APRA life/risk data short on death benefit detail

Some major superannuation funds have been named and shamed over their tardiness in handling death benefit claims, but the latest APRA life insurance claims and disputes data has failed to separately detail how long funds take to process claims.

The APRA data covering the 12 months to 31 December, 2024, provides an overview of claims processing but combines group cover via superannuation with other channels such as individual advised and individual non-advised.

And the bottom line is that the picture created around claims processing reveals that 77% of death claims are processed within two weeks, 17% are processed somewhere between two weeks and two months and only 2% take more than 12 months.

This compares to the claims handling around the more complex total and permanent disablement (TPD) where 19% were handled within two week, 26% between two weeks and two months and 55% taking more than six months.

What the APRA data also show is relatively solid performance of individual advised policies and insurance inside superannuation with respect to death, TPD and disability income insurance.

It ascribed a 97% admittance rate for death claims based on individual advised policies, and 99% for group super.

Where TPD insurance was concerned individual advised claims gained an 84% admittance rate, compared to 82% for group super and 81% for individual non-advised.

The APRA data confirmed the dominance of TAL in the group insurance superannuation space accounting for 44.9% market share with respect to death cover and 40.2% with respect to TPD with the next largest player being AIA Australia.