Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Law Improvement Package No. 1) Act 2023 (76 of 2023)

Schedule 4   Insurance

Part 6   Other amendments

Life Insurance Act 1995

127   At the end of section 210

Add:

Increases in sum insured etc. at request of policy owner

(6) Subsections (7) to (9) apply if an ordinary policy is varied at the request of the policy owner by increasing:

(a) both the amount of the sum insured and the amount of each premium; or

(b) if additional amounts of premium are paid - the amount of the sum insured.

(7) Subject to subsections (8) and (9), subsections (1) to (4) apply as follows:

(a) the ordinary policy is taken not to have been varied as mentioned in subsection (6);

(b) a separate policy (the additional policy ) is taken to have been effected on the date of the variation, in accordance with the following:

(i) the sum insured under the additional policy is the amount of the increase in the sum insured;

(ii) the period for which premiums have been paid under the additional policy starts on the date of the variation;

(c) any additional amounts of premium paid as mentioned in paragraph (6)(b) are taken to have been paid under the additional policy;

(d) to the extent that a premium that is paid or payable under the ordinary policy (as varied) on or after the date of the variation exceeds what would have been the amount payable apart from the variation, the premium is taken to have been paid or payable under the additional policy.

(8) If, in relation to a premium under the ordinary policy (as varied), subsection (1) (as affected by subsection (7)):

(a) provides that the life company must not forfeit the ordinary policy only because of the non-payment of some or all of the premium; but

(b) does not provide that the life company must not forfeit the additional policy only because of the non-payment of the premium (or a part of the premium that, because of paragraph (7)(d), is taken to be payable under the additional policy);

then:

(c) subsection (1) does not prevent the life company from forfeiting the ordinary policy (as varied) to the extent of the variation, because of non-payment of the premium; and

(d) subsection (5) applies in relation to such a forfeiture as if the reference in that subsection to forfeiting the policy were a reference to forfeiting the policy to the extent of the variation.

Note: The effect of subsection (7) and paragraph (8)(c) is that subsection (1) might protect the original benefits under the policy from forfeiture even if the increase, represented by the additional policy, is liable to forfeiture.

(9) Despite subsection (4):

(a) an overdue premium, that, under subsection (7), is taken to be a premium under the additional policy; and

(b) any unpaid interest charged on the overdue premium;

are taken, for the purposes of a provision of this Act other than this section, to be a debt owing under the ordinary policy (as varied).