Trauma Insurance

WHY GET TRAUMA INSURANCE?

Trauma insurance can help provide financial peace of mind in the event of a major illness that leaves you unable to work. There is always uncertainly about when or whether you will be unable to work due to unforeseen circumstances.

For example, you may be the victim of a work incident or become ill due to unfortunate or pre-existing health issues. In that case, you would want to know that you will receive a monthly benefit to help manage treatment costs and living expenses.

Trauma cover (also referred to as crisis recovery trauma), provides a lump sum payment on diagnosis of a serious medical condition. Benefits vary widely according to the condition, with generally fewer benefits available at lower premiums.

Trauma cover can apply to individuals between the ages of 17 and 59 with full cover extending up to 70 years of age.

Trauma cover is highly recommended if you are already dealing with large existing debts, such as a mortgage, and are still at pre-retirement age. It also may be worth getting trauma cover as a form of income protection if you do not qualify for income protection insurance.

Trauma life insurance gives you peace of mind, knowing that all your family’s savings will not all be spent on covering costly medical treatment.

A major illness often affects family finances just as seriously as death, and even more so when you are faced with the possibility of ongoing medical bills. This time is precisely when you need a substitute for income protection should you not qualify for this type of insurance.

However, trauma cover does not issue a benefit payment for an intentional self-inflicted act, so be aware of this fact before signing any product disclosure statement.

But before you can apply for trauma cover, you will need to answer certain health assessment criteria with a medical practitioner and provide them with a medical history to determine if this is your best course of action.

HOW IT WORKS

Trauma cover is also known as major illness insurance or as recovery insurance. You will receive a lump sum payout should you receive a critical illness or serious injury diagnosis. These diagnoses cover physical injuries rather than mental health diseases and include severe head injuries, strokes, heart problems, and cancer.

Reading the product disclosure statement will give you a better idea of what cover to expect from this type of insurance product as they differ between insurers.

After applying for this product, there may be a waiting period before you can submit a claim. However, life insurers can provide you with more details about this type of policy, and whether it suits your circumstances.

Once approved the waiting period is over and you are unfortunate to receive confirmation of a specific diagnosis, you can submit a claim. This trauma benefit will be paid out when the diagnosis has been confirmed (not if, or when, there is a death from the condition). Once confirmed, the life insurer will provide you and your family with a lump sum of cash.

You can then use that payment for:

• Medical care costs
• Relief of financial pressure (ongoing bills, mortgage, and other debts).
• Professional therapy costs such as nursing, physiotherapy, and transport for medical reasons
• Housing relocation should this be necessary

WHAT TO SHARE WITH THE INSURER

Always be upfront about your circumstances when applying for trauma cover or life insurance these details can affect your claim. The more honest and detailed you are about your medical history, the more likely you are to be successful when you submit an application and a claim.

Details that insurers look for when applying for trauma cover and life insurance, include:

• Your age
• Job type
• Medical background of sickness and injury
• Lifestyle issues such as alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking
• Whether you participate in a high-risk sport

Should your application not include questions about sickness and injury, the chances are that the medical definitions will be less distinct, and the policy will likely include more exclusions than ones that require a history of your health.

When applying for trauma cover, life insurance, or income protection insurance, the insurer will use this information to decide about your application.

Their decisions have certain implications such as:         

• Whether they should provide you with trauma, income protection insurance or life insurance to cover income lost
• The benefit periods
• The cost of your monthly premiums    
• The anticipated benefits that are to be paid monthly should you be unable to work    
• Policy terms, conditions, inclusions, and exclusions

Share honest information and your claim will be met but missing or incorrect information can lead to your claim being declined.

OTHER INSURANCE PRODUCTS TO CONSIDER

You may or may not qualify for trauma cover, so you should consider other insurance products such as income protection in case of sickness or injury. You simply do not know if some event can render you unable to work or pay for personal or business expenses.

In such an event, if you have an income protection policy or life insurance, at least you know that you can provide for your family as the life insured. And like trauma cover, you can discuss the waiting period associated with these policies.

You can also discuss whether a policy is tax-deductible, if premiums are pre-tax income or post-tax income, or if the benefit payment attracts a tax deduction.

You can discover the answers to these and other questions from an authorised representative who will provide you with general advice and expert financial information. These experts will also offer their services as a dedicated claims consultant to streamline the process when you make a claim.

WHY CHOOSE US?

Get a quote for yourself in 2 minutes. You choose your own policy, whether life insurance, trauma cover, business insurance or another policy type.

Call our experts to ask any questions you have about life insurance or any of the policies that interest you. Many clients want to know more about whether benefit payments are tax-deductible. Others need further information about whether insurance premiums are tax-deductible as business expenses if they take out income protection for themselves or employees.

Our Wealth Smart life insurers will walk you through every step of the process to answer these and other questions.

GET A QUOTE

Compare quotes from Australia’s leading insurers relating to trauma or income protection cover, life insurance policies and more.

GET A QUOTE

WHAT TYPES OF TRAUMA INSURANCE ARE AVAILABLE?

The number and types of benefits available vary widely by policy and provider in the life insurance industry, with cheaper policies generally providing fewer benefits.

You should remember that life TPD and trauma insurance is just an over-arching category. Different insurers have their own criteria to determine whether clients qualify for specific life insurance policies.

What is acceptable for one registered private health insurer may not be sufficient for the other. But one thing is certain and that is you need income protection insurance to plan for your future.

Before signing on the dotted line, talk to our Wealth Smart insurance experts about your options. We will address questions like how much life insurance you need, an income protection insurance policy in relation to trauma cover, how sickness or injury features in these policies, and income protection tax.

The most common claims for these policies include heart attack, coronary bypass, stroke, and cancer. Other conditions covered by a trauma policy include paraplegia, major head trauma, blindness, severe/major burns, mental health-related conditions, and many more.

HOW DO TRAUMA INSURANCE POLICIES DIFFER?

Trauma cover can be provided in conjunction with life insurance cover or by itself as a stand-alone policy.

While most trauma policies will cover you for a sickness or injury that leaves you unable to work, you should be aware that policies from different insurance companies can vary in how they define each illness. We recommend you read the insurer’s product disclosure document (PDS) in full to check which conditions are excluded and the degree to which each condition is covered.

For example, some insurers can include an accident benefit option but exclude a normal and uncomplicated pregnancy. But if you have income protection, some insurance products will protect against a loss of income from a normal and uncomplicated pregnancy.

Benefit periods can also differ between life insurance, income protection insurance, and trauma policies. It all depends on who you speak to, your personal circumstances, and what you need.

GETTING QUOTES ABOUT TRAUMA POLICIES

Trauma policies can be the best way to ensure you and your family avoid short to medium term financial hardship in the event of an accident or illness.

Wealth Smart makes the job of finding the best trauma cover quote as easy as possible, helping you achieve peace of mind, whatever the future holds. When you compare quotes from life and trauma insurance providers, you can see what each policy means as an investment.

You can also then decide if you need trauma cover or income protection insurance. A discussion about the advantages and disadvantages will help you decide whether trauma cover will meet your needs or if income protection insurance is the better option.

CHOOSING A TRAUMA POLICY FOR INCOME PROTECTION INSURANCE

Finding a Trauma policy can be a time-consuming process given the many options available. Wealth Smart makes it easy by helping you find the right Trauma cover for you and your personal circumstances.

With expert help, you save time and the legwork involved in finding the best trauma or life insurance available. Ultimately, this help provides you with the peace of mind that comes with knowing you and your family will continue to be looked after, no matter what happens.

Before you take our life TPD trauma cover, spare a few moments to talk to us, your friendly insurance brokers who make the entire process hassle-free. We walk with you through every step of these insurance products including trauma or life insurance cover, income protection cover, income protection premiums, and more.

GET EXPERT HELP FOR INCOME PROTECTION INSURANCE

We consider your financial situation and how much coverage you will need if you’re unable to work because of illness or injury. Our insurance experts will address issues like the cover amount you can expect for alcohol-related sickness, an accidental injury and the cover commencement date if you qualify for trauma or life insurance.

Every client who works with us also needs to know more about the claim waiting period, new redundancy benefit policies and whether a dedicated claims manager will handle their submissions.

Instead of trying to navigate these issues yourself, remove the financial stress by getting a trauma quote online. Once you have a quote, you can compare it with others. You can also use this time to explore income protection policies for insurance income protection and life insurance and how these policies benefit the life insured and their families.

SPEAK TO THE BEST ABOUT INCOME PROTECTION COVER

If you still need answers about these insurance products (and most people do), we recommend you contact a financial adviser at Wealth Smart for complete management of your application.

Your financial protection depends on planning for your future. The best way to do that is to speak to Wealth Smart about trauma cover and income protection insurance. When you have protection insurance income, you also have peace of mind.

MAKE A CLAIM

When you need to submit a claim for your income protection insurance, you can also speak to a dedicated claims consultant who will walk you through the necessary steps. If you have trauma cover or income protection against sickness or injury, the waiting period can differ depending on the protection insurance or company through which you work.

Whatever the case, a Wealth Smart adviser will help you with the benefit period, claim waiting period, monthly benefit payments and more.

CONTACT YOUR WEALTH SMART CONSULTANT

Call us at 1800 765 100 to get your income protection insurance or trauma cover today.