Life Insurance and Income Protection for Airport Shift Workers

Income Protection

How long would savings cover your bills if illness or injury meant you couldn’t work your shifts?

Income protection can pay a share of your income after a waiting period, subject to the policy’s terms.

We’ll talk through how each income protection policy treats your duties and hours, and compare options with you.

An insurer usually looks at your job and duties when you apply, and this can affect whether cover is offered, the benefit periods (how long a benefit can be paid for) and the amount. Exclusions can apply, including to occupations or activities. Moneysmart says insurers usually base the benefit on your earnings in the 12 months before an illness or injury, so overtime and extra shifts in that time may count, depending on the policy.

What we go over with you for income protection:

• Contracted hours and extra shifts in the 12 months before an illness or injury, and how a policy counts each
• Minimum weekly hours, which Moneysmart says some policies might require, compared with the hours your contract sets
• A waiting period chosen with you around how long savings and any paid leave could last
• Time on workers compensation after a work injury, with each scheme setting who qualifies, and how your insurer counts those weekly payments
• A return to work on lighter or landside duties, and whether a policy pays a partial benefit for reduced hours
• Each policy’s definition of disability, compared with you for work you could still do at check-in or in an office
• Holding income protection inside or outside super, and an accountant’s view on how the premiums are treated for tax
• A benefit amount based on a share of your earnings, with each policy deciding whether overtime and penalties count

Learn more about Income Protection

Life Insurance

Who should be looked after first, and how, if you were no longer here?

Your beneficiaries can receive a lump sum from life cover for debts, everyday bills and future plans.

We’ll size a life cover amount with you from any debts and anyone who relies on you.

A life policy can pay a lump sum to your beneficiaries if you pass away, or if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness where the policy includes it. Insurers usually ask about your age and job when you apply, so your airport duties are part of the application.

What we work through for life cover:

• What you owe, from a home loan to a personal or car loan, if you carry debts, added up first
• Life cover in each super fund you hold, listed before a fund is closed or rolled into another
• Super death benefit nominations, which can name eligible people or your estate, looked at again after a change of employer
• Default life cover in super, which is a set amount, compared with the sum your own debts and plans would call for
• Answers about your airport job on a life application, given with the same care as for income protection
• Extra shifts and penalty pay, counted when working out how many years of income a life amount could cover
• A partner’s cover, if you have a partner, looked at beside yours so both are planned together
• Life cover that comes with an airport job, if yours has some, which may stop once you leave that employer

Learn more about Life Insurance

TPD Insurance

Which costs would you want a lump sum to cover first if you could never work again?

If you meet the policy’s definition, a TPD lump sum can go towards debts and the plans that matter to you.

We’ll go over TPD definitions with you, and how the skills from airport work may count towards other jobs.

A TPD policy pays if you meet its definition of total and permanent disability. Own occupation wording looks at your usual job and is usually only available outside super. Any occupation wording looks at other work suited to your education, training or experience, which could include coordinating or operations work.

What we compare with you for TPD:

• Ramp, check-in or screening work treated as your usual job under own occupation wording, where an insurer offers that cover, usually outside super
• Any occupation wording, and whether check-in, operations or training experience may be treated as other work you could do
• Each super fund’s own TPD definition, checked before you move funds after a change of employer
• Wording based on everyday activities, if a policy uses this test, compared with a test based on your work
• A lump sum amount worked out from what you owe and how many working years are ahead of you
• TPD beside income protection, so a long absence and a permanent one are each planned for
• Moving from the ramp to shift coordination or office work, and which job a policy may then treat as your usual job
• TPD cover that comes with a job, if yours has some, and what may change when the contract changes hands

Learn more about TPD Insurance

Trauma Insurance

Following a serious diagnosis, how would treatment and time off work be paid for?

Trauma insurance can pay a lump sum when a listed condition meets the policy’s definition and isn’t excluded.

We’ll walk you through a trauma policy’s listed conditions and how a lump sum fits beside income protection.

Each condition on a trauma policy has its own medical definition, and definitions can differ between insurers. New trauma cover can’t be held inside super, which has been the rule for policies written since 1 July 2014. A lump sum, if paid, is generally yours to use as you choose, such as for treatment or time off.

What we look at with you in a trauma policy:

• The definition behind each listed condition, explained in plain words before you apply
• Partial payment terms, if a policy has them, and what remains of the full benefit after one is paid
• A trauma payment and income protection at the same time, and whether either policy takes the other into account
• Rent and bills during time off for treatment, which a trauma payment could help with before any other payments begin
• Time off for treatment as a casual, where Fair Work says casuals don’t get most types of paid leave
• A trauma benefit built into a life policy, which may leave less life cover after a trauma claim is paid
• An older trauma policy, if you hold one, kept as it is until its wording is compared with newer cover
• Tax on trauma premiums and any payment, worked through with an accountant

Learn more about Trauma Insurance

Cover in Super

Could the cover in your super, if you have some, still match the airport work you do now?

Looking at each fund’s cover can show what to keep and what to compare before accounts are combined.

We’ll list the cover in each super fund with you before an account is changed or combined.

Default cover inside super can usually be issued without medical checks, though it may carry pre-existing condition rules set out in the fund’s PDS, and increasing it is usually underwritten like any other application. A PDS is a product disclosure statement, and underwritten means you’ll usually need to answer questions and may need medical checks.

What we look at in your super with you:

• Super from casual or labour hire work, if you’ve had some, and whether that fund still holds insurance for you
• How each fund lists your occupation, compared with your airport duties now, so you can contact the fund if your job is recorded incorrectly
• Life, TPD and income protection in super, listed by fund with the amount and premium of each
• Your fund’s answer on what a low balance would mean for your cover, since premiums come from the balance
• Rolling super into one fund only once you know which insurance would be lost from the accounts you close
• An increase to default cover, where you’ll usually need to answer questions and may need medical checks
• Cover inside super compared with cover held outside, including the effect premiums have on retirement savings
• A new employer’s super, which generally goes to your existing fund and its cover unless you choose another

Learn more about Superannuation

Ramp, Baggage and Terminal Work

What does an insurer need to know about a day on the ramp or in the terminal?

Describing each part of your shift accurately can help an insurer understand your work as it is.

We’ll describe your duties with you for each application, and check how a policy or fund records them.

Jobs and Skills Australia lists ground crew tasks such as sorting baggage, driving baggage and freight to aircraft, helping position loading ramps and staircases, filling aircraft fuel tanks and directing planes to parking positions. Since 5 October 2021, the duty when applying for consumer life cover is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation, which means answering the questions asked with reasonable care.

The parts of your work we describe with you:

• Loading and unloading baggage and freight, with the share of a usual shift each takes
• Driving tugs, belt loaders, mobile steps, tarmac buses or other ground equipment, listed by what you use
• Refuelling aircraft, described as part of your duties in the same terms as your job description
• Marshalling or directing aircraft to parking positions, where your role includes this work
• Check-in, gate and lounge work, with the time spent at each described as accurately as you can
• Screening at airport checkpoints, and any training your role requires, described as part of the job
• Airside safety, terminal operations or maintenance work for an airport operator, described in your own words
• New duties after a change of role, compared again with the job your fund or policy has on record

Learn more about Personal Insurance

Hours, Casual Shifts and a Contract Changing Hands

If your hours or your employer change, which cover would come with you, if you hold some?

Checking before the change can show what may continue and what’s worth comparing.

Together, we’ll check any cover you hold before you sign a part-time agreement, go permanent or move with a contract.

Any cover that comes through your employer may not continue once you leave, so it’s worth asking your employer or fund before your last day. Workers compensation is separate, through a state, territory or Commonwealth scheme, and each scheme sets who qualifies.

What we check with you before the change:

• Contracted hours and extra shifts, and how a change in either could affect the income an insurer looks at
• Fewer hours in a new part-time agreement, compared with the minimum weekly hours a policy you hold may need
• Going from casual to permanent, with paid leave, a new pattern of hours and a fresh look at waiting periods
• A labour hire placement, and asking the agency who your employer is for super and any cover through work
• A contract moving to another company, and which cover through your old employer to ask about before the date
• Workers compensation, which sits apart from personal cover, with each scheme setting who qualifies
• Super after a change of employer, which generally goes to your existing fund unless you choose another
• A policy in your own name, which doesn’t end just because you leave an employer, since its own terms set how long it lasts

Learn more about Personal Insurance

When to Review Your Cover

Since you started in airport work, how much has changed in your job and at home?

Each change at work or at home can be a good reason to look at your cover again.

Together, we can talk through any cover you hold and compare it with the airport work you do now.

Default cover in super is set by the fund, not by your own debts or household. Airport work can move from casual to permanent, from one employer to another when a contract changes hands, or from the ramp into coordinating. If your work or home has changed, you can book a conversation, and we’ll talk through your options. New cover is the insurer’s decision.

Changes in airport work and at home worth raising with us:

• A first fund joined under age 25, where insurance may not start until you ask, depending on your job and your fund
• Your first permanent role after casual work, and how paid leave and savings could help with the wait before a benefit could start
• New contracted hours in a part-time agreement, and whether the income protection amount you’d want has changed
• The contract you work under moving to another company, and what cover through the old employer may not continue
• Leaving labour hire for a direct role, and what cover, if any, the new job includes
• A step from the ramp into coordinating or operations, and whether your fund’s record of your job still matches
• A new home loan, a baby or a separation, if one of these happens, and the cover amounts each could change
• Premiums, which generally rise as you get older and may change, planned alongside the years you’d like to keep working

Learn more about Personal Insurance

Making a Claim

Who would help with the forms, the calls and the waiting if you ever needed to claim?

Help with each form and call can make a claim easier to manage at a hard time.

Together, we’ll lodge your claim and follow each step while the insurer or fund assesses it.

Moneysmart suggests first contacting whoever arranged your cover, which for cover through work can be your employer or fund. An insurer may ask about your duties, physical requirements and usual hours, and for payslips or other proof of income. If you disagree with a decision, you can complain to the insurer or fund, then to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

How we help with a claim:

• The right starting point for a claim, found in each policy’s documents or your super statement
• A description of your duties and usual hours, from the ramp to the checkpoint, prepared with you for the insurer
• Payslips showing contracted hours, overtime and penalties, gathered to show what you earned before the claim
• What medical information an insurer may ask for and why, talked through with you before you sign the forms
• Personal cover claims kept apart from any workers compensation claim, with each scheme setting who qualifies
• Paid leave taken during a claim, and how a policy’s terms may treat that income
• Fewer hours or lighter tasks when you go back to work, and whether a policy pays part of a benefit for those weeks
• A decision you’d like looked at again, first by the insurer or fund, then by AFCA free of charge

Health Conditions & Illnesses

Could a health condition change the cover an insurer offers you?

Our guides explain what insurers may ask about common conditions, and a health condition doesn’t necessarily rule out cover.

We can help you prepare an application when you have a health condition or a past illness.

Underwriting is how an insurer assesses an application and decides whether to offer cover, on what terms and at what price. Possible outcomes include standard terms, a higher premium, an exclusion, a request to apply again later, or a decline.

Guides by health condition:

• Cover with a health condition: where to start
• Autoimmune conditions
• Back or joint conditions
• Blood conditions
• Cancer history
• Diabetes
• Digestive conditions
• Eye or hearing conditions
• Heart conditions
• HIV or hepatitis
• Kidney conditions
• Mental health conditions
• Neurological conditions
• Respiratory or sleep conditions
• Weight, smoking or alcohol history
• Women’s health conditions