Can I have multiple life insurance policies in Australia?

Yes, it's completely legal and sometimes advisable to have multiple life insurance policies in Australia. You might have one policy through your superannuation for basic coverage, a retail policy for additional coverage and better features, a policy from a previous employer's super fund, and separate policies for specific purposes like covering business loans or partnership obligations. Having multiple policies offers several advantages: you can achieve higher total coverage than one insurer might offer individually (insurers often cap coverage amounts), spread risk across multiple insurers (if one insurer becomes insolvent or disputes a claim, others may pay), optimise cost and features (use cheap super fund coverage for basic protection and retail policies for comprehensive coverage), and maintain flexibility (cancel individual policies as needs change without losing all coverage). However, when you have or apply for multiple policies, you must disclose all existing coverage to each insurer during application – failure to disclose can void your policies. Insurers want to prevent over-insurance where total coverage vastly exceeds your insurable interest (generally calculated at 10-20 times your annual income, plus debts). When claiming, you can claim on all policies simultaneously if they all cover the triggering event – each insurer pays their proportion, and you receive the full amount from each policy (life insurance is 'agreed value', not 'indemnity'). The downside of multiple policies is paying multiple premiums, which can become expensive. Review all your policies annually to ensure you're not paying for unnecessary duplication while maintaining adequate total coverage. Consider consolidating policies as your circumstances change to reduce costs while maintaining appropriate protection.