Keeping Life Insurance accessible and affordable for more Australians

BT Financial Group (BTFG) today said it would be defending legal action in relation to its Life Insurance products.

BT Chief Executive, Mr Brad Cooper, said there are different channels for people to buy life insurance and it was wrong to make direct comparisons as they have different service levels and different underwriting processes, both of which flow into pricing.

“BT’s principle is to make insurance as affordable as possible for as many people as possible and we think that is the right thing to do for our customers,” he said.

BTFG said it did this by spreading the risk of a claim across all customers, a practice that is standard across the insurance industry.

“What this means is that some customers who come through Westpac will get insurance at a lower price than if they went through a different adviser.

“Through our Financial Planners we accept customers who may have conditions such as high cholesterol or blood pressure and who would otherwise find themselves with a higher premium if they tried to purchase it through an independent adviser.

“As a result some customers will pay substantially less, and others will pay a little bit more, but that is how insurance works.

“Our approach makes the benefit of Life insurance available to more of our customers at a reasonable price”.

Mr Cooper said this action was only filed yesterday and BTFG will be defending it.

“We stand by our life insurance product which is consistently among the highest rated in the market and we have a great track record of paying claims.

“Our commitment is to make sure our customers have the best possible cover and service at the most sustainable price,” he said.