CommInsure has won the insurance mandate for industry superannuation fund HESTA from OnePath.

The three-year contract will be worth more than $400 million in premiums, CommInsure Head of Industry Funds Frank Crapis told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The mandate will come into effect next year and will include default income protection insurance to age 67 – a first for an industry superannuation fund.

“We are also attracting more support staff for our online underwriting which we will bring in at the end of the year.”

Mr Crapis says HESTA was an industry fund sector CommInsure was targeting to widen its portfolio.

“We were looking to add a fund in the health sector and HESTA was a target prospect,” he said.

“To attract the fund we structured our proposal to provide insurance cover that was relevant to HESTA’s typical member.”

HESTA CEO Anne-Marie Carboys says the typical member is a female in her mid-40s with a median fund balance of $9000.

“Our research tells us [that] given her low super balance she intends to keep working as long as possible, and our new default income protection benefit will help protect her income right up to the new pension age,” she said.

HESTA has more than 700,000 members and 90,000 employers in the health and community services industry.