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Terms of Use

About these terms

This website at healthinsurance.au (Website) is operated by Health Insurance Pty Ltd ACN 696 635 408 (ABN 75 696 635 408) (HI, we, us or our). These Terms of Use apply when you access the Website or use our comparison and enquiry services (Services).

By using the Website or Services, you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use the Website or Services.

The Website and Services are intended for people in Australia who are at least 18 years old and are looking for private health insurance or related health cover for themselves or people they are authorised to act for.

We may update these Terms of Use from time to time. The version published on the Website when you use the Services applies to that use. Changes will not retrospectively alter a policy you have already entered into with an insurer.

What our service does

You can enter information about yourself, your household, your existing cover and what matters to you. We use that information to search our policy database and show comparison results and suggested policies based on the criteria and methodology used by the Website.

The online comparison tool includes all Australian private health insurers and policies listed in the PrivateHealth.gov.au open data available when our database was last updated. It may also include overseas health policies sourced from public data. The Website shows when the database was last updated. Overseas policies are identified as such and may not be directly comparable with Australian private health insurance.

Some insurers, comparison services and other service providers have commercial arrangements with us and others do not. A policy may appear in the comparison whether or not we receive payment in relation to it or can refer your enquiry in relation to it. See How we are paid below for information about how we are paid.

Our comparison results are generated from the information you provide and the data, criteria, assumptions and methodology available at the time. The Website explains the principal criteria and material assumptions used to filter or rank results. A policy ranked first or described as a good match is ranked under that methodology and may not be the best policy for all aspects of your circumstances.

We may display sponsored results separately from comparison results. Sponsored results are paid placements, will be clearly designated and do not affect the ranking of comparison results. A sponsored result may not provide the best policy to match your circumstances.

You may submit an enquiry about a policy. We may contact you or provide your enquiry and contact details to an insurer, another comparison service or other service provider, or their representatives, to respond to your enquiry. A third party receiving your enquiry may not compare all insurers or policies shown on the Website.

Policy information and data

Policy information on the Website may be sourced from insurers, PrivateHealth.gov.au, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, other government or public sources, and other third parties. We may also summarise, classify, calculate or present that information in a different format to make comparison easier.

We take reasonable steps to keep information current, but our data is not necessarily updated in real time. Source information may be delayed, incomplete or incorrect, and insurers can change premiums, benefits, eligibility rules, hospital agreements, provider arrangements, promotions and other policy terms. The insurer's current information and policy terms prevail. We recommend that you check the insurer's website for up to date policy information.

Prices and savings shown on the Website are indicative only and are based on the information you provide and assumptions disclosed with the comparison. A stated saving does not mean that the policies provide identical cover. Your actual premium can depend on matters including:

  • where you live;
  • who is covered and their ages;
  • the Australian Government Private Health Insurance Rebate and your rebate tier;
  • Lifetime Health Cover loading and any age-based discount;
  • the excess, co-payment, payment frequency and payment method you choose; and
  • any promotion, discount or eligibility condition applying when you apply for a policy.

Policy summaries are not a substitute for the insurer's full policy documents. Before joining or switching, you should read the current Private Health Information Statement (PHIS) and the insurer's other policy documents, and check any point that matters to you with the insurer. PHIS documents for Australian private health insurance policies are available through PrivateHealth.gov.au.

Promotions and special offers are subject to the insurer's own terms, eligibility requirements and expiry dates. A promotion shown on the Website may have changed or ended by the time you apply.

Ratings, reviews, complaint data, market share information and other performance information may come from third parties or historical data. They are provided as comparison indicators only and do not guarantee your experience with an insurer.

Some parts of the Website may use automated tools, including artificial intelligence, to explain or summarise information. Automated outputs can contain errors or omit relevant context. You should verify important information against the insurer's current documents or an official information source.

Choosing a policy

The Services are designed to help you research and compare health insurance. We use the information you enter, but we do not know everything about your circumstances, future healthcare needs or preferences.

Before deciding on a policy, you should consider the features that matter to you, including covered, restricted and excluded hospital categories, waiting periods, excesses and co-payments, benefit limits, out-of-pocket costs, hospital agreements, provider networks, extras benefits and any eligibility restrictions.

The Services do not provide medical, legal or tax advice. If you need advice on those matters, you should obtain advice from an appropriately qualified person.

You are responsible for checking that the information you give us is accurate and complete. If it is wrong or incomplete, your comparison results or recommendations may also be wrong or incomplete.

You remain responsible for deciding whether a policy suits you. If you are unsure, contact the insurer and read the current policy documents before you apply.

How we are paid

You do not pay HI a fee to use the comparison service or submit an enquiry.

We may receive a referral or lead fee or other remuneration from an insurer, comparison service or other service provider for providing an enquiry or contact details. The amount and payment method may differ between parties. The payment is made by that party, not by you. The Website provides further information about our commercial arrangements and how we are paid.

Our commercial relationships may affect who receives your enquiry. They do not determine whether a policy is included in the online research database or how the online comparison results are ranked.

The Website may display a policy from an insurer that does not pay us. We may still show the policy even if we do not refer enquiries to that insurer.

Enquiries

The Website allows you to compare policies and submit enquiries. You cannot apply for or switch health insurance through the Website.

HI does not sell or arrange insurance policies, accept applications or act as a private health insurer.

If you decide to apply for a policy, you must do so separately with the insurer or another service provider. Your contract of insurance, if any, is with the insurer and starts only when the insurer accepts your application on its terms.

If there is any inconsistency between a Website summary and the insurer's current policy documents, confirmation or terms, the insurer's information applies to the policy.

Third-party referrals

If you submit an enquiry, we may provide your enquiry and contact details to an insurer, another comparison service or other service provider, or their representatives.

A third party receiving your enquiry may compare only some insurers or policies and may have its own commercial arrangements.

Any comparison, recommendation, application assistance or other service provided by a third party is provided by that third party, not HI.

We do not control whether a third party contacts you, which policies it makes available or whether an insurer accepts any application you make.

You should review the third party's terms and privacy information before using its services.

Privacy and contacting you

Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and protect personal information. It is available on the Website and forms part of the way we provide the Services.

When you use our comparison service or submit an enquiry, you authorise us to use and disclose the information you provide as reasonably required to provide that service, including to insurers, comparison services and other service providers, in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

If you give us personal information about another person, you must be authorised to do so and, where required, have their consent to us handling that information for the requested service.

If you submit an enquiry or request a call or quote follow-up, you agree that we or a person to whom we provide your enquiry may contact you by phone, email or SMS as reasonably required to respond to it. Any separate marketing communications are subject to applicable law, our Privacy Policy and the communication preferences available to you.

Using the website

You may use the Website for your personal, lawful use in accordance with these Terms of Use.

You must not:

  • interfere with the security, operation or availability of the Website;
  • use bots, scraping tools or other automated means to extract or systematically collect policy data, pricing, rankings or other Website content without our written permission;
  • reverse engineer, reproduce or attempt to discover our software, algorithms, database structure or comparison methodology except to the extent permitted by law;
  • use the Website to submit false, misleading, fraudulent or unlawful information; or
  • use the Website or its content for a competing commercial service without our written permission.

We may restrict or suspend access to the Website where reasonably necessary for security, maintenance, legal compliance or misuse of the Website.

Intellectual property and third-party content

The Website, our branding, software, database structure, comparison methodology and content created by or for us are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws.

Insurer names, logos, policy documents and other third-party content belong to their respective owners. We use them for identification, information and comparison. Displaying an insurer or policy does not, by itself, mean that insurer endorses HI or that HI endorses that insurer.

The Website may link to insurer, government or other third-party websites. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their availability, security or content. You should read their terms and privacy information before using them.

Our responsibility to you

Nothing in these Terms of Use excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified.

Subject to the paragraph above, we do not promise that the Website or any third-party information will always be available, complete, accurate or current, or that the Services will identify the cheapest or most suitable policy for you.

To the extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for loss caused by an insurer's or other third party's decision or conduct, changes to a policy after information was collected, inaccurate or delayed third-party data, information you provide incorrectly, or a failure or delay outside our reasonable control, except to the extent the loss is caused by our negligence or breach of applicable law.

HI is not responsible for the insurer's performance of a policy, including whether a treatment is covered, the amount of a claim or benefit, waiting periods, out-of-pocket healthcare costs, provider charges or changes the insurer lawfully makes to its policy.

Questions and complaints

If you have a question or complaint about the Website or our Services, please contact us using the current contact details published on the Website. We will try to resolve the issue promptly.

If your complaint concerns an insurer, another comparison service, a policy or other service provided by a third party, you should raise it with that third party first. The Commonwealth Ombudsman, in its role as the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman, may also be able to assist with private health insurance matters. Information is available at ombudsman.gov.au and PrivateHealth.gov.au.

General

If any part of these Terms of Use is invalid or unenforceable, it is to be read down to the extent necessary or, if it cannot be read down, severed without affecting the rest of these Terms of Use.

A failure or delay by us to exercise a right does not waive that right.

These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. You and HI submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria and courts hearing appeals from them.

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