FSC introduces new life insurance guidelines

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

26 October 2022

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has announced the first industry-wide life insurance guidelines on family and domestic violence and new protections in the genetics moratorium will come into effect in the new Life Insurance Code of Practice.

From 1 July 2023, life insurers must develop and publish their policies dedicated to supporting people experiencing family or domestic violence, based on the new guidelines that cover 11 areas of consumer protection.

“The FSC is committed to improving consumer outcomes across the life insurance industry, especially for vulnerable people,” Blake Briggs, FSC chief executive, said.

“These guidelines will help industry navigate this difficult and sensitive area and bring a degree of consistency in how industry supports people experiencing family and domestic violence.”

The FSC also said the Moratorium on Genetic Tests in Life Insurance, which allows consumers to access life insurance without considering the result from a previous Genetic Test, will be indefinitely extended and included in the new Life Code.

The FSC and life insurance industry also agreed, as part of the new guidelines, that ‘immunity’ will be given to any genetic test taken while the Moratorium is in place indefinitely, even if it ends for tests taken after.

“Extending the moratorium with immunity means consumers who are tested now will never need to share their genetic test results with their life insurer and so won’t be declined for life insurance later,” Briggs said.

“We’re safeguarding consumers by including the moratorium in the new Life Code, meaning there will be independent oversight by the Life Code Compliance Committee and the power to sanction Code subscribers who do not comply.

“The Moratorium has been in place since July 2019, allowing Australians to take out life insurance benefits up to prescribed limits without having to disclose an adverse genetic test result.”

The review of the Life Code and the new guidelines followed submissions from the genetics community, consumer advocates and the life insurance industry.