PPS Mutual Marks First Decade in Australia

Australia’s only retail life insurer operating under a mutual structure says its profit-share pool has grown to $15m as it marks its first 10 years in the local market.

The insurer, which provides cover exclusively to professionals including doctors, lawyers, engineers and dentists, has grown to 17,336 members and $131m in in-force premiums as at 30 April.

PPS Mutual CEO Michael Pillemer said: “When we launched in Australia in 2016 the mutual model was largely unknown in the local life insurance market. We had to earn trust from advisers, from members, and from the broader industry.”

Claims statistics released by the insurer show $76m paid to members across life, TPD, trauma, income protection and business expenses cover during its first decade of operation.

According to Pillemer, life and TPD claims have been paid at a 100% rate, with average claim payments of $762,000 and $933,000 respectively.

Income protection and trauma claims have each been paid at a rate of 94%, while business expenses claims have been paid at a rate of 97%.

PPS Mutual’s lapse rate for the 12 months to December 2025 was 5.4%, compared with an industry average of 14.3%.

The insurer distributes exclusively through an accredited network of more than 2,000 independent advisers, and has been named Best Retail Life Insurer by Adviser Ratings for three consecutive years – 2023/4/5. It reports a net promoter score of 54.8 compared with an industry average of 9.5.

See: PPS Mutual Milestone – Are Others Missing an Opportunity?

A key differentiator for the insurer has been its annual profit-share program, under which profits are allocated to members rather than external shareholders. It has so far delivered annual profit-share allocations to members totalling $15m, with the latest assignment distributing about $4m.

…our job is simply to keep doing what we said we would do …

PPS Mutual’s members must retain some cover for 10 years to gain partial access to their profit-share account. Full access is granted after 20 years, at age 65, or in the event of death, terminal illness or certain other qualifying conditions.

Pillemer said the company’s focus for the next 10 years will be to continue delivering on its commitments.

“As we enter our second decade, our job is simply to keep doing what we said we would do – and to do it for more Australian professionals,” he said.

Behind the Australian operation is PPS South Africa, with more than 80 years of mutual insurance experience and more than $3bn in profit share assigned to its members over the last decade.