Trauma Insurance
Trauma insurance is also often called 'critical illness', 'crisis' or 'recovery' insurance. They all basically mean the same thing. Trauma insurance pays a lump sum benefit in the event you suffer a specified serious illness. On average insurers cover around 40 specified serious illnesses. Below is a sample list:
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Aortic Surgery
- Aplastic Anaemia
- Benign Brain Tumour
- Benign Tumour of the Spine
- Blindness
- Cancer
- Cardiomyopathy
- Chronic Kidney Failure
- Chronic Liver Failure
- Chronic Lung Failure
- Cognitive Loss
- Coma
- Coronary Artery By-Pass Surgery
- Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease
- Deafness
- Dementia
- Encephalitis
- Heart Attack
- Heart Valve Surgery
- Intensive Care
- Loss of Independent Existence
- Loss of Speech
- Loss or Paralysis of Limb
- Major Head Trauma
- Major Organ Transplant
- Medically Acquired HIV
- Meningitis/Meningococcal
- Motor Neurone Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Occupationally Acquired HIV
- Open Heart Surgery
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Pneumonectomy
- Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
- Severe Burns
- Severe Diabetes
- Severe Osteoporosis
- Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Stroke
- Systematic Sclerosis
- Terminal Illness
- Triple Vessel Angioplasty
The vast majority of trauma claims are paid for one of the following conditions:
- cancer
- heart attack
- coronary artery by-pass surgery
- stroke
When looking at trauma insurance, it is therefore important that the above "big four" medical conditions are covered for a start. It is then equally important to make sure that policy wordings relating to these conditions, are market leading. Being diagnosed with one of these conditions is tragic enough. To then be informed that your condition does not meet the fine print of your trauma policy, is not what anyone wants to hear.
For this reason, it is important for those that have existing trauma insurance to have the policy checked for quality. Insurers will pay a benefit once the definition of a particular medical condition has been met. The definitions and wordings can vary significantly across the many different policies in the market. It is a common misconception that they are all the same.
The age of your policy is also important. Medical advancements are being made all the time and these must be reflected in the policy wordings. For example, many current policy holders will find that the particular wording for "coronary artery by-pass surgery" will specifically stipulate that the insured person must undergo open heart surgery before a benefit will be paid. However, in the future it is likely that coronary artery by-pass surgery may be more regularly performed via keyhole surgery techniques. Therefore, those policies which do not specify an open heart surgery requirement will be considered more favourable to the insured person.
Trauma insurance is very affordable for most of us, and yet very few Australian’s have it. Despite very few people holding trauma insurance, latest statistics show that in Australia, the major insurers paid out more than 385 million dollars in trauma claims in 2009.
To find out how we can help protect you, contact us today.
