
Depression, anxiety, PTSD or time off for stress can shape what an insurer asks about your cover. We help you prepare for those questions and read any exclusion on cover you already hold.





Mental health and sleep conditions
This list isn’t complete, and a diagnosis on its own decides nothing. We’d want to learn about your situation first, and any decision on cover is the insurer’s.
What we advise on
How does an insurer look at a mental health history when you apply?
Understanding what may be asked, and why, means you can apply prepared, with your records ready.
Together, we’ll look at what an insurer may want to understand about your history, using your own records.
The decision on an application, and on any terms, sits with the insurer’s underwriter. Questions about mental health can reach further than a diagnosis: one insurer’s form asks about stress and symptoms as well as named conditions. Insurers that subscribe to the Life Insurance Code of Practice commit to taking into account circumstances such as the history, severity or type of a condition.
What an insurer may ask about:
If you passed away, who would you want supported, and how?
Life insurance can pay a lump sum to your beneficiaries, giving them money for the years ahead.
We can explain how a life application looks at a mental health history, and how its terms can differ by cover.
Life insurance can pay a lump sum if you pass away. When one application covers life, TPD and income protection, each cover can be assessed on its own, so the terms offered on life cover can differ from those on the others. The insurer decides, cover by cover.
What we go through with you for life cover:
How would daily costs be met if you were never able to return to work?
TPD insurance can pay a lump sum if you can’t work again, as the policy defines it, to help with everyday costs.
We’ll compare TPD definitions with your work, and explain how a mental health claim can be assessed under them.
A TPD policy pays a lump sum when illness or injury leaves you unlikely to return to work, under its own definition. Own occupation looks at your usual job, and any occupation at work suited to your education, training or experience. Some TPD policies assess a mental health claim under a separate definition or partial payment option, and a mental health exclusion can remove that option.
What we look at with you for TPD:
Is there a plan for the bills if you’re away from work for a while?
After a waiting period, income protection can pay part of your income, supporting your budget while illness or injury keeps you away.
We’ll read an income protection offer with you line by line, starting with any mental health exclusion.
Insurers that subscribe to the Life Insurance Code of Practice commit to considering whether they can offer cover by managing extra risk through higher premiums, exclusions, limits and caps, rather than not providing cover at all. On income protection, an exclusion’s wording sets what the policy still pays for. Separately, some policies limit how long a mental health claim can be paid, a limit built into the policy that applies whatever your history.
What we work through on income protection:
What could help meet the costs of a serious illness without drawing on your savings?
Trauma cover can pay a lump sum for a listed condition that meets the policy’s definition and isn’t excluded, sparing your savings.
We can explain what trauma cover pays for, and where a mental health history can still come up.
Trauma insurance pays a lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a condition the policy lists, such as some cancers, heart attack or stroke, and meet its definition. Moneysmart puts it plainly: “Trauma insurance does not cover mental health conditions.” New trauma cover can’t be held inside super, which has been the rule for policies written since 1 July 2014.
What we go through with you on trauma cover:
When the form asks about your mental health, how much detail should you give?
Taking each question at your own pace, with your records beside you, can help you answer with reasonable care.
We can sit down with you and your records and go through each question exactly as it’s asked.
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. If you leave out important details, the insurer may change or cancel your cover or refuse a claim (Moneysmart). To access your health information, insurers that subscribe to the Life Insurance Code of Practice commit to using consent wording agreed with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
What we go through together before anything is lodged:
What happens after your application reaches the insurer, and before it makes a decision?
Knowing what may come next, with each step explained as it comes, can make the wait easier.
We’ll put your application together with you, and explain what an insurer may do before it decides.
Insurers that subscribe to the Life Insurance Code of Practice commit not to decline cover before you’ve had the chance to give information about the history, severity or type of your condition. Some insurers offer a mental health questionnaire, which may let an underwriter decide without further medical evidence. If alternative terms are offered, a subscribing insurer commits to explaining them, including how long they’re intended to apply.
The steps we take with you on an application:
Could any policy in your name be reviewed if your circumstances have changed?
A fresh look at your policy, together, can show whether your terms could be worth revisiting with the insurer.
We can read any cover you hold with you, and help you ask an insurer to review an exclusion.
Insurers that subscribe to the Life Insurance Code of Practice commit to telling you that you can ask them to review alternative terms if your circumstances change. Cover you already hold was issued on its own terms, and the policy wording sets when they can change, so it’s worth reading before you change or replace it. On a replacement, a subscribing insurer commits to telling you not to cancel existing cover until it accepts your application.
What we confirm with you:
Your options
| A Ryker financial adviser | Directly from an insurer | An online broker or comparison site | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of advice | Personal advice Personal adviceAdvice tailored to you. Like most financial advice, it’s given under an Australian financial services licence.Personal, not general. General advice is a recommendation or opinion that doesn’t consider your circumstances. Personal advice is tailored to your objectives, financial situation and needs.In your best interests. When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests.In writing. You’ll usually receive a Statement of Advice that explains the strategies and cover recommended to you, and why.On the public register. Financial advisers who give personal advice on life insurance, super and investments must be on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register. See our financial advisers on the register:Ray RegmiRicky (Rajiv) RegmiJack OinezaDean DesoukeyRyker’s financial advisers are authorised representatives of Synchron Advice Pty Ltd, AFSL 243313. | Usually general advice | Usually general advice |
| Advice that considers your health, family, work and goals | Yes, as part of your advice | Not with general advice | Not with general advice |
| Choice of insurers | A wide range | That insurer’s policies only | A panel of insurers, side by side |
| Help preparing your application | Yes, alongside you | The insurer’s own process | Varies |
| Advice on holding cover inside or outside super | Part of your advice | Not with general advice | Not with general advice |
| Support if you need to claim | Yes, we’re in your corner | The insurer’s claims team | Varies |
| Cost of advice | No cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first. Choose: | No separate advice fee | No separate advice fee |














Questions Gone Through Before Applying
Each question about your history, treatment and time off gone through with you before anything is lodged.
Exclusion Wording Explained in Plain Terms
What a mental health exclusion would leave covered, explained before you decide on an offer.
A Review of Your Terms Requested
A request to the insurer to review an existing exclusion, made with you if circumstances change.
Super Cover Read Through
Any default cover in super, and what its PDS says about mental health, read through with you.
A Replacement Compared Before Cancelling
Any new offer set beside the cover you hold, so nothing is cancelled before the new cover is accepted.
A Partner’s Protection Considered
Cover for a partner, if you’d like it included, looked at alongside your own.
When to Apply, Talked Through
Applying now or after a recent episode, weighed with you and the reasons explained.
Income Protection Claims Followed Through
An income protection or TPD claim lodged with you and followed through to the insurer’s decision.

Talking about your mental health with someone new can take a lot, so the pace here is yours. We listen first and ask only what helps us understand your situation, and you can pause, take a break or come back to anything later. There’s no need to have dates or details ready before we start. Questions are welcome at any stage, and there is nothing you need to decide straight away.
If it would help to have someone with you, a partner, a family member, a friend or a carer is welcome, from the first conversation or any time after. We take on the forms and follow-ups with you, so there is less for you to keep track of along the way, and we explain each step before it happens. We help you plan protection around your income, your goals and the people who matter to you.

Every financial decision impacts the next
Great advice starts with understanding the bigger picture. Every stage of life presents new opportunities and challenges, from buying property and changing careers to growing your family, planning for retirement and protecting what matters most. At Ryker, we help connect every piece of your financial world into one clear strategy.
Your
Wealth

Ryker’s financial advisers are licensed to give personal advice under Synchron Advice’s Australian financial services licence (AFSL 243313). We start with you: your mental health condition, your family, work, income, assets and goals. Then we recommend the types and amounts of cover that suit your life.
With a financial adviser, you also have:
Going directly to an insurer can mean no separate advice fee, but you’ll only see that insurer’s policies, and you’ll generally receive general advice only, which doesn’t consider your personal circumstances.
Going through an online comparison site or broker, you may see more options side by side, but they also generally provide general advice only, which doesn’t consider your whole financial picture.
When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests, which we take personally. The insurer still decides whether to offer cover and on what terms.
We’re invested in your long-term success. What we do is personal, and we take it personally.
Your financial decisions connect, so we consider the parts of your financial life that are relevant to the advice you need:
This is how we help you make decisions today with your longer-term goals in view.
Everybody’s situation is different, so we listen first, understand what matters to you and explain your options clearly before we make a recommendation.
It varies between insurers. One insurer’s income protection form, for example, asks about depression, anxiety, panic attacks, stress, ADHD, postnatal depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and symptoms of any other mental health condition. Because some questions reach stress and symptoms as well as diagnoses, each one is worth reading exactly as it’s worded. Insomnia can come up too: one insurer’s medical examination form asks about any sleeping disorder in the same question as lung and breathing conditions, apart from its mental health question.
We go through the form with you, using your records for the dates of any diagnosis, counselling, medication and time off work. We’d want to understand your situation before anything is said about cover, and the insurer makes the decision.
That depends on your history, so we’d want to learn about it before anything is said about cover. An insurer may ask when the condition began, any treatment, any time off work, whether it has come back and how things are now. Insurers that subscribe to the Life Insurance Code of Practice commit to considering higher premiums, exclusions, limits and caps rather than not providing cover at all.
If alternative terms are offered, such as an exclusion or a higher premium, we’ll explain what each would mean for your income before you decide. Some policies also limit how long any mental health claim pays, so we read that wording too. Free, confidential support is available from Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 and Lifeline on 13 11 14.
An exclusion is a term on a policy that limits cover for specified conditions, events or related claims according to its wording. A mental health exclusion might name one condition or reach more widely, so its exact words matter more than its label.
On income protection, the wording sets which claims the policy can still pay, which may include time off for an unrelated injury or physical illness. We read the exclusion with you before you accept an offer, and if it’s already on a policy you hold, we can explain what it leaves covered.
You can ask. Insurers that subscribe to the Life Insurance Code of Practice commit to telling you how long any alternative terms are intended to apply, and that you can ask them to review those terms if your circumstances change. Whether to change them is the insurer’s decision.
If things have changed, such as time passing since your last episode, we can gather what a review would need and make the request with you. We’ll also read the insurer’s original letter, since some terms were set to apply for a stated time.
It can, depending on how each question is worded. Some application forms ask about stress and symptoms as well as diagnosed conditions, so time off for stress or counselling some years ago can fall within a question even without a diagnosis. 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.
We go through each question with you and your records, so the dates of any leave and sessions are confirmed rather than guessed. If a question’s wording is unclear, raise it with us first, and we’ll work through it together before you answer.
Moneysmart says: “Trauma insurance does not cover mental health conditions.” Trauma cover pays a lump sum on a condition the policy lists, such as some cancers, heart attack or stroke, when its definition is met. A trauma application can still ask about your mental health as part of your health as a whole.
Income protection and TPD claims can involve a mental health condition, subject to each policy’s terms and any exclusion. We’ll explain how the covers fit together for your situation before you apply.
It can ask about family history. Insurers that subscribe to the Life Insurance Code of Practice commit to limiting those questions to the family history you know about, for first-degree blood relatives: parents, children and siblings.
If a parent or sibling lives with a condition such as bipolar disorder, we’ll go through what the form asks with you and help you answer each question accurately.
Online policies can be quick to buy, and some skip most medical questions. Moneysmart notes that when an insurer doesn’t ask for your medical history, the policy may have more exclusions or narrower definitions. That is worth knowing if mental health is part of your history.
When you work with a financial adviser, your history is set out with you on an application that asks the full questions, and any terms are explained before you say yes. Whichever way you buy, each question you’re asked still needs a careful, accurate answer.
Your accountant and financial adviser bring different expertise to the same decisions. Your accountant can advise on tax reporting, structures and consequences; we help you plan how cashflow, debt, super, investments and protection work towards your goals. We can coordinate before important decisions.
What an accountant does
What a financial adviser does
Professional roles and authorisations matter. We provide financial advice within our authorisations and work with your accountant for specialist tax advice and lodgements.
Where they work together
Always. There’s no need to prepare anything, or to go into your history in detail, before we begin.
There’s no cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first. In that first conversation we talk about your income, anyone who relies on it and what you’d like protection to do, in as much depth as suits you.
You’ll know the possible next steps by the end, and whether to take them is up to you.
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Whatever’s on your mind, we’re here to help. You’ll speak with an authorised financial adviser who’ll listen first and get to know what matters to you.
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