The following general information must not be treated as personal advice. You should consider your specific needs and think about consulting an insurance company or a licensed financial adviser of your choice.  The ADF Financial Advice Referral Program may assist you in finding a suitable adviser.

Deciding whether you want personal insurance

Personal insurance provides cover against risks to the person including death, injury or illness.  It is usually taken out by people who want to ensure their family is provided for if they are no longer able to an earn income.  The following information is provided to help you decide whether you want or need personal insurance.  Our key suggestion on personal insurance is that you should think about it as part of your normal financial planning, and not just at deployment time.

As an ADF member you have automatic cover

As an ADF member you have statutory (legislated) entitlements that automatically entitle you to military compensation administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and death and invalidity cover through your superannuation (if you are serving full time or in certain other service categories, and/or have preserved superannuation entitlements).

Many ADF members find that their statutory entitlements are adequate to meet their needs.  Some ADF members decide that, due to their particular circumstances, they need extra cover.  This is a decision only you and your family can make.

Decide whether this cover is sufficient

In order to work out whether you need extra cover through personal insurance, first understand the cover you already have; and then work out what your dependants would need each year if you could not earn an income.  If there is a gap, you might want to consider additional insurance.

You can do this by visiting www.dva.gov.au/benefits-and-payments and (depending on which superannuation fund or arrangement you are a member of):

• MSBS – militarysuper.gov.au
• DFRDB – dfrdb.gov.au
• ADF superannuation arrangement – adfsuper.gov.au/adf-cover

Our videos on military superannuation (covering MSBS and DFRDB) and the ADF superannuation arrangement also contain easy to follow explanations and examples of the cover provided.

If you decide that you need extra cover watch out for ‘war exclusions’

If after reviewing your statutory entitlements you decide that you need or want extra cover you should make sure that whichever personal insurance policy you have, it is valid in a war zone or a war-like activity.

Most life insurance policies contain what are called ‘war exclusions’, which usually apply more widely than just in war.  This means effectively that the cover may be void if something happens while you are on deployment or engaged in other activity defined as ‘war-like’, which may include military exercises or training in Australia.  Even if you are applying for a new insurance policy that does not contain these exclusions, the insurance company might not agree to accept you because of the nature of your ADF duties.

Life insurance policies available in Australia that are understood to be free of war exclusions include:

• Defence Health – which offers the ClearView LifeSolutions life insurance policy issued by ClearView
• Navy Health – which offers the Ezicover Life Insurance policy issued by Zurich Australia.

Defence Health previously offered a product called Defence Health Term Life Insurance issued by Asteron.  We are informed that this policy was closed to new applications from 16 March 17 but that existing policyholders may retain their cover.

Defence Health also offers an accident and accidental death insurance product called D-Pax Accident Insurance which is issued by AIG Australia (AIG). We are informed that D-Pax provides cover for a range of accidents and accidental death and gives the option for a policy holder to switch to coverage for war zones without waiting periods.  AIG has informed us that unlike a life insurance product, D-Pax is not guaranteed renewable and that:

• D-Pax will not be available to new enrolments after 28 February 2018
• After 28 February 2018 no further new D-Pax insurance contracts will be entered into
• Any policies that were taken out before 28 February 2018 will remain active provided you continue to pay your monthly premiums
• AIG can provide more information and advise you about D-Pax

Navy Health also offers a policy called Ezicover Accidental Death issued by Zurich Australia. We understand that this policy does contain a war exclusion.

You may find the following contacts useful for making your own enquiries:

• AIG Australia – 1800 676 465
• Defence Health – 1800 676 465
• Navy Health – 1300 306 289

Get your insurance in place before you are deployed

It is important that you get your insurance sorted before you are deployed or given a formal notice of deployment.  If your family needs you to be insured, it needs you to be insured all the time not just while you are overseas.  Additionally, we are informed that most (if not all) insurers will not cover you anyway once you are formally notified of a deployment.

Where you have a policy you purchased prior to receiving formal notice of deployment, the insurance company may continue to cover you even if your policy contains a war exclusion. However, it is strongly recommended that you consider whether a policy containing a war exclusion is appropriate to your needs and if you find yourself with such a policy:

• disclose to the insurer that you are being deployed
• get written confirmation from the insurer (before you leave) that you will be covered.

The above general information must not be treated as personal advice. You should consider your specific needs and think about consulting an insurance company or a licensed financial adviser of your choice.  The ADF Financial Advice Referral Program may assist you in finding a suitable adviser.