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Frequently Asked Questions | Advisers
Answers to common questions about iExtend and the iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement.
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How it works and eligibility
What is the process?
iExtend offers an alternative to policy owners who have committed to cancelling or reducing their life cover.
Do all life policies qualify for the iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement?
No. Qualification for the iExtend Co-Ownership Arrangement relies on several factors including policy terms and conditions, premiums payable, sums insured and the health of the life insured. Information relating to these matters will need to be shared with iExtend (with the willing co-operation of all stakeholders) so that our expert assessment team can decide.
Unfortunately, we cannot help everyone, and our focus is on helping those who stand to lose the most when cancelling their cover.
What is the referral and introduction process?
iExtend is a referral only choice for most advisers. This means we do all the heavy lifting, give the General Advice and complete the administration. The adviser simply refers the client to us.
Who is eligible for the iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement?
Policy owners who satisfy the following eligibility criteria:
• The policy owner is committed to cancelling or reducing their policy;
• Holds an annually renewable term life insurance policy that:
- has a minimum expiry age of 90;
- is fully underwritten;
- and is in an ownership structure that allows direct transfer to the Custodian.
• The life insured is aged 45 to 85 at the time of application;
• The life insured is an Australian or a New Zealand citizen, permanently a resident of Australia;
• Satisfy iExtend’s risk assessment, including a health evaluation reflecting changes in the life insured’s health (which may include height, weight, lifestyle, diet, family history and medical history) since the Policy was initially taken out.
• The ownership of the Policy is able to be transferred to a custodian chosen by iExtend.
For more information, please refer to the eligibility page here.
Co-ownership
What is the iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement?
Under an iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement, iExtend accepts policy ownership and the ongoing financial risk, paying future premiums on the co-owned policy for the duration of the Arrangement, while committing to share future claim benefits from that co-owned policy with the original policyholder on a sliding scale based on how long iExtend has been paying for the cover. The only premiums your client would pay is for cover they have chosen to keep themselves rather than cancel.
What proportion of any claim will my client be entitled to?
Based on a sliding scale, your client will always receive a percentage of any claim benefit paid on the policy (including future indexation, if indexation was chosen), regardless of how much iExtend has paid to keep the cover in force since the ‘Policy Acquisition’ date.
Is there any limit to how much iExtend will pay?
There will always be a minimum of 10% of any successful claim that will be received by the policy owner, their estate or beneficiaries so long as the iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement is still in force. If there is indexation on the policy, the claims pay-out increases.
For example, if your client transfers a policy to iExtend and the life insured passes away ten years later, even though they had not paid any premiums over that period, the custodian will pay your client, your client's estate or nominated beneficiaries an agreed share of the claim benefit as per the Arrangement.
For more information, check out the 'How it Works' page here.
Does iExtend guarantee to keep the Life Co-Ownership Arrangement in place until the life insured passes away?
Policy cancellation
If my client is considering cancelling or reducing their life insurance cover, how can I suggest the iExtend option?
iExtend will only consider accepting life insurance cover that the client has confirmed will otherwise be cancelled or reduced. If you believe your client and their policy may meet our acceptance criteria, you can simply inform the client that there may be an alternative to policy cancellation or reduction through iExtend.
My client hasn’t made up their mind about cancelling their life policy. Should I suggest iExtend?
iExtend is only an option once their client has independently decided to cancel all or part of their life insurance cover. If, after assessing the future costs and potential benefits, your client chooses to reduce their premium commitment, it may be in your client’s Best Interest to refer or introduce them to iExtend.
Business Support
What support and education does iExtend offer advisers?
If your client has decided to cancel some or all their cover, iExtend offers a range of material to the help clarify whether they should consider the possibility of entering a Life Co-Ownership Arrangement with iExtend or continue with cancelling or reducing their life cover.
Advisers are responsible for educating themselves on the iExtend product. iExtend offers licensees complete business support, including access to our underwriting team, ad hoc education, training and masterclasses in policyholder pre-assessing and the use of our B2B technology.
iExtend’s website and CPD education platform will be a valuable resource for any registered advisers to access education material, thought leadership, information and ideas shared by some of Australia’s most successful risk advisers.
Additionally, it is important that you read our Total Market Determination and Product Disclosure Statement on our documents page here.
About iExtend
Who is iExtend and what is its objective?
iExtend is a private company formed by a group of like-minded people who saw an opportunity to help life insurance policyholders retain an interest in their unaffordable (yet valuable) life insurance cover.
iExtend aims to ‘give something back’ to policyholders who have value in their policy but have made the decision to cancel (reduce) their cover.
