TAL Critical Illness Insurance

Suffering from a critical illness is an all-too-common scenario for Australians today. Every year, over 40,000 Australians suffer from cancer, with 60% of survivors expected to live more than five years after diagnosis[1]. One out of five Australians experience some form of mental illness[2], and an estimated 280 Australians develop diabetes every day[3].

With the rate of critical illness in Australians so high, getting the right insurance in a timely manner to protect you and your family financially is increasingly important as you get older.

TAL’s Accelerated Protection Critical Illness Insurance works like most trauma protection covers – you’ll receive a lump sum payment of up to $2 million if you’re diagnosed with one of their specified medical conditions. It’s designed so that you can stop work and concentrate on what’s important – recovery. You can use this benefit to pay any existing debts and cover general living expenses, along with your medical costs and any modifications needed in your home, such as rails or wheelchair access.

As part of TAL’s Accelerated Protection covers, the policy is designed to give you faster access to your benefit so you can get well earlier. For example, if you suffer from one of their specified lower grade cancers, you could receive an early payment even if you’re still working.

What conditions trigger a payout?

• Heart conditions, such as aortic surgery, heart attack and angioplasty.
• Neurological conditions, including coma, dementia, major head trauma and stroke.
• Permanent conditions, such as loss of hearing, loss of eyesight, and loss of independent existence.
• Organ disorders, including kidney failure, live failure, severe burns, and severe diabetes.
• Blood disorders, including HIV, aplastic anaemia, and Hepatitis B & C.
• Cancer

One of TAL’s additional features if their Advanced Benefit payment. Because not all illnesses may prevent you from working, but still require additional financial support, when you take out Critical Illness Insurance you can also receive an Advanced Benefit of between 10% and 25% of your premium for certain conditions. These include the following disorders:

• Early-stage leukemia
• Loss of eye-sight in one eye
• Early stage melanoma
• Partial Alzheimer’s
• Severe Crohn’s disease
• Female pregnancy complications
• Congenital abnormalities
• Lupus

What types of cover can I choose from?

TAL offers two levels of cover – Standard and Premium. Their Premium offering includes three additional benefits to their Standard.

TAL offers the flexibility to structure your Critical Illness Insurance in three different ways:

• On its own
  If you hold one or more of TAL’s Accelerated Protection plans and you make an eligible claim on one of those Plan, the Benefit Amount and premiums for your other Plans will stay the same.

• Attached to your TAL Accelerated Protection Life Insurance policy
  You can attach Critical Illness Insurance as an extra benefit, resulting in more comprehensive coverage and a lower premium. However, one can claim affect the entire benefit amount.

• Linked to your TAL Accelerated Protection Life Insurance policy
  If you have TAL’s Accelerated Protection Life Insurance held within your super policy, you can still link your Critical Illness Insurance plan to your Life Insurance, resulting in a lower premium. As with attaching your policies, one claim affects the entire benefit amount.

What’s included?

TAL’s Standard plan offers:

• Critical Illness benefit
  Receive a lump sum of up to $2 million if you’re diagnosed.

• Paralysis support
  Doubles your benefit if you become paralysed.

• Death buy-back benefit
  If your Critical Illness Insurance is attached or linked to your life insurance, you can repurchase your Life insurance after the payment of 100% of the Critical Illness Benefit.

• Inflation protection benefit
  Automatically increases your protection to stay in line with inflation.

• Premium Freeze Benefit
  You can ensure your premium stays the same every year by reducing the amount you’re covered for.

• Guaranteed Future Insurability Benefit
  Increase your cover without providing additional health information after significant life events such as marriage, having a baby, taking out a mortgage for your own home or increasing your stake in a business in which you are a key person.

• Financial planning benefit
  Receive reimbursement to cover the costs of hiring a financial planner.

• Accommodation benefit
  If you’re confined to bed over 100kms away from home, TAL will pay up to $250 per day to cover the costs of a family member who needs to care for you.

• Grief counseling benefit
  If you or your family needs additional psychological support, TAL will cover up to three counseling sessions to the value of $1000.

• Include your children in your Plan
  You can receive financial support if your children suffer from one of the specified children’s critical illnesses.

Want to see if TAL’s Critical Illness Insurance is right for you? You can compare more insurance premiums through our free quote service.