Death cover

What is Death cover?

Death cover provides the beneficiaries of eligible Rest members a lump sum, or if chosen, a pension in the event of their death.

A death benefit is the money payable on the death of a Rest member and consists of:

the deceased’s account balance net of any applicable fees and taxes and;
any insurance benefits that may be payable.

While the claim is under review, it is important to note that the late member’s account is still considered active and the account balance will remain invested in the investment options which applied prior to the member passing.

The investment of the funds may result in changes to the account balance according to market performance and therefore may be higher or lower.

If you are an executor or believe you are a beneficiary, please contact us to discuss any questions you may have, or alternatively seek your own professional advice.

Who can a Death benefit be paid to?

By law, Rest can only pay a death benefit to any one or more dependants of the deceased member and the Legal Personal Representative (LPR) of the deceased member’s estate.

Rest can only pay the death benefit to another person if there are no dependants or LPR.

When deciding who to pay, Rest will review the deceased member’s circumstances, any documented wishes, and who relied on the deceased member for support at the date of death.

Where a valid binding beneficiary nomination has been made, Rest will pay the benefit in accordance with the binding beneficiary nomination. The binding beneficiary nomination will be valid if it has not lapsed, and the nominated person(s) can provide evidence to confirm that they were either a dependant or LPR of the estate of the deceased member at the time of death.

If you don’t have a valid, binding death benefit nomination in place, we’ll decide who to pay your death benefit to. In most cases, the death benefit will be paid as a lump sum.

Nominating a beneficiary

To find out more about nominating a beneficiary, visit our nominating a beneficiary page.

Find out more

Case Study - How Sue was able to help her family, after she was gone

Sue and Tim were at a party. As they were leaving, Sue slipped and fell down the stairs, hit her head and died instantly.

While mourning the tragic loss of his partner, Tim also must deal with the stress and anxiety of the mortgage payments, car loan, and most importantly providing for their children.

When Sue started her new job, she received automatic default insurance through her super. She had nominated Tim as her binding beneficiary, or the person who will receive her insurance and super, if she dies.

Tim will receive the death benefit which includes her Death insurance and her super account balance.

The type of insurance is called Death cover.

If you become terminally ill or pass away, a lump sum payment or pension is paid to the people who depend on you.

While based on actual member experiences, for privacy reasons this information is illustrative only.

What do I need to do to make a Death claim?

If a Rest member has passed away and you would like to notify us of this and potentially make a claim, please follow the steps below to start the process:

Step 1:

You’ll need to have some basic information on hand before calling us. This will help us check if we can start a claim. Have ready: