Serious Illness and Trauma Cover
What is Trauma Insurance?
It’s unfortunately common to face a trauma such as a serious illness or injury at least once in your life. Trauma insurance is designed to pay you a lump sum of money to manage the financial impact if you or one of your children were to face one of these events.Why do I need it?
We often experience financial hardship as a result of a serious illness or injury to ourselves or a family member. Having trauma insurance can provide much-needed financial support to cover whatever you need, like taking care of medical treatment and rehabilitation costs, or simply allowing you financial breathing space to enable you or your family members to recover and be together, instead of at work.
Key benefits of trauma insurance
- Covers you for over 50-70 defined medical conditions
- Offers protection if you suffer a major medical condition that isn’t listed in the policy wording, but meets our definition of a 'severe illness or injury'
- Includes some built-in trauma insurance for your children, and is available standalone for children from 2 years old, to support your family should your child face a serious illness or injury
- At claim time we’ll take into account the latest recognised medical diagnostic techniques used to assess your covered medical conditions
Trauma Insurance Overview
New Zealanders are increasingly surviving illnesses that previously have been terminal, so we have two trauma insurance options ensuring you have access to relevant cover.Two types of Trauma/serious illness covers:
The Traditional option of serious illness covers is where you receive a one-off payment, and then your cover ends unless you have selected the option to reinstate at the time you take out your policy. Then you have another option that pays out based on the severity of the illness or as the illness progresses, these options usually cover a wider range of conditions and the payment amount is linked to the severity of the diagnosis, allowing you to make multiple claims. Depending on your situation it can be powerful to have both types of trauma insurance to make sure you’re supported when and where it’s needed most.
What’s Included with our Trauma Insurance
1Enhancement Pass Back Benefit
This is the insurers commitment to you to keep our insurance relevant. Changes that are made to the trauma policy in the future are automatically passed back to you, offering you even more at claim time.
2Medical Advancements Provision
If the medical diagnostic techniques and investigations used in our definitions of medical conditions have been superseded due to medical advancements, we will consider these when assessing your claim.
3Severe Illness or Injury Benefit
This benefit aims to offer protection if you suffer a major medical condition that isn’t specified in the policy wording but meets our definition of a severe illness or injury.
4Children’s Trauma Benefit
This benefit provides you with some trauma insurance for your children. If a child of the life assured suffers a covered condition, this benefit will pay 50% of the sum assured (up to $50,000).
5Suspension of Premium Benefit
Enables you to suspend your trauma insurance should you go on parental leave or on leave without pay for any reason, for up to 12 months. You cannot claim during this time or in the future for any health related conditions that occur during this suspension period.
6Newborn Children’s Benefit
If a child of a life assured is born with one of five specified congenital conditions and survives for thirty days after birth, this benefit will pay 50% of the sum assured (up to $50,000). The payment of this benefit will not reduce the amount of any trauma insurance remaining for the life assured.
7Financial and Legal Advice Benefit
This enables you at claim time to access financial and legal advice from an approved financial adviser or legal professional. Most of our chosen partner insurers will reimburse you for fees up to $2,500 (incl. GST). This is a one-off payment across all policies for each life assured.
8Return Home Benefit
If you’re outside New Zealand and suffer one of the critical conditions for the first time, you could access up to $10,000 towards the cost for you and a support person to return home.
9Counselling Benefit
Most of our chosen partners insurers will pay up to $2,500 (incl. GST) to cover the cost of a Psychiatrist or Psychologist consultation and counselling for you and/or your family where the treatment directly relates to a claim.
10Parents Grieving Benefit
If the worst should happen to your child and they pass away, we’ll help with associated expenses. We will pay you $2,000 for children aged under 10 years and $15,000 for children between 10-21 years of age.
11Children’s Trauma Conversion Facility
Upon reaching 21 years of age the Built-in Children’s Trauma Benefit or Optional Children’s and Maternity Benefit can be converted to a trauma insurance adult policy without any further medical evidence required, except where there is an increase in cover.
12Standalone Conversion Facility
You may convert your standalone trauma insurance to accelerated with an equal amount of Life Cover without any further medical evidence.
13Premium Conversion Facility
Before reaching the age of 65 years, you have the option to convert all or part of your sum assured to a level premium structure without further medical underwriting.
14Special Events Increase Facility
Enables you to increase the sum assured under your cover following a significant event in your life which results in increasing financial responsibilities. These significant events include: having a child, your child starting secondary school, taking out or increasing a residential home loan or receiving a salary increase and other major events.
15Future Insurability Benefit
You can apply to increase your sum assured at every third policy anniversary without providing any further medical information. Limits and conditions apply and every increase in cover will result in an increase in premium.
Worldwide Cover Whether you’re at home, travelling or living overseas for any period, you remain insured.
Optional benefits you can add on
Accidental Injury Cover
This optional benefit provides a single up-front payment, should you be injured accidentally (conditions apply). You can use it for whatever you need: covering treatment costs, getting taxis to work, hiring someone to help with children, or simply taking time off work to recover. You choose how much cover you need, up to $5,000 a month, and the lump sum you receive is based on the treatment you require. Making a claim under this optional benefit is not affected by payments from ACC or other insurances you may have.Waiver of Premium
This can remove the burden of paying premiums when you are unable to work due to total disability. We will waive your premium payments, while your insurance remains in place.Total Permanent Disablement Condition
You can add cover for “own occupation” Total Permanent Disablement (TPD) as a claimable full payment condition under your trauma insurance. This limits the total benefit payable to the sum assured but widens coverage to include conditions not otherwise covered under your trauma insurance, which may lead you to become totally and permanently disabled.Trauma Buy-back Benefit
This allows you to reinstate the level of cover under your original Truam benefit without having to provide further medical information following a claim. A 12-month survival period applies and conditions also apply.Life Cover Buy-back Benefit
This allows you to reinstate the level of cover under your original Life Cover without having to provide further medical information following an accelerated Critical Illness cover claim. A minimum survival period applies and reinstatements are not permitted if the life assured is eligible for a Life Cover Terminal Illness Benefit or the Specified Terminal Conditions Benefit. Conditions apply.For a complimentary consultation book an appointment today
