Asteron Life has announced the launch of its new Mortgage and Living Cover, designed for customers looking to protect their home and lifestyle.
Effective 30 April, the product is an update to Asteron’s previous Mortgage and Rent Cover, which will no longer be available for new applications, from 30 April.
According to Asteron Life, the Mortgage and Living Cover has two benefit types, each with different maximum cover amounts:
- Agreed Value Plus – this benefit does not offset ACC or other insurance payments at claim time: The benefit can be up to $7,500 per month based on either 115% of mortgage repayments or 45% of Income (gross of tax).
- Agreed Value – this benefit does offset ACC or other insurance payments at claim time: The monthly benefit can be up to either 115% of mortgage repayments or 75% of Income (less tax).
Mortgage and Living Cover can insure for rent mortgage repayments and living costs in the event the policy holder suffers an illness or injury impacting their ability to work.
Asteron Life Executive Manager Life, David Drillien, says the “…uniquely flexible” product was designed to adapt to a customer’s financial journey.
He said the flexibility of the product stems from the ability for customers to structure their solution with different blocks of cover.
Cover levels can be raised or lowered as a customer’s financial circumstances change, without the need to be medically underwritten again.
Drillien said that this enables customers to adapt their insurance more easily to their current financial situation, such as when buying a first home.
“First home buyers might be really struggling with mortgage repayments, and they want a way to protect their ability to make those payments that will work within their budget,” he said.
“But, over time the pressure may ease and they may want to ensure they have enough cover to protect their lifestyle. They may upgrade their home or have a baby and need additional cover, or they might want to dial it back as they pay down their debt.”
“…Asteron Life’s new product enables customers to build in the cover they want in one product”
The cover can be matched to mortgage repayments like a traditional mortgage protection cover, or to income, like a traditional income protection cover, or a combination of both.
Drillien said the new product allows customers to top up their mortgage protection without adding extra products.
“Topping up with additional products can bring added complexity, but Asteron Life’s new product enables customers to build in the cover they want in one product,” he said.
The product has benefits that were previously only available to income protection customers, the main ones being the Dependent Relative and Family Assist benefits.
“Those benefits offer a fixed amount of cover if the insured person needs to take time of work to look after a dependent, or if they need to take time off themselves and need a family member to look after them,” Drillien explained.
“Being able to cover your partner or another family member’s income for a period so they can help you out and look after you can make a huge difference for both your physical and financial wellbeing,” he said.
The insurer noted there are rules in place for existing applications in the on-boarding process (or saved previously by an adviser in its quote software) and stated advisers who have clients in this situation will be provided further details on how to manage this.