Booster SmartCover FAQs
- Booster Super Simple Life insurance
It’s life insurance with no fuss. We’ve completely stripped back life insurance, with no premium increases until you’re 40. You pay for exactly what you need and nothing you don’t. Easy, online application for cover between $20,000 and $200, 000 where you may qualify for cover straight away. - Booster SmartCover Insurance
Available exclusively through financial advisers, this product provides cover between $200,000 and $2 million for the death of the insured person or when they are diagnosed with a terminal illness and have less than 12 months to live. Advanced terminal illness cover, grief counselling, bereavement support, financial advice and support for policy owners, policy suspension and other benefits are included in the cover. Additional accelerated lumpsum payment of $500,000 for trauma and critical illness, and total permanent disability is available. Your adviser will help you find the right cover for your needs.
Life insurance is there to protect your family and loved ones if you die. It can help them stay in their home, care for and educate your children, cover other life costs such as travel, or pay off your mortgage or other debts.
What is trauma and critical illness insurance?
Trauma insurance helps you manage the financial hardship brought on by illness or injury. Trauma insurance can help pay for treatment or rehabilitation and allow you and your family to focus on recovery and not on the bills if you suffer from one of the listed conditions. You can get cover up to $500,000, accelerated against the life benefit.*
What is total permanent disability (TPD) insurance?
TPD insurance provides for you and your family in case you become totally and permanently disabled as a result of illness or injury. TPD provides a lump sum payment which can help you get the care you need, pay for home alterations, or pay for other life needs for you and your family. You can get cover up to $500,000, accelerated against the life benefit.*
*Accelerated cover means that if a claim is paid, the life insurance cover amount is reduced by the same amount. For example, if you have $1m of life cover and $250,000 trauma and critical illness cover, if a claim of $250, 000 is paid for trauma and critical illness, the life cover thereafter will be $750,000.
The total combined cover of TPD and trauma and critical illness cover cannot exceed $500,000 or the life cover sum insured value, whichever is lower.
Booster Assurance is part of the Booster Financial Services group that has provided financial solutions to Kiwis for more than 25 years.
Booster offers insurance products supported with simple, digital processes and a team that puts their customers first.
Booster Assurance Limited is licenced by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to provide life insurance. The benefit under this life insurance policy is principally reinsured with Hannover Re. Hannover Re has a Standard & Poor’s financial strength rating of AA-.
You can apply to get Booster SmartCover if you are:
- aged between 16 and 69 for Life cover and Aged between 16 and 61 for TPD and Trauma cover and
- are a New Zealand citizen or hold a New Zealand Resident or Permanent Residence visa and are permanently residing in New Zealand
If the insured person is older, Booster may consider providing life cover in special circumstances.
Speak to a life insurance financial adviser accredited by Booster. They will help you identify the solution that is best for your needs which could be this product, or in some instances, a product offered by another reputable insurer. If they recommend this product, and you agree, they will apply online on your behalf, directly to Booster. The application asks various medical and lifestyle questions which help Booster determine the price and cover to offer.
Booster will assess your application and provide feedback immediately. In some cases, Booster may require additional medical (or other) information to assess your application.
The policyowner(s). Deciding who is a policyowner for your insurance policy is important, as it determines legal ownership of the policy and who the benefits will be paid to.
The policyowner can be the insured person, or another adult. There can be more than one owner for a policy.
Your adviser will help you select the most appropriate policyowner structure, either when you apply for the policy or when the policy is active. Once someone is made a policyowner they must agree to all future policy changes.
Any benefit payments are shared equally by the policyowners.
If you already have an existing insurance policy and you are considering replacing it with a new one, there are a few important things to think about to decide if it is in your best interests. A financial adviser will assist you with this process.
Things to think about:
- Your personal situation – if your health has changed or you have changed occupation or leisure pursuits, then your new policy may not offer the same protection as your existing policy.
- What you are covered for – specific cover or definitions may be different between insurance policies, so you need to be sure you understand the differences and that the new cover will meet your needs. A new policy may have ‘stand-down’ periods, where cover does not fully take effect until after a period of time.
Premiums – compare the projected costs over the life of the policy. Premiums typically increase over time, check you are comfortable with the projected premium in later years.
Policy and Features
Life and terminal illness cover between $200,000 and $2m (the $2m limit includes any cover you also have from Super Simple Life Insurance).
Optional accelerated TPD, and trauma and critical illness cover between $25,000 and $500,000 (if a claim is paid, the life Insurance component is reduced by the same amount. This means you will also pay lower premiums).
Grief counselling benefit that pays up to $2,500 for grief counselling from a professional counsellor for the policy owner, the insured’s partner or other dependents, following the death of the insured. This benefit will only be paid once.
Immediate end of life payment is an advance payment of up to $15,000.
Child’s funeral benefit - Booster will pay $5,000 following the death of one of the Insured person’s children aged between 10-18, and $2,000 for children under the age of 10 .
Financial and other advice support. If a life cover claim is paid (including a terminal illness claim), your financial adviser has agreed to provide reasonable support throughout the process, and advice to you or your family, including financial advice services relating to the claim.
Optional consumer price index increase. The sum insured can be increased by the CPI if wanted.
Special events increase. The life sum insured can be increased by up to the smaller of $250,000 or 25% of the underwritten cover limit without a new application after certain life events, such as getting married, having a child, or buying a new home.
Cover suspension can pause your cover for 3-6 months without you having to catch up on arrear premiums or submit a new health declaration.
Every year, at the anniversary of the first regular premium payment date, you will be offered the option of increasing the sum insured in line with inflation.
Booster will send you a renewal notice with the potential increased sum insured and the new premium. We will also provide the new premium amount if you choose not to have the increased limit.
We suggest that you speak with your financial adviser to help you determine right option for you at renewal. Please inform Booster as soon as possible about your decision before the new premium takes effect.
The policy renews automatically for the life of the policy, unless something happens that causes the policy to terminate.
Booster does not currently offer level premiums. Our premiums are age rated, which means they increase as the insured ages.
If the policyowner is made redundant or meets the definition of KiwiSaver’s significant financial hardship, they can apply to suspend the policy for 6 months.
During that time, no premiums need to be paid, but there will also be no cover. At the end of the 6 months, the policy will be restarted. The advantage is that no new underwriting needs to be done at that stage.
Only one temporary suspension is available during the life of the policy, and all policyowners must agree to this being taken. Multiple policyowners cannot apply for this benefit.
No. This insurance policy has no cash value.
How much
The cover you need depends on your personal financial and life circumstances. Your financial adviser will help you work out an amount that is appropriate for your needs. If you don’t have a financial adviser, Booster can put you in touch with one.
Yes. Smokers pay higher premiums than non-smokers.
If you have used any products containing nicotine or tobacco, or used e-cigarettes or vapes in the last 12 months you are considered to be a smoker for the purposes of this insurance cover.
There is no discount for holding other Booster Financial Services Group products.
Special event increases
You may be eligible to increase your sum insured without having to do new underwriting. The increase is limited and your adviser can help you with this process.
This may be available if the insured person is under 50, meets certain risk criteria, and has:
Recently become a parent, changed relationship status, or purchased a new home.
If you don’t qualify for a special events increase, you can still apply to increase your cover, but the standard underwriting process will apply.
The insured person is whose life and health is are covered by the policy.
The policyowner owns and controls the policy. The owner receives any policy benefits, and decides to change or cancel the policy.
There may be more than one policyowner for a policy, in which case all have to agree to any policy changes, and any payments are split equally between the owners. If the only policyowner is the insured person, then payments will be made to their estate if they die.
Booster Assurance Limited is the insurer and is licensed by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to provide life insurance.
Booster Assurance Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Booster Financial Services Limited.
Booster Assurance Limited, as a licenced insurer, is not required to have a current financial strength rating because its annual gross premium income for the most recently completed accounting period (from 1 July to 30 June) is less than $1.5 million