Cbus members to see 46% increase in insurance fees

Cbus members will see an average 46% increase in death and TPD premiums from July 1.

Default cover premiums will increase between $0.19 cents and $10.24 per week.

There will also be a 12% increase for some income protection categories, the first rise in five years.

Cbus said a typical member - 30 years old and working in a manual occupation - will see their default cover increase from $590 per year to $857 per year.

Media Super members - whose separate insurance product is a much smaller pool of about 29,000 members - will see an increase of between $1.03 and $1.30 per week for default Death and TPD cover and increase of between $3.40 to $6.37 per week for default Income Protection cover.

Cbus said in the past two years there has been a 50% rise in claims, driven mainly by growth in musculoskeletal, injury and mental health claims.

A Cbus spokesperson told Financial Standard the super fund understands that members are facing significant cost pressures.

"We understand our members are facing cost-of-living pressures, and rising insurance costs across the industry are contributing to that pressure," the spokesperson said.

"Across all super funds and insurers, claims are rising and so are costs, but Cbus members know if they make a claim in a time of need, we will be there for them."

Cbus said over the course of three years, it has paid out more than $1.1 billion, including 96% of TPD claims and 99% of death claims.

"As access to other forms of support has tightened more members are turning to the insurance in super as a critical financial safety net," the spokesperson said.

"Our insurance reflects the real risks our members face at work - including for high-risk roles common in construction."

Cbus is not the only fund to have increased insurance premiums as a result of increased claims.

In April, Financial Standard reported members of Commonwealth Super Corporation's Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan (PSSap) were also facing a rise.

From May 1, the premiums for Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) cover rose a 43.5%.

In a statement to Financial Standard at the time, a CSC spokesperson said the superannuation sector as a whole is seeing an increase in TPD claims, driven by a rise in mental health conditions.

"In response to this, working with our insurer, AIA, CSC has implemented a mix of premium changes which includes an increase to TPD and five-year income protection premiums," the spokesperson said.

Additionally, a similar increase is to be rolled out for AustralianSuper's insured members.

On average, members within the AustralianSuper plan, Super Options and Personal Plan will pay 40% more for TPD cover from June 1.

In FY25, AustralianSuper paid out $272.3 million across 2821 TPD claims. The year before, it paid 2690 claims to the tune of $276.8 million.