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You can still buy life insurance in your 50s and 60s, and some policies accept new applicants into their 70s, but the choice narrows and the price climbs with every birthday. Every policy has a maximum entry age and an expiry age, and TPD cover usually ends at 65, so the options at 68 look very different from those at 55.
The bigger question is whether you still need it. Life cover exists to replace income and clear debts for people who depend on you. If the mortgage is paid off, the children are independent and your super would support a surviving partner, you may need less cover, or none. If you still carry debt or support someone, cover can still make sense, but it pays to check what you already hold before buying anything new.
By Better Rate Mate Editorial Team ยท Last reviewed
Yes, with limits. Insurers set a maximum age at which they will start a new policy and an age at which cover ends. Both vary by insurer and by type of cover, and they are printed in the PDS. Moneysmart warns that if you are over 60 or have a pre-existing medical condition, you may not be able to get the cover you want, so start with what you already have.
Cover you already hold is often more valuable than it looks. Expiry ages are higher than entry ages, so a policy you took out at 45 may keep running well past the age at which you could buy the same cover new. Moneysmart notes that outside super you may be able to keep life cover as long as you keep paying, while life cover in super usually ends at 70 and TPD at 65.
Run the same sum Moneysmart recommends at any age, with today's numbers.
On a variable age-stepped (stepped) premium, the price is recalculated each year using your age, and the risk of a claim rises quickly in later life, so increases tend to be steep. On a variable (level) premium, the price isn't driven by your age, so it rises more slowly, but insurers can still increase rates and some policies switch to stepped from a set age.
Affordability in retirement is the trap. Income usually falls when you stop work while stepped premiums keep rising. The Life Insurance Code of Practice requires insurers selling funeral insurance on stepped premiums to warn you about future affordability when you retire or enter aged care. The same thinking applies to any stepped policy you plan to hold into your 70s.
The products marketed to over-50s differ a lot in how much they pay and when.
| Option | What it pays | Health questions | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term life (fully underwritten) | Lump sum on death or terminal illness | Full medical and lifestyle questions | Entry-age limits; stepped premiums rise steeply with age |
| Life cover with few or no health questions | Lump sum on death, often with limits early on | Few or none | Moneysmart warns fewer questions can mean more exclusions or narrower definitions; pre-existing conditions are often excluded |
| Accidental death cover | Lump sum only if death is caused by an accident | Usually few | Doesn't pay for death from illness, disease or suicide, and often has a lot of exclusions |
| Funeral insurance | A fixed benefit, often $5,000 to $15,000 | Usually few | Premiums for life can exceed the benefit; illness often not covered in the first years |
| Funeral bond or prepaid funeral | Pays for your funeral; not insurance | None | Money is locked in for the funeral; check fees or the plan's terms |
| Keep and reduce existing cover | Your existing benefit, reduced to lower the premium | None for a decrease | Once cancelled, you may not be able to get cover back |
If premiums are becoming hard to pay, ask your insurer or fund about reducing the sum insured before you cancel. A lower amount keeps some cover in place at a lower price, and it preserves the terms you were accepted on years ago. Cancel, and a new application in your late 60s may bring exclusions for conditions you have developed since, or a refusal. If the cover genuinely isn't needed any more, cancelling is sensible. Just make it a decision rather than letting it lapse.
By your 60s most people have something in their medical history. That rarely means an automatic refusal on fully underwritten cover. More often the insurer offers cover with an exclusion for that condition or a loading on the premium. Answer every question carefully: since 5 October 2021 you must take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation, and a careless answer can lead to a claim being refused. Policies that ask no health questions usually handle pre-existing conditions with blanket exclusions instead, so read how they define one.
There is no set age. Keep cover while someone depends on your income or would be left with debts you can't otherwise clear. Once your super and assets would cover those needs, reducing or cancelling the cover can make sense.
With term life insurance, nothing is paid back. The premiums paid for cover during those years. The policy continues while you keep paying, until its expiry age.
Sometimes, but options are limited. Many policies stop accepting new applicants before 70, and those that do accept older applicants often have lower cover limits, higher premiums or fewer health questions with more exclusions. Existing cover may continue past 70 if the policy allows.
It is worth it if you still have debts, a partner who relies on your income, or someone you care for. If your mortgage is paid off and your super would support your partner, you may not need much cover, if any.
Not usually. Funeral insurance pays a small fixed benefit for premiums that continue for life and can end up costing more than the benefit. If the aim is to pay for a funeral, Moneysmart suggests considering a prepaid funeral, a funeral bond or savings first.
Entry ages, expiry ages and cover limits vary by insurer and change between product versions. Check the PDS and target market determination of any policy you consider, and speak to a licensed financial adviser if you want a recommendation.
Life, TPD and trauma cover pay lump sums. Income protection is the cover that pays a monthly income while you recover.
