How We Get Paid

How commissions work

When a policy is issued through us, the insurer pays commission to our licensee. The ranges are printed in the Financial Services Guide, and we quote them here exactly as the document states them:

When you purchase the Insurance Product the insurance company may pay the licensee 0% to 60% (ex GST) of the first year's premium and then ongoing trailing commission of up to 0.20% (ex GST) from the day following the first anniversary date (ex policy fee and stamp duty). A percentage of both the initial up-front commission and ongoing trail commission is paid to the Authorised Representative as commission.

As disclosed in the Financial Services Guide, Version 10 (13 May 2024).

The commission is paid by the insurance company out of the premium structure it has already set. It is not an extra charge added to your bill.

Commission creates a conflict. Here is how we manage it.

We are paid by the insurers whose products we arrange, and different insurers can pay different rates. We do not claim that conflict away. Instead, we manage it in ways you can check:

• Same service across all 9 panel insurers. Every quote request runs across the whole panel, whichever insurer you end up choosing.
• Written side-by-side comparisons. You see the premiums and product features of each insurer next to each other and make the choice yourself.
• Product information sourced from the PDS. Feature comparisons come from each insurer's Product Disclosure Statement, the document that legally defines the cover.
• A formal complaints pathway. Internal dispute resolution first, then the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). See our complaints policy.
• Licensee oversight. We operate as an authorised representative of Consilium Advice Australia Pty Ltd, ABN 90 088 128 170, AFSL 246623, under its compliance framework.

What we are not

• We are not an insurer. Policies are issued by the insurer you choose; we arrange the cover and support you through the process.
• We are not a personal-advice provider. We provide general advice only: factual product information and comparisons that do not take your personal objectives, financial situation or needs into account.
• We have no ownership tie to any panel insurer. No insurer owns any part of the business, and the business owns no part of any insurer. We are paid by commission, at the ranges disclosed above.

For more on what a broker actually does day to day, read what does a life insurance broker do?, or compare the channels in retail vs direct life insurance.