TAL says it paid $4.7 million in benefits to 57,000 customers in the year to March 31, with “living insurance” claims accounting for 75% of sum.

Mental health conditions were the leading cause of claims for the fifth consecutive year, accounting for 22% of the total, followed by cancer (17%) and injuries and fractures (14%).

In the 2024-25 financial year, TAL paid $4.7 billion to 54,000 customers.

Chief claims officer Georgina Croft says claims are increasingly complex as people manage multiple conditions and uncertain recoveries.

Improving the customer experience means “investing in technology that makes it faster and easier to lodge a claim, connecting people with recovery support earlier, and giving our team AI tools that enable them to be fully present with customers and deliver a compassionate, high-quality experience”, she says.

More customers are using digital lodgement outside business hours, TAL says.

The insurer’s “chat-based knowledge assistant” has answered more than 37,000 claims-related queries for consultants, saving seven minutes per question, and an automated call summarisation tool has processed more than 120,000 calls while “keeping consultants fully present in every conversation”.

Ms Croft says digital integration between TAL, its superannuation fund partners and their administrators has reduced claim lodgement times, and the insurer is receiving digital income protection claims from AustralianSuper members about 80% faster than on paper.