Family health insurance

Having family cover isn’t a must if you're planning to grow your family, but it’s something to consider if you want to use health insurance for private hospital pregnancy services. Like most funds, nib has a 12-month waiting period for pregnancy services for new members or those upgrading their cover. If you're switching from another fund and have already met the pregnancy waiting period there, you won’t need to wait again. After your baby arrives, you'll need to switch to family cover within two months to avoid waiting periods for your newborn.

If you've recently given birth, you'll need to switch to family cover within two months of your baby's birth to avoid waiting periods. If you're already serving a waiting period, your baby will serve the same waiting period as you. Learn more about updating your dependants.

If you're planning on falling pregnant and would like to be covered, you'll need to choose a cover that includes pregnancy and birth-related services. There’s a 12-month waiting period for pregnancy and birth-related services if you upgrade your level of cover, so you'll need to wait at least three months before trying to conceive to allow time to complete the waiting period. Read more about pregnancy and newborn cover.

With a family cover plan, your partner and kids are all included under one policy. Everyone on the policy gets the same level of coverage. If you're adding someone new to your family cover, there might be some waiting periods. Contact us for more details about waiting periods.

Your children can stay on your family health insurance policy until the day before they turn 31, whether they’re a student or non-student dependant. 

If they’re a student dependant, they can remain covered at no extra cost as long as they’re between 21 and 30 years old, studying full-time, and not married or in a de facto relationship.  

Non-student dependants can also stay on the policy for an additional fee. This applies if they’re between 21 and 30 years old, not studying full-time, not married or in a defacto relationship. 

If you need to add or remove someone from your family cover, contact us.

If you're looking to add or remove someone from your family cover, the main policy holder or member with authority will need to contact us. Read more about adding or removing someone to your family cover, including dependants.

If you're swapping from an existing policy with us or a different fund to a family cover that has the same or lower level of cover, you won't have to re-serve any waiting periods and can start claiming right away. If you're upgrading to a family cover with higher limits or new services, waiting periods may still apply.

Whether you join nib online or by phone, we’ll handle everything. Just give us your previous fund details, and we’ll take care of contacting them and managing the paperwork. We’ll guide you through the process, let you know about any waiting periods, and ensure switching to nib is hassle-free so you can start claiming on your healthcare and taking advantage of our health and wellbeing services.