Australian life insurer TAL, one of the nation’s largest life insurance providers, has teamed up with global InsurTech Cover Genius to launch a new embedded digital life insurance product called backd by TAL.
The partnership aims to improve access to life, income, and illness protection for millions of underinsured Australians—particularly part-time workers, contractors and casual employees—by integrating cover directly into platforms they already use, such as employer payroll systems.
backd is designed to be simple, digital-only, and affordable, with no underwriting and 100% digital claims processing. Benefits include $100–$300 per day for Income Protection and up to $150,000 for Life Insurance.
The partners also plan to roll out backd to consumers via sectors like health and banking.
Fiona Macgregor, TAL group CEO and managing director, said, “At the core of our Cover Genius partnership is ensuring more Australians who want and need insurance can get it. To do this, cover should be tailored to their needs, and be easy to access, understand and keep.
“Life insurance is much more than death benefits. Last year, 74% of the 54,000 claims we paid supported the recovery of people with an illness or injury that prevented them from working.
“With backd, more Australians will get support critical to their recovery, addressing an important community need.”
Angus McDonald, CEO and co-founder at Cover Genius, added,
“Many people do not have life insurance either because they feel they cannot afford it, have not been offered it or think the process will be too complex.
“backd overcomes these issues, by giving employers a simple way to offer their employees easily accessible protection that suits their income and financial needs by simply embedding it into their existing HR or payroll platform.”
“With backd, we’re providing the right cover, via the right channel, at the right price.
“Solutions such as bite-sized Life and Income Protection can also serve as a way to engage younger Australians who may not yet have seriously considered their needs but have come to appreciate the ease and value of purchasing embedded protection online for other things such as travel and music events.
“Making protection easy to understand, financially accessible and simple to access online through employers and other trusted partners is a logical next step in levelling the life insurance playing field.”
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