Candidates often confuse these two. ASIC focuses on conduct — honest, fair, efficient service, licensing, and consumer protection. APRA focuses on prudential/financial stability — solvency, capital adequacy, and authorisation of insurers. Remember: ASIC = behaviour, APRA = financial health.

Know the three Acts: Insurance Act 1973, Insurance Contracts Act 1984, and Corporations Act 2001 (Chapter 7 for intermediaries like brokers). You may be asked which Act covers which area.

General Insurance Code (developed by ICA — covers general products, not workers' comp/reinsurance), Insurance Brokers Code (professionalism for brokers), and Life Insurance Code (administered by FSC). Know who administers each.

These are terminology traps. Excess = what the client pays first before the insurer pays. Sum insured = the maximum payout. Underinsurance = sum insured is less than actual value, meaning reduced payouts. Interviewers love asking about the difference between excess and premium.

Be able to recite the 7 broker-side steps in order: Initial Assessment → Contact Insurer → Documentation → Submit → Processing → Decision/Settlement → Follow-Up. Also know the 9-step assessment process from the insurer's side (claims adjuster role is key).

Know the distinction between Refinance (check existing cover, request schedule, ask about claims) vs New Purchase (building sum, contents minimum $30K, excess options $500/$750/$1,000/$2,000). The email for quotes is quotes@angelicinsurance.com.au.

Understand that insurance is often a mortgage condition — home insurance protects the property, LMI protects the lender if the borrower defaults, and life/income protection cover the borrower's ability to repay. This is the cross-selling opportunity.

There are ~22 million active life insurance policies but only 12.5 million working-age Australians. Why? Because 63% (14 million) are held through super, and many Australians have multiple super accounts — 39% have more than one, 14% have three or more. And 52% of those WITH life insurance are still underinsured.

Memorise this calculation. Bundled $600k Life + $250k TPD + $100k Trauma: a trauma claim reduces life to $500k, then a TPD claim reduces life to $250k. Total claimable = $600k (the highest single sum). Stand-alone: each is separate, total claimable = $950k. In an interview, they WILL test this.

Stepped = rises with age, recalculated annually, cheaper early, most common. Level = higher at start, flat until ~65 then reverts to stepped, CPI increases only. Hybrid = middle ground, steps up to a predetermined age then flattens. Not every insurer offers hybrid.

Trauma = lump sum for specified medical condition; NOT about work capacity; ceases on claim; usually outside super. TPD = lump sum; requires "can't work ever again" — two-part definition (immediate for sight/limb loss; 6 months off work for others). Income Protection = monthly benefit for temporary disablement; 70% income cap; 100% tax deductible.

Outside super: premiums NOT deductible but benefits generally tax-free. Inside super: premiums typically deductible but benefits taxed up to 35% if paid to non-dependants. Exception: income protection is deductible OUTSIDE super too (but then benefits are taxable income). Advisers cannot give tax advice without TPB registration.

Enacted 11 March 2002. Layer 1: Issuers (insurance companies — s766B(1)(b), s766D). Layer 2: Licensees/Dealers (provide advice s766B, arrange products s766C(1)(a)). Layer 3: Authorised Representatives (the retailers — actually engage with clients). Know which section of the Corporations Act governs each.

Under ICA 1984, a policy can only be voided for NON-FRAUDULENT non-disclosure or misrepresentation if discovered within 3 years. Fraud has no time limit. Misstatement of age never voids — only triggers proportionate adjustment of benefit.

A specific ICA provision: if an insurer accepts a risk with a question left UNANSWERED (not incorrectly answered), they forfeit the right to later deny a claim based on that omission. This is why insurers chase up every blank before issuing cover.

Easy to get wrong. The Life Insurance Code of Practice does NOT apply to: whole of life, endowment, annuities/investment products, general or health insurer products, or life products issued by super trustees, financial advisers, or other participants (unless adopted). Introduced by FSC, compulsory from 1 July 2017.

28 days = cancellation notice period for non-payment (after the LATER of notice date or due date). 30 days = 'days of grace' for premium payment. These are different rules serving different purposes — interviewers often bait candidates into mixing them up.

To qualify as a life policy: must be >1 year AND not limited to death by accident/specified sickness only, AND involve payment on death or a contingency on human life. Includes annuities for life, continuous disability policies, investment account contracts, investment-linked contracts.

Two ways to estimate required cover. Needs approach = sum up all post-death financial needs (funeral, debts, tuition, expenses). Replacement-income approach = 4-5× annual income, or a more precise calc considering duration, interest, inflation. Under general advice, the client decides — you only explain the approaches.

Tolerance = psychological comfort with risk and the anxiety it causes. Capacity = financial ability to absorb a loss without jeopardising goals. For insurance, the logic reverses vs investing — you want to protect against catastrophic uninsured loss. Under general advice authority, don't let the risk questionnaire stray into personal advice territory.

(1) "I need to think about it" — dig for the real reason, remind them of original motivation. (2) "Cost is too high" — premiums rise with age/health, future uninsurability is a real risk. (3) "I have enough already" — default super cover is typically inadequate and won't cover mortgage/living expenses. Under general advice, frame in general terms, not personal recommendations.

Since 1 July 2014, super trustees can only provide insured benefits that satisfy four conditions of release: Death (Item 102), Terminal Medical Condition (Item 102A), Permanent Incapacity (Item 103), Temporary Incapacity (Item 109). This is why trauma insurance doesn't fit inside super — it doesn't map to any of these.

FSR Act: 11 March 2002. ICA: 1984 (updated July 2016). Life Insurance Act: 1995. Code of Practice: October 2016 launch, 1 July 2017 compulsory. SIS insurance reforms: implemented 1 July 2014. Dates come up in interviews as "do you actually know this material?" filters.

Six factors that push a proposal to underwriters: amount of risk, occupation class, personal/recreational interests, complexity of proposal, past claims experience, broker wordings or endorsement requests. Over 90% of proposals are approved in some form (possibly with loading, exclusion, or lien).

If an application is outside the normal range, the insurer can respond with: (1) extra premium (loading), (2) exclusion — specified risk not covered, (3) lien — partial cover reducing over time, (4) alternative contract (e.g. pure endowment with no death cover), or (5) total decline (rare). Know all five.

Insurance covers events that MIGHT happen (fire, theft, flood). Assurance covers events CERTAIN to happen (death). Australia uses "insurance" as the umbrella term for both because most companies offer both types. A nice-to-know term for demonstrating depth.