How much does insurance in super cost?
For a 35-year-old on $85,000 in an office job, automatic cover at the 25 funds we compare that start cover automatically costs between about $80 and $590 a year. UniSuper's Personal Account gives similar cover only if you opt in, and MLC Fundamentals and Vision Personal have none at all. That gap mostly reflects how much cover each fund hands out, so the useful number is what each dollar buys, not the lowest price.
The range is wide enough that it needs unpicking before it means anything.
The numbers at 35
We priced each fund's automatic cover for a 35-year-old man on $85,000 a year, non-smoker, in an office job, using the premium rates printed in each fund's insurance guide. Costs are per year, after the 15% tax benefit where the fund passes it on.
| Fund | Death | TPD | Income protection | Cost a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HESTA | $186k | none | $1,000/month | $79 |
| Vanguard Super | $263k | $132k | none | $117 |
| Hostplus | $141k | $170k | none | $126 |
| Aware Super | $261k | $261k | none | $147 |
| AustralianSuper | $180k | $53k | $3,000/month | $164 |
| Australian Retirement Trust | $240k | $240k | none | $180 |
| BUSSQ | $250k | $158k | none | $200 |
| Australian Ethical | $414k | $414k | none | $201 |
| Essential Super | $200k | $200k | none | $214 |
| Cbus | $208k | $135k | none | $326 |
| Rest | $200k | $80k | $2,679/month | $371 |
| NESS Super | $175k | $175k | $5,313/month | $453 |
| Brighter Super | $476k | $476k | $5,313/month | $590 |
Thirteen of the 25 funds that start cover automatically, chosen to show the spread. The calculator on this site shows all of them and recalculates for your age, job and sex.
What the table says, and what it doesn't
The cheapest isn't a bargain by default. HESTA's $79 buys no automatic TPD. Hostplus has no automatic income protection. Brighter costs the most, but it also gives you income protection at 75% of your salary. NESS does too, and about $265 of its $453 is the income protection alone, which it charges as a share of your employer's super contributions rather than by the amount covered.
Price and cover don't line up. Aware gives $261k of Death and TPD for $147. Cbus gives $208k of Death and $135k of TPD for $326. Some of that gap is how each fund rates your occupation, and some is the insurer's pricing. The guides don't say how the rest is split.
Age matters, and not in the direction you'd hope. AustralianSuper's automatic cover costs $57 a year at 25, $164 at 35, $267 at 45 and $343 at 55. Over the same ages its automatic Death cover goes from $116k up to $180k and then down to $37k. At 55 you pay about twice what you did at 35, for about a fifth of the Death cover. Default cover by age is built that way, which is part of why people end up under-insured without noticing.
Why a small premium still matters
The money comes out of your super balance, not your pay, so you don't feel it. On a $20,000 balance, a $300 premium is 1.5% of your account in a year. That's about the same as a fund's investment fee, and it compounds the same way. On a $200,000 balance it barely registers. If your balance is small and you don't need the cover, that matters. If your family relies on your income, the cover is probably worth more than the 1.5%.
How to compare properly
- Fix the cover you actually want first. Work out how much you need.
- Price that same cover at each fund rather than comparing the defaults.
- Check what the cheap quote leaves out: TPD, income protection, or a cap on the amount.
- Check when cover ends and whether limited cover applies at the start.
Sources
- Rates, ages and benefit scales from each fund's current insurance guide (effective 1 July or 1 October 2026), as compiled in the miadvice fund comparison, data as at 22 October 2026
- Estimates only. Confirm the premium on the fund's own calculator before relying on it.
Price it for your age and job
Free, no sign-up. Uses each fund's published rates and rules.
General information only, not personal advice. Fund rules and premiums change, usually on 1 July or 1 October. Check the fund's current insurance guide before relying on a figure here.