Life Insurance and Income Protection for Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics

Income Protection

Which bills at home would need help if illness or injury kept you from installs and service calls?

Income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period, subject to the policy’s definitions and the insurer’s assessment.

Together, we’ll weigh up income protection with you, based on your duties, any licences you hold and the way you’re paid.

An insurer usually looks at your job and duties when you apply, and this can affect whether cover is offered, the benefit periods and the amount. Moneysmart says the benefit is usually based on your earnings in the 12 months before an illness or injury. Each income protection policy has its own definition of disability, and conditions that must be met before a claim is made. Exclusions can apply, including to occupations or activities.

What we weigh with you for income protection:

• A waiting period chosen against your savings and any sick leave, for time away from work
• Benefit periods to a set age or for a number of years, weighed against how long you’d like to keep working in the industry
• Overtime and call-out pay, and how each policy’s definition of insured income treats them
• Earnings over the 12 months before illness or injury, in a year where summer can be busier
• Minimum working hours some policies set, and how a minimum could apply in any quieter stretch your work can have
• Income protection held inside or outside super, with an accountant on how premiums and benefits are taxed
• Any workers compensation paid for a job site injury, which may reduce what a policy pays, depending on its terms
• Business expenses insurance for owners with rent, staff or van costs, whether available and suitable

Learn more about Income Protection

Life Insurance

Does anyone at home rely on what your air conditioning and refrigeration work pays for?

Life cover can pay a lump sum to your beneficiaries, which can go towards debts and day-to-day costs.

We can work out a life cover amount with you from any debts and anyone who relies on your pay.

Insurers usually ask your age and job when you apply for life cover. If you pass away, a policy can pay a lump sum to the beneficiaries you nominate, and some policies also include terminal illness cover, as each defines it. For cover in super, the trustee pays under the fund’s rules and any nomination you’ve made.

What we count with you for life cover:

• A van and kit loan, if you have one, counted in the amount you’d want cleared
• Finance on recovery units or other kit for your own authorisation, if you’ve borrowed, added to the debts you’d want cleared
• Mortgage repayments, if you have a mortgage, and what your air conditioning pay covers at home each month
• An old fund from earlier work in the trade, if you have one, checked for life cover before an amount is set
• Naming beneficiaries, or leaving the money to your estate, under the rules each super trustee or insurer sets
• School or childcare costs for children, if you have them, added in for the years they’d still be at home
• Install, service or commercial duties, described accurately when a life application asks about your work
• A partner’s own cover, if you have a partner, counted beside the household costs your pay meets

Learn more about Life Insurance

TPD Insurance

Could your household’s plans hold up if you were never able to work again?

TPD insurance can pay a lump sum if you can’t work again, as the policy defines it.

We’ll explain how TPD definitions may treat the skills and experience air conditioning and refrigeration work builds.

Moneysmart says a definition based on any occupation looks at any job suited to your education, training or experience, while one based on your own occupation looks at your usual job and is usually only available outside super. Some definitions look at everyday activities instead of work, and a TPD payment may reduce life cover packaged with it.

What we read with you in a TPD definition:

• Own occupation wording for a refrigeration mechanic, usually only available outside super, at each insurer’s discretion
• Estimating, sales or training experience, and how an any occupation definition may take it into account
• Each fund’s own TPD terms, looked at with you before you rely on that cover
• The job title a fund or insurer shows for you, compared with the installs or service calls you actually do
• Daily living tests, which some TPD terms use in place of a test based on your trade
• Van, kit and home loan repayments, if you have them, and whether a one-off payment could clear them
• Cover held under both super and a personal policy, and how two TPD definitions could read the same situation
• A move into service management, and how a definition would then treat your usual work

Learn more about TPD Insurance

Trauma Insurance

Which costs could a lump sum help with if a serious diagnosis kept you away from installs and service work?

Trauma cover can pay a lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a listed condition that meets its definition and isn’t excluded.

Together, we’ll go over the conditions a trauma policy lists, and how a lump sum would work alongside income protection.

A trauma policy names the conditions it covers and sets a medical definition for each, which Moneysmart notes 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.

What we go over with you in a trauma policy:

• Each condition’s medical definition, so you can see what a diagnosis must show for a trauma payment
• A standalone trauma contract compared with trauma attached to life insurance, as a claim may lower the death benefit
• Trauma premiums paid from your after-tax earnings in the trade, as a super fund can’t hold new trauma contracts
• Specialist bills, travel or family taking time off, which a trauma payment can go towards as you choose
• If you’re self-employed with no paid sick leave, what a one-off payment could do while you’re off work
• A trauma contract taken out years ago, if you have one, and how newer terms differ
• Van, kit or authorisation repayments, if you have them, set beside what a trauma payment could clear
• Tax on a trauma payment, as a question for an accountant

Learn more about Trauma Insurance

Cover in Super

How closely does any cover in your super match the air conditioning and refrigeration work you do today?

Each fund’s insurance details show what’s there, what it costs and how your job is recorded.

Together, we’ll list each fund’s cover with you before you change or combine anything.

When your work changes, it’s worth checking again how a fund or policy records your job. 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 product disclosure statement (PDS). Asking to increase it usually means the insurer assesses it like any other application. Premiums come off your balance.

What we check in each fund with you:

• Insurance in a fund from an earlier job, if you have one, set beside cover in your current fund
• The occupation your fund records for you, and contacting the fund if it doesn’t match your work
• Super you pay yourself as an owner, and how insurance in that fund sits beside a policy held outside super
• If you’re under 25 and joining a fund, insurance may only start when you ask, depending on your work and that fund
• The set amount of default cover in a fund, weighed against van loans, a mortgage or other debts, if you have them
• A fund’s income protection, where offered, with its waiting period and how long it pays set beside a policy held outside super
• Consolidating several accounts once the insurance on each is known, as leaving an account may mean losing its insurance
• Life and TPD inside a fund, added up with any personal policies before you choose new amounts

Learn more about Superannuation

Licences, Installs and Service Work

In what ways could describing your licences and tasks clearly help an insurer understand your work?

Describing what you do as it is helps an application show your work accurately.

Together, we’ll write down your duties and licences for an application, and check how a fund or policy records your job.

Jobs and Skills Australia lists tasks for air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics such as installing and repairing compressors, condensers and evaporators, brazing pipes, leak testing and diagnosing faults. Which of these fill your week, and the licences you work under, are worth writing down. Since 5 October 2021, when you apply for consumer life cover, your duty is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation, which means taking reasonable care with each question you answer.

What we set out with you about your work:

• Installing and repairing compressors, condensers and evaporators, described the way Jobs and Skills Australia lists the tasks
• Brazing, soldering or welding pipework, leak testing and vacuum work, named for what you actually do
• Time in roof spaces and on ladders, if part of your week, with the share of time spent there
• Lifting and placing outdoor units, set out as a task along with how often the task comes up
• Commercial cold rooms and supermarket plant, set out separately from domestic split and ducted work
• Transport refrigeration units on trucks, trailers or containers, if you work on them, listed as their own duty
• Any refrigerant handling licence you hold, whatever its type, and any electrical licence your state or territory has issued you
• A move from domestic work to commercial or site work, and how it changes the mix of tasks you describe

Learn more about Personal Insurance

Wages, Per-Install Pay and Your Own Business

What could change for any cover if you move from wages to per-install work or your own authorisation?

Looking at cover before the move can show what continues and what you may want to apply for.

Together, we’ll go through cover before you start subcontracting or apply for your own authorisation.

If you’re self-employed, Moneysmart notes you won’t have paid holidays or sick leave. 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.

What we look at with you before the change:

• How leaving wages could affect cover through your super, which Moneysmart suggests checking first
• The ATO’s super test a business applies to per-install work: paid mainly for labour, not a result, work that can’t be delegated, confirmed by an accountant
• Work through your own company, trust or partnership, where the business you contract to doesn’t have to pay your super
• Refrigerant, units and parts supplied in a job price, which the ATO counts as non-labour items when looking at super
• Tax returns, and financial statements if you’re self-employed, kept up to date, as an insurer can ask for them when you claim
• Life and TPD amounts set against a van, kit or authorisation loan, if you take one on
• Workers compensation on per-install jobs, where each scheme sets who qualifies, set beside income protection of your own
• Public liability, tools and van insurance, which are business cover for a general insurance broker

Learn more about Personal Insurance

When to Review Your Cover

Could a new licence, a new kind of work or a change at home mean any cover you hold needs a fresh look?

Changes at work or at home can be a good reason to look at cover again.

We can go through policies or fund statements with you, beside the work you do now.

Work in this trade can move from a trainee licence to a full one, from domestic to commercial work, or from wages to your own authorisation. Default cover through super is for a set amount, so it might not match your needs. A change at work or home is a good reason to book a conversation, and the insurer decides on any new application.

Changes worth raising with us when we talk:

• Finishing on a trainee licence and starting on a full one, and whether your fund’s record of your job still fits
• Adding a state or territory electrical licence, and the extra duties to set out in a new application
• A move from homes to commercial plant or construction sites, and whether your policy and fund records still describe your week
• Starting per-install work or your own authorisation, and how each workers compensation scheme sets who qualifies
• A first van and kit loan, and the lump sum you’d want set against it
• Handing in notice to an employer, and checking with the employer or fund whether cover through the job carries on
• Taking on an apprentice or staff of your own, and the amount of personal cover that suits you now
• A new home, a baby or a separation, if one comes along, and what amount of cover would suit you then

Learn more about Personal Insurance

Making a Claim

Would a claim be easier with someone helping you through the forms and follow-up?

Someone beside you for the paperwork can make a claim easier, while the insurer or fund assesses it.

We can lodge a claim with you and follow each step, while the insurer or fund assesses it.

Moneysmart says to speak first to the person or company you bought the policy from. An insurer can ask about your work duties, including physical requirements, and the number of hours you work each week, plus financial statements if you’re self-employed. The insurer, or the fund for cover in super, assesses the claim. A complaint goes first to the insurer or fund, then to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

How we help with a claim:

• Your policy schedule or fund statement, and who you bought the cover through, as Moneysmart says to speak to them first
• Lifting, ladder and roof space work in a usual week, with your hours, written up the way an insurer asks
• Overtime and call-out lines on your payslips, or invoices and financial statements if you’re self-employed
• GP and specialist reports an insurer may request, and what each report is for
• Hurt on an install or service job: each workers compensation scheme sets who qualifies, and a policy claim goes to the insurer
• Sick pay or scheme money received while off work, which can lower an income protection benefit
• Easing back into installs part time, and what the policy’s terms say about a partial return
• Disagreeing with the outcome of your claim, and raising it with the insurer or fund before going to AFCA

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