ClearView Life Insurance Review Australia 2026: ClearChoice Explained

ClearView life insurance: who it suits

ClearView is the panel's Australian-owned, ASX-listed life insurer and one of nine insurers on the Insure Me For Life panel. Its retail product is ClearChoice, issued by ClearView Life Assurance Limited, with cover available inside super through ClearChoice Super or directly outside super. ClearView tends to suit households that want a durable trauma definition, that hold group income protection they want to layer retail cover behind, or that prefer an insurer whose underwriting and claims teams sit in Australia.

This review is built from the ClearView ClearChoice PDS dated 13 May 2024 with the PDS Update effective 5 June 2025, the ClearChoice Adviser Guide of 7 October 2025, and APRA's published claims statistics. It is general information about the product, not a recommendation for your circumstances.

Company background

ClearView describes itself as a 100% Australian-based life insurance company with over 40 years in the market. In its own published figures it reports more than 80,000 policyholders, $413 million of in-force premiums at 30 June 2025, and over $127 million paid in claims to 1,032 claimants in the 2023 financial year. It is a member of the Life Insurance Code of Practice.

Key company details:

What sets ClearView apart on the panel:

1. Upgrades pass back: when ClearView improves a trauma definition, existing ClearChoice policyholders get the improvement without a premium increase
2. A two-layer trauma structure: Trauma Standard on 42 conditions, and a separate Trauma Severe Events benefit that can be held on its own or alongside it
3. Three income protection benefit types: IP60, IP70 and IP70 reducing, priced differently for different cash-flow shapes
4. A group-linked two-year waiting period: for households that already hold group income protection with a two-year benefit period
5. Australian ownership and operations: the only ASX-listed insurer on the panel

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ClearView ClearChoice products

ClearChoice is one policy that can hold Life, TPD and Trauma stand-alone, linked or flexi-linked, with Income Protection, Accidental Income Protection and Business Expense Cover alongside. Flexi-linking lets a TPD or Trauma benefit sit inside super with Life while an Own Occupation TPD leg sits outside, under ClearView's TPD Super Solutions structure.

1. Life Cover (death cover)

ClearChoice Life Cover pays a lump sum on death, or earlier on a terminal illness diagnosis.

Key features:

• Terminal illness definition: certified by two medical practitioners as suffering an incurable sickness where death is medically expected within 24 months while adhering to standard treatment protocols. Both certificates must be current, and at least one practitioner must be an appropriate specialist in the condition, approved by ClearView acting reasonably (PDS p.39)
• Sum insured: $50,000 minimum, $20,000,000 maximum across all Life and Accidental Death cover
• Entry ages: 18 to 75 on variable age-stepped premiums, 18 to 55 on variable (level) premiums
• Expiry: age 99
• Premium structures: variable age-stepped, or variable to age 65 (reverts to age-stepped at the policy anniversary after 65)
• Built-in benefits: Immediate Expenses Benefit (outside super), Indexation Benefit, Future Increase Benefit, Premium Freeze Benefit, Suspending Cover Benefit, Waiver of Monthly Premium While Involuntarily Unemployed, Grief Support Benefit and Financial Advice Benefit (the last two outside super)
• Options: Disability Premium Waiver Option, and a Business Guarantee Option that lets business owners increase cover for business events up to three times the original sum insured without medical evidence

Exclusion to know: no Life Cover benefit is paid where death is caused by suicide or an intentional self-inflicted act within 13 months of the cover start, an increase (in respect of the increase), or a reinstatement. ClearView waives the exclusion for replacement cover that has been in force at least 13 consecutive months with any insurer, is cancelled on issue of the new policy, and has no claim pending (PDS p.36).

The two-practitioner terminal illness definition, in plain terms. ClearView's 24-month window matches AIA, Zurich, Acenda, NEOS, Encompass and Futura. The documentation point is that two current certificates are needed, one from an appropriate specialist. TAL publishes a 12-month window and the OnePath base definition is 12 months with a built-in extended benefit at 24 months. The window sets how early in a prognosis the lump sum can be claimed.

2. Income Protection

ClearChoice Income Protection pays a monthly benefit when sickness or injury stops you working. ClearView offers three benefit types, each with a different shape (PDS lines 765-792):

Key features:

• Waiting periods: 30, 60 or 90 days. A two-year waiting period is also available, only where you already hold an existing group income protection policy with a two-year benefit period (PDS lines 804-807). There is no 14-day option
• Benefit periods: two years, five years, or to age 65. On the age-65 benefit period the disability definition moves from your regular occupation to a suited occupation 30 months from the date of disability (PDS lines 810-816)
• Monthly benefit: $1,500 minimum, $30,000 maximum across all income protection and accidental income protection cover with ClearView or any other insurer (PDS lines 773-776)
• Entry ages: 18 to 60
• Built-in benefits: Death Benefit, Indexation Benefit, Future Increase Benefit, Waiver of Premium While on Claim, Suspending Cover Benefit, and Waiver of Monthly Premium While Involuntarily Unemployed (PDS lines 822-829)
• Options: Income Support Booster, Specified Events Option, Increasing Claim Option, and a TPD Lump Sum Option available only with the age-65 benefit period, which converts part of the income protection cover to a lump sum if TPD criteria are met at no extra premium, though it may affect tax deductibility (PDS lines 837-841)

Accidental Income Protection is a lower-cost alternative that only covers disability directly resulting from an accident. It is IP60 only, with a $20,000 per month ceiling and benefit periods of two or five years (PDS lines 843-899).

Why the group-linked two-year wait matters: a household whose employer or super fund group cover pays for two years can keep that cover for the first two years of a claim and have the ClearChoice policy take over afterwards, commonly at a lower premium than a short retail waiting period. The income protection waiting periods guide compares this with the other panel structures.

3. TPD Cover (Total and Permanent Disability)

ClearChoice TPD pays a lump sum where you are unlikely ever to work again. You must be gainfully employed for at least 20 hours per week to take the Own Occupation or Any Occupation definitions.

TPD definition options:

1. Own Occupation: absent from and unable to work in your own occupation for three consecutive months, and at the end of that period unlikely ever to engage in it again. Outside super only. If you have been unemployed or on parental or sabbatical leave for more than 12 months when the sickness or injury occurs, the claim is assessed under Any Occupation instead
2. Any Occupation: absent from and unable to work for three consecutive months, then unlikely ever to engage in any occupation you are reasonably suited to by education, training or experience, including one reachable by reasonable retraining, that would earn at least 25% of your average monthly earnings over the last 12 months of work
3. Non-Occupational TPD: an activities-based definition, and the definition every TPD cover converts to from the policy anniversary after age 65
4. TPD Super Solutions: a flexi-linked structure holding Any Occupation TPD inside super and Own Occupation TPD outside super as two policies, with the benefit paid under only one

Key features:

• Sum insured: $50,000 minimum, $5,000,000 maximum across all TPD and Accidental TPD cover with any insurer, reducing to $3,000,000 across all covers from age 65
• Entry ages: 18 to 60 on age-stepped premiums, 18 to 55 on variable premiums
• Expiry: age 70
• Built-in benefits: Death Benefit on stand-alone TPD, Suspending Cover, Indexation, Future Increase, Premium Freeze, Waiver of Monthly Premium While Involuntarily Unemployed, and Financial Advice Benefit outside super
• Options: Life Cover Buy Back Option where TPD is linked to Life, Disability Premium Waiver Option, and Business Guarantee Option

Occupation restrictions that bite: ClearView maps every occupation to one of five TPD classes (A, B, C, ADL and D). Category C occupations cannot take Own Occupation TPD, category SR is limited to the ADL definition, and category D is declined (ClearChoice Adviser Guide, October 2025, pp.40-41).

4. Trauma Cover

ClearChoice Trauma pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a listed condition, whether or not you return to work. ClearView is one of three panel insurers that publish a headline condition count (Zurich and OnePath are the others), which makes the list easier to compare than most.

The structure:

• Trauma Standard: 42 conditions, including cancer excluding specified early-stage cancers, heart attack, stroke, coronary artery bypass surgery, major organ or bone marrow transplant, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease, dementia, paralysis of two limbs, blindness, burns, kidney and liver failure, and a 10-night intensive care stay of specified severity (PDS pp.46-56)
• Trauma Plus Option: adds 12 conditions paying partial benefits
• Extras Option: adds 4 further partial-benefit conditions, available until age 55
• Trauma Severe Events: a separate benefit type covering 25 serious and permanent conditions at higher severity thresholds. It can be held on its own or in addition to Trauma Standard, and the two benefits do not reduce one another

Key features:

• Sum insured: $50,000 minimum, $3,000,000 maximum
• Entry ages: 18 to 60 on age-stepped premiums, 18 to 55 on variable premiums
• Expiry: age 70
• Qualifying period: 90 days from the cover start, an increase or a reinstatement for the conditions marked in the PDS, including cancer and the cardiac events (PDS pp.54-55)
• Partial payments: single or double vessel coronary artery angioplasty and loss of one limb pay 25% of the benefit
• Options: Double Trauma Option (an additional trauma benefit up to the Life Cover sum insured where trauma is linked to Life), Trauma Reinstatement Option, Disability Premium Waiver Option and Business Guarantee Option
• Exclusion discount: ClearView offers a premium discount for excluding certain conditions from the cover
• Not available inside super: trauma cover is held outside super only

The June 2025 upgrades, and why they matter for existing policyholders: the 5 June 2025 PDS Update removed the colorectal neuro-endocrine carcinoma exclusion from the cancer definition, widened coronary artery angioplasty to any three or more coronary arteries, and added a 25% whole-person-impairment alternative criterion to major head trauma (PDS Update lines 12-26). Under ClearView's provision for upgrades, those improvements apply to existing ClearChoice policyholders for claims where symptoms first appear after the effective date, with no premium increase (PDS Update lines 28-37). Code of Practice minimum medical definitions apply to certain Trauma Standard conditions.

Trauma vs TPD, the difference that matters: trauma pays on diagnosis even if you recover fully. TPD pays only where you are permanently unable to work.

5. Business Expense Cover

Business Expense Cover reimburses fixed operating costs of the business if a self-employed insured or small business owner cannot work through sickness or injury. Eligibility requires no more than five staff, including yourself and other owners, and at least 20 hours of work per week in your principal occupation. Waiting periods are 30, 60 or 90 days with a one-year benefit period (PDS p.20). It is held outside super only, and occupation categories C and SR are not eligible.

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ClearView premiums and premium structures

We do not publish static ClearView premium tables. ClearView states that its premium rates are not guaranteed on either structure and may be reviewed up or down for a defined group of policies, and where ClearView sits against the panel changes with age, occupation rating, cover type and the discounts in play. For a current ClearView figure on your profile, run an indicative quote across the panel.

Verified panel reference points (LRO API panel data, $500k life cover, male non-smoker, professional occupation, stepped premiums, monthly):

Premium types

ClearChoice offers two premium structures (PDS pp.22-23):

• Variable age-stepped: recalculated each year on your age and any change in the benefit amount, including indexation increases
• Variable (level): does not increase with age, but starts higher and can still move with indexation increases, the time you have held the policy, or a rate review. Converts to age-stepped at age 65 where the cover continues beyond that

Discounts and the Premium Freeze

• Health Rewards: a voluntary program that provides an initial premium discount which continues or reduces depending on whether you complete the Health Rewards requirements at later policy anniversaries. Not available on cover issued with a medical premium loading, on accidental cover or on Child Cover, and the discount is not guaranteed (PDS p.23)
• Multi-cover and multi-life discounts: apply when holding several covers or insuring several lives on one policy
• Trauma exclusion discount: for excluding certain conditions from Trauma Cover
• Premium Freeze Benefit: hold the premium at its current amount and let the sum insured reduce instead

ClearView's occupation ratings

ClearView publishes one occupation ratings table in the ClearChoice Adviser Guide, giving each occupation an Income Protection rating and a TPD rating (Adviser Guide, 7 October 2025, pp.40-41). The IP side runs to 11 codes, mapped onto 5 TPD classes. A numeric suffix on a rating (BB2, BB5, CC2, CC5 and so on) is a benefit-period limit of two or five years on that occupation, not a separate category.

The Specified Events Option on income protection is available only to ratings AM through CC. Your broker confirms the rating for a specific occupation before quoting.

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ClearView strengths and trade-offs

Strengths

1. Trauma upgrades pass back to existing policyholders When ClearView improves a definition, existing ClearChoice policyholders receive it without a premium increase. The June 2025 update did exactly this for cancer, angioplasty and major head trauma. Households planning to hold trauma cover for decades may find this the most durable feature on the panel.

2. A stated trauma count, and a two-layer structure Trauma Standard's 42 conditions can be compared directly with Zurich's and OnePath's stated counts. The separate Severe Events benefit lets a household concentrate cover on the most serious thresholds, on its own or alongside Standard.

3. Three income protection benefit types IP60, IP70 and IP70 reducing let the benefit shape follow the household's cash-flow pressure rather than a single formula. The TPD Lump Sum Option on the age-65 benefit period adds a lump-sum leg at no extra premium.

4. The group-linked two-year waiting period The only panel structure explicitly built for layering retail cover behind existing group income protection with a two-year benefit period.

5. High Life Cover ceiling Up to $20,000,000 across Life and Accidental Death cover, which suits larger estates and business succession arrangements alongside the Business Guarantee Option.

6. Australian-based operations Underwriting and claims teams sit in Australia, and the company is Australian-owned and ASX-listed.

Trade-offs

1. APRA does not publish ClearView's death claims admittance rate The individual advised death claims figure is suppressed in APRA's statistics because ClearView's claim volumes are too small for statistically reliable reporting. That reflects book size, not regulatory standing, but it means one comparison point available for TAL, AIA and Zurich is not available here. APRA does publish ClearView's larger TPD, trauma and income protection books.

2. No 14-day waiting period, and income protection ends at 65 The shortest wait is 30 days, and no age-70 benefit period is offered. AIA and Acenda publish 14-day options; AIA and Zurich offer age-70 benefit periods.

3. Occupation restrictions at C and SR Category C loses Own Occupation TPD and Business Expense Cover. SR is limited to ADL-definition TPD and a $10,000 per month indemnity-only income protection cap. Heavy manual occupations should compare TAL's placement.

4. Health Rewards is conditional The discount continues only while the program's requirements are met at later anniversaries, and it is not available on loaded cover. Model the premium without it.

5. A smaller book ClearView reports more than 80,000 policyholders. The panel's largest insurers are several times that size, which is what drives the APRA suppression above.

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Who ClearView may suit

ClearView may suit households where

Group income protection with a two-year benefit period is already held

• The two-year waiting period lets the retail policy take over where the group cover ends

Trauma cover will be held for decades

• Definition improvements pass back without a premium increase

Cash-flow pressure would be sharpest early in a claim

• IP70 reducing pays the higher amount for the first 24 months

Severe-events-only trauma structuring is wanted

• The 25-condition Severe Events benefit can be held on its own

Australian ownership and operations matter

• The panel's only ASX-listed insurer, with claims handled in Australia

Where other panel insurers may be a better fit

A published APRA death-claims rate is decisive

• TAL, AIA and Zurich are separately reported; ClearView's death book is suppressed

A 14-day waiting period or income protection to age 70 is wanted

• AIA and Acenda publish 14-day options; AIA and Zurich offer age-70 benefit periods

The applicant is in a heavy manual or special-risk occupation

• Category C and SR restrictions are material; TAL's scale reaches further with fewer closed doors

Own Occupation TPD is needed and the occupation is rated C

• Not available at ClearView for that category

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ClearView claims experience

How an insurer behaves at claim time is when a policy is actually tested.

Claims statistics

APRA publishes insurer-by-insurer claims admittance rates, dispute rates and processing times in its Life Insurance Claims and Disputes Statistics. For ClearView, the individual advised death claims figure is suppressed because the underlying claim volumes are too small for statistically reliable reporting. Published admittance rates for ClearView's larger TPD, trauma and income protection books are available in the same release, and those are the figures to read.

ClearView's own published figure is over $127 million paid in claims to 1,032 claimants in the 2023 financial year.

Claims process

1. Notification: contact ClearView's claims team directly or through your broker. As your broker we lodge and follow the claim with you at no extra cost
2. Documentation: medical reports from treating practitioners, financial evidence for income protection and business expense claims, and a death certificate for death claims. Terminal illness claims need two current certificates, one from an appropriate specialist
3. Assessment: ClearView's Australian-based claims assessors review the evidence and may ask for more
4. Decision: communicated in writing, with an internal review path and then the Australian Financial Complaints Authority if you disagree

ClearView describes wellbeing and recovery support on income protection claims: rehabilitation and return-to-work support, vocational assistance with retraining, and access to financial counselling.

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ClearView vs the panel

Head-to-head: ClearView vs TAL

The TAL review covers TAL on its own.

ClearView may align where:

• The 24-month terminal illness window is weighted
• Retail income protection is being layered behind two-year group cover
• Trauma definition durability matters over a long holding period

TAL may align where:

• The occupation sits in the heavy manual or special-risk classes
• A separately published APRA death-claims rate is decisive
• The Premier critical illness tier or the Needlestick Benefit is relevant

Head-to-head: ClearView vs NEOS

NEOS is a panel company underwritten by NobleOak, with week-based income protection waiting periods like TAL.

ClearView may align where:

• Day-based waiting periods and the group-linked two-year option fit the household
• A stated trauma condition count and the Severe Events benefit carry weight
• Business Expense Cover is needed alongside personal cover

NEOS may align where:

• Week-based waiting periods suit the household's cash buffer
• A simpler cover structure is preferred

Head-to-head: ClearView vs Zurich

The Zurich review covers Zurich on its own.

ClearView may align where:

• Trauma upgrades passing back to existing policyholders is valued
• The IP70 reducing benefit shape fits the household's early-claim cash flow
• Australian ownership matters

Zurich may align where:

• Income protection to age 70 is required
• A one-year or two-year waiting period without a group-cover condition is wanted
• The ActivePlus program would actually be used

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How to apply for ClearView life insurance

Application options

1. Through a panel broker

• General advice on how ClearChoice definitions and occupation ratings compare with the other eight panel insurers
• Help placing your occupation in the right ClearView rating before quoting, since the rating decides which definitions and benefit periods are open
• Support with underwriting queries and, later, with claims
• No additional cost to you; the insurer pays commission, disclosed in our Financial Services Guide

2. Direct with ClearView

• Available, but without a side-by-side comparison across the panel

3. Through a super fund

• ClearChoice Super holds the cover inside HUB24 Super Fund. Trauma cover and Own Occupation TPD stay outside super

Application process

Step 1: Quote and structure (15 to 30 minutes)

• Cover amounts and benefit types agreed, occupation rating confirmed, ownership structure chosen, and flexi-linking set up where an Own Occupation TPD leg is wanted outside super

Step 2: Application (45 to 60 minutes)

• Personal, occupation and income details, medical history and lifestyle questions. ClearView offers tele-underwriting for the health questions

Step 3: Underwriting (1 to 4 weeks)

• An underwriter reviews the application and may request medical evidence or, for larger sums insured, financial evidence. Complimentary interim accident cover applies for certain covers while the application is assessed

Step 4: Policy issued

• Policy documents delivered, a cooling-off period applies, and premiums begin

Tips for a smooth application

1. Disclose fully: the duty to take reasonable care not to misrepresent applies from the first question. Non-disclosure is the most common reason a claim is disputed
2. Know your occupation duties: ClearView's rating depends on what you actually do, including any manual component, not just your job title
3. Decide the benefit type first: IP60, IP70 or IP70 reducing changes both the premium and what a claim pays after 24 months
4. Check the group cover before choosing a two-year wait: the option requires an existing group policy with a two-year benefit period
5. Have medical and financial details ready: conditions, medications, treating doctors, and income evidence for larger sums insured

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Frequently asked questions

Is ClearView a good life insurance company?

ClearView is an APRA-regulated, Australian-owned life insurer listed on the ASX, with all operations in Australia and a retail product whose trauma definitions have been improved and passed back to existing policyholders. APRA suppresses its individual death claims admittance rate because the claim volumes are too small for reliable reporting, so that comparison point is not available. Whether it fits depends on your occupation rating and how you weigh its income protection and trauma structures against the panel. Compare an indicative quote across the panel rather than deciding on one insurer's reputation.

How much does ClearView life insurance cost?

It depends on age, occupation rating, cover type, sum insured, premium structure and any discounts. We do not publish static ClearView premium tables because ClearView states its rates are not guaranteed and may be reviewed. Run an indicative quote for your profile to see today's figure alongside the other eight insurers.

What is ClearView's terminal illness definition?

Death medically expected within 24 months, certified by two medical practitioners, at least one an appropriate specialist in the condition approved by ClearView acting reasonably. Both certificates must be current. Most panel insurers publish 24 months; TAL publishes 12.

What income protection waiting periods does ClearView offer?

30, 60 or 90 days, plus a two-year waiting period available only where you already hold an existing group income protection policy with a two-year benefit period. ClearView does not offer a 14-day waiting period. Not all waiting periods are available for all occupation ratings.

How many conditions does ClearView trauma cover?

Trauma Standard covers 42 conditions. The Trauma Plus Option adds 12 partial-benefit conditions, the Extras Option adds 4 more until age 55, and the separate Trauma Severe Events benefit covers 25 serious and permanent conditions and can be held on its own or in addition to Standard.

Does ClearView offer Own Occupation TPD?

Yes, outside super only, and not for occupations rated category C. Special-risk occupations are limited to the ADL definition. Under TPD Super Solutions, Any Occupation TPD can sit inside super with an Own Occupation leg outside.

Why does APRA not publish ClearView's claims rate?

APRA suppresses the individual advised death claims admittance rate where an insurer's claim volumes are too small for statistically reliable reporting. ClearView's death book falls below that threshold. Its larger TPD, trauma and income protection books are published in the same statistics.

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Summary: where ClearView fits in the panel

ClearView may suit households where:

• Group income protection with a two-year benefit period is already held and retail cover is being layered behind it
• Trauma cover will be held long term and definition durability matters
• The household wants a choice between IP60, IP70 and IP70 reducing benefit shapes
• Severe-events-only trauma structuring is wanted
• Australian ownership and Australian-based claims handling matter

Other panel insurers may better suit households where:

• A separately published APRA death-claims rate is decisive
• A 14-day waiting period or income protection to age 70 is wanted
• The occupation is rated C or SR and Own Occupation TPD or Business Expense Cover is needed

Summary observations: ClearChoice is a well-defined product with a genuinely differentiated trauma structure, an income protection menu that adapts to cash-flow shape, and the panel's only group-linked two-year waiting period. Its constraints are the absence of a published death-claims rate, the age-65 income protection ceiling, and the restrictions at the heavy manual end of its occupation table. Where ClearView sits on price for a given household varies by rating and cover mix, so compare an indicative quote across the panel before deciding.

For ClearView's occupation ratings, underwriting appetite and policy documents, see our ClearView provider page. To see how the panel compares as a whole, see compare life insurance.

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