TPD CORE

More choice in how your TPD cover works

Financial support when you can’t work again

Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) provides a tax-effective lump sum payment if you become permanently unable to work due to illness or injury. It gives you the financial security to focus on recovery, care, and your future.

TPD CORE

TPD CORE is total and permanent disablement cover that can cost up to 20% less than traditional TPD cover*.
 
If you change your existing cover to TPD CORE, you’ll also benefit from a 5-year premium rate guarantee on the new TPD CORE benefit, giving you greater certainty over the ongoing cost of your cover.
 
It is designed to give you:
  • meaningful protection for total and permanent disablement
  • lower premium rates
  • a 5-year premium rate guarantee, and
  • clear claim eligibility for certain mental health and other Specified Conditions.
TPD CORE may help you keep valuable TPD protection in place, while giving you more certainty about the cost of your cover and when you are eligible to claim.

How does TPD CORE work?

TPD CORE provides financial protection if you have a severe and permanent condition that stops you from working again.
 
TPD CORE offers lower premium rates than traditional TPD cover. Unlike traditional TPD cover, TPD CORE provides greater clarity around the evidence required to claim, particularly for conditions where the prognosis may be uncertain.
 
If a claim relates to a Specified Condition, additional, stricter requirements apply, including a minimum 24‑month treatment period. For mental health conditions, an assessment under the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS) is also required. Subject to meeting all other claim requirements, claims involving a Specified Condition will include an assessment on your ability  to work in any occupation reasonably suited to your education, training or experience — even if you hold TPD CORE (Own Occupation) cover.
 
For all other conditions, traditional TPD claim criteria apply. If a Specified Condition is a significant contributing factor to your disability, the additional claim requirements will apply.

TPD CORE doesn’t include an indexation option, so your sum insured won’t increase unless you take out additional cover.
 
This is a summary only. Please refer to the TPD CORE Disclosure Document for full details, including definitions and eligibility requirements.
 
We recommend speaking to a financial adviser as they can talk you through how this works and what it means for your cover.

A 5-year premium rate guarantee

If you switch to TPD CORE, the TPD CORE base premium rates are guaranteed not to increase due to any increase in base rates by AIA for at least 5 years from the date you switch. This is designed to give you more certainty in managing the cost of your cover.
 
Your premium may still increase during the guarantee period due to factors such as changes to your age, government charges, discounts ending, changes to your cover or payment frequency.

Benefits

Potential savings of up to 20% on premium rates*

TPD CORE may help reduce the cost of your insurance with lower premium rates than traditional TPD cover.

5-year premium rate guarantee

Switch to TPD CORE and the TPD CORE base premium rates are guaranteed not to increase due to any base premium increase by AIA for a minimum of 5 years from the date you switch, giving you greater certainty over the cost of your cover.

More choice and flexibility

Greater flexibility to choose the type of cover that best aligns with your needs and circumstances.

30-day cooling-off period

Enjoy extra flexibility and peace of mind when reviewing changes to your cover. If you change your mind within 30 days, you can easily switch back.

No change to claim criteria for most conditions

The different, stricter claim criteria (outlined above) only apply to mental health and other Specified Conditions.

Helps manage insurance affordability

May assist you in maintaining valuable TPD protection while reducing premium costs.

Important: TPD CORE includes different, stricter claim criteria for mental health and other Specified Conditions. Please review the TPD CORE Disclosure Document carefully to understand how TPD CORE may affect your cover and future claims. Speak with your financial adviser to understand if TPD CORE may be right for you.

Some things to consider before switching

How would this change affect your ability to claim?
If you switch to TPD CORE, claims relating to mental health and other Specified Conditions will be assessed against stricter criteria than under traditional TPD cover. Consider how this might apply to your personal and family medical history, occupation, and lifestyle.
Is this option right for me?
Everyone’s situation is different. Speak with your financial adviser, they can talk you through the TPD CORE Disclosure Document and FAQs and help you understand the stricter claim criteria for Specified Conditions, before you decide whether to switch.
Want to talk it through first?
Speak with your financial adviser to understand if TPD CORE may be right for your personal situation. If you don’t have a financial adviser, we can help you find one. Find an adviser

TPD CORE explained

Case study: Nicole's story

Nicole, 42, has held TPD Own Occupation cover for eight years. With a young family, a mortgage and ongoing cost-of-living pressures she wanted more certainty over what her cover would cost her in the years ahead.

Reducing her sum insured wasn’t an option Nicole wanted to consider, so as her renewal approached, she raised her concerns with her financial adviser. Together, they reviewed her options, and her adviser talked her through TPD CORE as a viable alternative, working through the TPD CORE Disclosure Document and supporting information with her to make sure she fully understood how TPD CORE compared to her existing cover.
 
Her adviser explained that TPD CORE Own Occupation cover applies additional, stricter claim criteria to certain Specified Conditions, including those relating to mental health and helped Nicole weigh this against her own circumstances. Nicole felt comfortable accepting the additional requirements. Her adviser also reassured her that cover for all other conditions would continue on a normal TPD Own Occupation basis.
 
After carefully weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of TPD CORE Own Occupation cover, what ultimately helped Nicole to switch was the combination of a 20% premium rate reduction of the TPD premium and a five-year premium rate guarantee on the new TPD CORE benefit, which her adviser confirmed together offered a clearer path to keeping her cover affordable for the longer term, without the risk of further near-term premium rate increases.
 
With her adviser’s guidance, Nicole decided TPD CORE Own Occupation cover struck the right balance between protection, affordability and certainty, and chose to make the switch.
This is a hypothetical example for illustrative purposes only.

Switching to TPD CORE

Speak with your financial adviser to understand if TPD CORE may be right for your personal situation. If you don’t have a financial adviser, we can help you find one.

We’re here to help

Before you make any changes to your cover, it’s important to think about your current situation and what you might need in the future. We recommend speaking to a financial adviser before making any changes.

Call us:

1800 298 400
Between 9am and 5pm (AEST/AEDT) Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

Email us:

Send an email to au.customer@aia.com

Frequently Asked Questions

About TPD CORE

TPD CORE is an alternative Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) cover, offering TPD premium rates up to 20% lower than traditional TPD cover under the same TPD occupation definition, with different, stricter claim criteria for mental health and other complex conditions known as Specified Conditions*. If you switch, you’ll also benefit from a 5-year premium rate guarantee on your TPD premium, giving you greater certainty over the cost of your cover.

A Specified Condition is a mental health or other complex condition that is subject to additional claim requirements under TPD CORE, including:
 
  • Completion of a minimum 24-month treatment period
  • For mental health conditions, an assessment using the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS). PIRS is a structured and clinically recognised assessment methodology used by qualified psychiatrists to provide a consistent, evidence-based measure of the long-term functional impact of mental illness
  • Assessment against an Any Occupation definition — meaning whether you’re able to work in any occupation reasonably suited to your education, training or experience, even if your policy is TPD CORE (Own Occupation)
For all other conditions, claim criteria are the same as traditional TPD cover.
 
This is a summary only. Please refer to the TPD Core Disclosure Document for full details, including definitions and eligibility requirements.

To give customers more choice and a more affordable TPD cover option with more stable, predictable premiums.

Eligibility requirements will depend on your policy. If you are eligible, we will let you know and explain the steps required to switch.

No. Switching is entirely optional. If you do nothing, your current cover will remain unchanged.

If you switch to TPD CORE, the base TPD premium rates are guaranteed not to increase due to any repricing from AIA for a minimum of five years from the date you switch.
 
Your premium may still increase during the guarantee period as a result of factors such as changes to your age, government charges, discounts rolling off, benefit changes, or a change in premium frequency. 

Not necessarily. The guarantee applies to the TPD base premium rate — it doesn’t mean the amount you pay is fixed. Your premium rate can still change during the guarantee period due to:
 
  • Changes to your age
  • Changes to government charges and taxes that apply to your policy (such as stamp duty)
  • Changes in applicable premium discounts
  • Changes to your benefits
  • A change in premium frequency

The five year guarantee that applies to the base premium rates for TPD CORE starts from when TPD CORE is added to your policy.

Any base premium rates guarantee period applicable to a reinstated policy commences from the original commencement date of the lapsed policy (or a previously replaced policy, where applicable) — not the reinstatement date.

No. The 5‑year premium rate guarantee is applied automatically when you switch to TPD CORE or add TPD CORE to an existing policy, provided you have not previously held TPD CORE under that policy.

The TPD CORE Disclosure Document sets out the complete terms of the premium rate guarantee.

Premiums & Affordability

The premium rate savings available depend on the type of TPD cover you currently hold. Customers with TPD Own Occupation cover can save up to 20% on their TPD premium rates by switching to TPD Own Occupation CORE, while customers with TPD Any Occupation cover can save up to 10% by switching to TPD Any Occupation CORE*.
 
Your personalised quote will confirm the premium savings applicable to your policy.

Premium rate savings vary by policy and individual circumstances. We’ll provide your expected premium impact before you decide.

TPD CORE comes with a 5-year premium rate guarantee.
 
During this period, AIA will not increase your TPD base premium rates. However, the amount you pay may still change due to factors such as age (for variable age-stepped premiums), discounts reducing or expiring, changes in government charges or stamp duty, or changes you make to your cover. 

You may be able to:

  • Review your cover levels
  • Turn off automatic benefit indexation
  • Change your payment frequency
  • Update your smoking status (if eligible)
  • Speak with your financial adviser about other options
  • Change from TPD Own Occupation cover to TPD Any Occupation cover
Learn more about your options.

Claims & Cover

For most conditions, nothing changes.
 
For Specified Conditions (mental health and other complex conditions), these are assessed under stricter criteria — including a minimum 24-month treatment period and assessment against an Any Occupation definition even if you hold TPD Own Occupation cover. All other conditions are assessed the same way as traditional TPD cover.

Subject to a 24-month minimum treatment period and assessment using the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS), which sets a minimum level of impairment required before a claim can be considered. PIRS is a standardised functional impairment scale for psychiatric conditions. It rates how the condition affects daily life and work such as travel and getting around and personal hygiene. 

If a claim relates to a Specified Condition, the following  claim requirements apply. which  include:
 
  • Ongoing care from an appropriate specialist and participation in reasonable treatment and rehabilitation
  • Medical evidence and specialist opinion to support the claim
  • Completion of a minimum 24 month treatment period
  • Evidence that the condition is stable, permanent and unlikely to improve
  • Assessment against your ability to work in any occupation reasonably suited to your education, training and experience, even if you hold TPD CORE Own Occupation cover
Please refer to the TPD CORE Disclosure Document for full details of the claim requirements and eligibility criteria.

Your claim is assessed under the Terms and Conditions in place at the time you become Totally and Permanently disabled. 

If you are currently receiving treatment for a medical condition, it's important to carefully review the TPD CORE Disclosure Document and consider seeking advice from a financial adviser before making any changes to your cover.
 
If your condition could potentially affect your ability to work now or in the future, switching to TPD CORE may not be the right option for you. This is because TPD CORE includes different claim criteria for certain conditions. Taking the time to understand these differences and how they may apply to your circumstances can help you make an informed decision.

Claims already lodged are assessed under the policy terms that applied when you became eligible to claim as a result of the disability. Contact us if you have a claim in progress.

Making a Decision

It may suit customers who want lower premium rates and are comfortable with the different, stricter claim criteria for Specified Conditions. Whether it’s right for you depends on your personal circumstances, affordability needs and insurance needs. Read the Terms and Conditions and FAQs carefully, if you’re still unsure consider speaking / and speak with a financial adviser.

No, AIA does not provide personal financial advice. We recommend speaking with your financial adviser. If you don’t have one, we can help you find one. Find an adviser.

The TPD CORE Disclosure Document is available to help you understand the differences.

Switching Process

Through the self-service process, or by speaking with your financial adviser.
 
Speak with your financial adviser to understand if this option is right for you. If you don’t currently have a financial adviser, we can help connect you with one.

You will need to complete a request form as part of the switching process.

No underwriting or medical evidence is required as long as the cover amount stays the same or is reduced.

The effective date will be confirmed during the switching process and in your confirmation documentation.

We will send you confirmation once the switch has been processed.

If I Change My Mind

Yes, there is a 30-day cooling-off period.

Yes, if you cancel the switch during the cooling off period, your original cover will be reinstated as if the switch never occurred. However, if a condition that you wish to claim for has arisen since the switch, your claim will be assessed under the TPD CORE terms and conditions.

No, the 30 day cooling off period is intended to allow time for you to consider if the change you have made is right for you. If you decide it is not, then you can switch back to your original cover. 

Policy Impacts

No, there is no impact to your other cover. 

Where applicable and authorised, your adviser will be made aware of changes made to your policy.

Your current cover will continue unchanged.

Yes, subject to your existing AIA Vitality eligibility and membership arrangements.

No. TPD CORE changes your TPD cover only and does not directly change your Income Protection cover.

General

The full Terms and Conditions are available here.

You can contact AIA or speak with your financial adviser for more information.

Read the TPD CORE Disclosure document to understand the Terms and Conditions and FAQs carefully. You can also speak with a financial adviser if you’d like help deciding — if you don’t have one, we can help you find one.

Yes, we encourage you to speak with your adviser if you would like help understanding whether TPD CORE is right for you.
*Applies to policies issued under the AIA Priority Protection Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) versions 7 (Dec 2008) through to PDS version 32 (Nov 2025).
 
Copyright © 2026 AIA Australia Limited ABN 79 004 837 861 AFSL 230043. This information is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making any decision about TPD CORE, you should consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances. You should read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement, Policy Document, Terms and Conditions and any other disclosure materials before making a decision. If you are unsure, consider seeking advice from a licensed financial adviser.