The top cause of death claims is cancer for both women and men, accounting for 61% of all death claims for women, and 39% for men, according to data.
Data from KPMG on behalf of the Financial Services Council (FSC) found 29% of the cancer claims from women were for breast cancer, followed by colon cancer at 15%, and lung cancer at 14%.
Circulatory system was the second most common death claim cause at 9% for women, followed by accident (7%), abnormal clinical findings (6%), and nervous system (4%).
For men, accidents were the second most common death claim at 20%, followed by circulatory system (16%), abnormal clinical findings (10%), and nervous system (3%).
The total permanent disability (TPD) claims mental health disorders topped the list for both men women at 24% and 27% respectively. Accidents came second for men at 17% and musculoskeletal system for women at 19%.
For income protection claims, accidents were the top for both genders at 38% for women and 28% for men. Mental health came second for women at 22% and cancer for men at 12%.
FSC senior policy manager for life insurance, Nick Kirwan, said: “New claims statistics tell us a lot about the differences between men and women and across all three product lines the messages are clear.
“This data confirms that for working age Australians, cancer is by far the biggest killer and it’s even more deadly for women than for men. We see that men have significantly more accidents than women, and women more mental health claims.”
