Can I increase my Income Protection coverage without new medical underwriting?

Many Income Protection policies offer limited increase options that allow you to increase your coverage without providing new medical evidence, subject to certain conditions and limits. These are sometimes called 'guaranteed insurability options' or 'special events increases'. Common trigger events that may allow you to increase cover include: getting married or entering a de facto relationship, having a child or adopting, taking out a mortgage, or receiving a salary increase above a certain threshold (often 10-15%). These increases are typically capped at a percentage of your existing coverage (often 25-50%) and must be applied for within a specified timeframe after the event (usually 30-60 days). Some policies offer automatic increases linked to CPI to ensure your coverage keeps pace with inflation. However, there are limitations: the total coverage cannot exceed the insurer's maximum benefit amount, you must still be working and in good health (though you don't need to prove it), and you can usually only use these options a limited number of times. If you want to increase coverage outside these specific circumstances, you'll need to go through full medical underwriting again, which means completing a new application, providing medical reports, and potentially undergoing medical examinations. This is why it's important to obtain adequate coverage from the outset, as increasing it later may be difficult if your health has deteriorated.