Life insurance giant TAL backflips on plans to deny payouts to Australians at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19, after the ABC revealed the company was applying exclusions for some new customers.
Life insurance giant TAL has backflipped on plans to deny payouts to Australians at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19, after the ABC revealed the company was applying exclusions for some new customers — including frontline health workers.Evidence TAL planned to deny life insurance payouts to some customers for COVID-19 deaths sparked a backlash
The industry has announced the major Australian insurers will not restrict coverage of medical workers during the pandemicThe industry group Financial Services Council has also moved to reassure customers that medical workers will be covered for coronavirus if they take out life insurance during the pandemic.
Last month, TAL said it had added the exclusion clause to a"very small number" of new policies and it could be applied to more customers who had"recently travelled abroad, or are showing symptoms of COVID-19, or are in high-risk groups". "No benefit will be payable under this cover for any claim resulting directly or indirectly from COVID-19, any related condition or infection or any complications thereof," the clause read, according to a document obtained by the ABC.It is understood the high-risk groups affected included doctors who could be exposed to the virus, as well as people aged over 50, asthmatics, smokers and people with other pre-existing respiratory illnesses.
Evidence that TAL had planned to add the exclusion to new policies for healthcare workers triggered a backlash from doctors, including the Australian Medical Association, which accused the company of stepping back from doctors just they are"preparing to step up and get ready for something very scary".
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