has ended.

 
Yes. However, please note that, if during a period of Premium and Cover Pause period, you submit an application for increased cover, cover held under any paused policies will be taken into account when considering your eligibility and acceptance for further cover.

 
During the pause period, any AIA Vitality membership contribution fees will also be paused, meaning that you will not be required to pay that fee while you are not paying your premiums. The good news is that your AIA Vitality membership will not be paused so you will be able to continue accessing the program and enjoy its rewards and benefits, including being able to increase discounts on your Priority Protection premiums if you are engaged in the program.

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