What happens to my Income Protection insurance if I change jobs or become unemployed?

What happens when you change jobs depends on whether your policy is 'own occupation' or 'any occupation' and how your policy is structured. Most retail Income Protection policies are portable, meaning they continue regardless of your employment situation. However, you generally must be actively working (not unemployed) when you take out the policy and when you make a claim. If you become unemployed, your policy typically remains in force as long as you continue paying premiums, but you cannot claim for disability during periods of unemployment since you're not losing income from an inability to work - you're unemployed by choice or circumstance. When you change jobs, especially to a different occupation, you should notify your insurer as this may affect your premiums. Moving to a more hazardous occupation may increase premiums, while moving to a safer occupation may reduce them. If you don't notify the insurer and later claim, they may adjust your benefits based on your actual occupation. If you hold IP through super and change employers, you may lose your existing cover when you change super funds. If you have a retail policy and the definition changes from your original occupation to your new occupation ('own occupation' policies adjust), benefits are based on your inability to perform your occupation at the time of disability. Maintaining continuous cover through job changes is important to avoid new waiting periods for pre-existing conditions.