Suspend or resume your policy (Australian residents)

We all may experience financial hardship at some time.

If you find yourself unable to meet your payments, you may be eligible to suspend your policy based on our financial hardship criteria:  

• You must suspend your policy for a minimum of two months and a maximum of three months. You can contact us at any time during the three-month period to resume your policy.  

• Your premium must be paid up to the date that you are applying for the suspension. If you’ve paid in advance of the date of suspension, you can request a refund or leave your premiums paid in advance to be used when you resume your cover.   

• You can only request one suspension of up to three months at a time, and you’ll need to wait 12 months before being able to apply for a suspension again.  

• Your policy must be active for 12 months between suspensions.  

• If you're traveling overseas, financial hardship suspension isn't an option.  

• We will automatically resume your policy after the confirmed suspension period ends.  

• This is available to Australian residents only.  

Our friendly consultants will explain the impacts of suspending your policy, and if you're affected by a declared disaster, different rules may apply. Contact us, opens in a new tab to chat through the options available to you. 

If you've been an nib member for 12 months or more, you can put your policy on hold for a minimum of two months and a maximum of 24 months while you're travelling overseas, as long as your premiums are paid up to date.

If you plan on going overseas before you meet the 12-month eligibility criteria, we can log your suspension to begin once you reach your 12-month membership anniversary.   

While you won't be able to claim on services provided at this time and you won't be paying your premiums for the duration of the suspension, you'll still be classed as maintaining your cover. However, you won’t be exempt from the Medicare Levy Surcharge while your policy is suspended. 

If you have Lifetime Health Cover, opens in a new tab (LHC) loading, the period of suspension does not count toward the 10-year requirement for the removal of the loading. For instance, if you suspend your policy for six months, your anniversary date for LHC removal will also be delayed by six months.  

Please note, your policy will not automatically resume when you return. Contact us, opens in a new tab within 30 days of returning home to reactivate your policy, or it could be cancelled. If this happens and you rejoin your cover later, all members on the policy will need to re-serve waiting periods. Ensure you contact us promptly if you need to resume your cover.