NOBLE OAK LIFE
DIRECT LIFE INSURANCE COVER OF THE YEAR
Most Australians buy their life insurance through their superannuation funds or through their financial advisers. However, a growing number purchase it directly from their insurer online or by contacting the insurer themselves.
Buying insurance directly can be much cheaper than buying it through intermediaries, such as financial advisers. But it means consumers need to be much savvier in choosing insurers they trust with effective online communications, because when you need to claim, you’ll be handling these details yourself.
To reveal which are Australia’s best providers of direct life insurance, Money magazine has for the first time partnered with Plan For Life, actuaries & researchers. In their research they investigated which direct life insurers had the best value combination of products, customer service, technology and product innovation, online experience and corporate company strength.
The types of life insurance researched by Plan for Life covered term life, total permanent disability (TPD), standalone trauma insurance and trauma insurance that is built into other life insurance, income protection, accidental injury, funeral cover and debt insurance.
The awards analysis considered each insurer’s company financial position, company market performance, product features, premium rates and customer services capability.
The 2022 Money magazine Consumer Finance Awards winner of the best direct life insurance provider of the year is NobleOak Life. It won five of the 14 categories and was a finalist in three others.
The categories it won were overall excellence, term life, TPD, trauma insurance that is built into other life insurance and customer service. It was a finalist in standalone trauma insurance, income protection and online customer experience. NobleOak Life was far ahead of its nearest rivals.
NobleOak Life has been operating in Australia since the 1850s, first as part of a friendly society before eventually rebranding in 2012. While it is backed by the re-insurer Hannover Re, NobleOak’s power play is that it offers life insurance directly to its customers without them needing to pay fees or commissions to financial advisers.
“Our products are comprehensive and fully underwritten, and we pride ourselves on our personal service. The result is quality cover you can rely on at an affordable price,” it says.
Direct Life Insurance award finalists are TAL Life and HCF Life, both of which offer extremely competitive products, according to Plan for Life.
‘ Buying insurance directly can be much cheaper than buying it through intermediaries, such as financial advisers.