Trauma Insurance provides a lump sum of money if you suffer a serious medical condition such as a heart attack, stroke or cancer (based on the definitions in the policy). It is also called ‘living insurance’, because you don’t have to die to make a claim.
History of Trauma Insurance
Trauma insurance was first developed in the early 1980s by Marius Barnard, brother of the acclaimed cardiac surgeon, Dr Christiaan Barnard.
Christiaan’s job was to make sure that people survived heart disease; Marius’ job was to make sure they could afford to survive.
This resulted in the creation of a policy that paid a lump sum if the life insured contracted any one of a number of defined ‘critical’ conditions. With diseases such as cancer and heart disease now touching almost everyone in some way, this new approach to ‘risk protection’ has steadily grown in popularity.
Trauma Insurance Today
Since the 80’s the number or trauma insurance policies on offer has risen. The policies are also known as critical illness insurance.
Today, insurance companies offer a range of trauma insurance policies covering a wide range of specified medical conditions. It’s important to choose the cover that best suits your needs. Frequently people get different trauma insurance quotes and get too confused by the different policies and find it difficult to make a comparison. Whilst this web site provides a basic overview of critical illness insurance, we recommend you obtain personal financial advice from a licensed financial planner.
How Much Does It Cost?
There are many factors that will determine the trauma insurance premium relevant to you.
How Much Cover Do I Need?
The ‘right’ amount of cover will vary from person to person.
We’ve prepared an article to help you determine what’s best for your circumstances.
Making A Claim
Making a trauma insurance claim can be a little daunting.
Particularly because you’re already dealing with the medical issues.
Here’s some information on how the claims process works.
Trauma Insurance Claims For Males In Australia
- Cancer 47.9%
- Other 17.4%
- Stroke 4.5%
- Angioplasty 7.2%
- Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery 6.5%
- Heart Attack 16.6%
By far the largest amount of trauma insurance claims for males are Cancer (47.9%) followed by Heart Attack (16.6%).
Trauma Insurance Claims For Females In Australia
For women, Cancer is a much larger percentage of claims when compared to men. Cancer claims make up 80.9% of all trauma insurance claims for females.
Of course, there are different types of cancer – some can be relatively minor, others are life-threatening.
Most trauma policies will pay a smaller percentage of the insured amount for the cancers they consider to be ‘minor’.
- Cancer 80.9%
- Other 12.1%
- Stroke 2.6%
- Multiple Sclerosis 1.5%
- Cardiomyopathy 2.9%
Source: Gen Re Australia 2009, Australian Critical Illness Survey 2008
Watch the video to learn more about how Trauma Insurance can help in your time of need.