ANZ, InsuranceLine and Virgin Money have won Canstar’s “outstanding value” rating for direct income protection.

Canstar named the leading trio after reviewing 13 policies from 11 insurers for its first report on the cover.

“As well as studying premiums, we also factored in features of importance such as policy terms, benefits, claims payment terms and ease of application,” the research house says.

“In the end, there was only a hair’s breadth between ANZ, Virgin Money and InsuranceLine.”

Canstar reviewed direct income protection policies by age, occupation, gender and smoking status, based on monthly cover of $6250 and $3125.

The report shows female blue-collar workers pay the highest average premium of $136, compared with $96 for their male counterparts.

Premiums are higher if the policyholder is a smoker.

“Smokers, of course, are obviously more prone to heath issues than non-smokers and so pay for the privilege through a loading of up to 30% on average,” Canstar says.

A female blue-collar worker who smokes can expect to pay a premium of $175, with her male counterpart paying $123.