Trauma insurance is kind of the new guy on the block in terms of life insurance products. While Life cover has been around since the 18th century, trauma cover has only been around since the 80's. It originated in South Africa and was originally called dread disease insurance. Despite the horrendous name Trauma cover spread globally and is now one of the most important and popular insurance products.
So what is it? Trauma insurance pays a one-off lump sum (insured amount) if you have a serious medical condition (like cancer, heart attack, stroke or an accident). In Australia for instance over 60% of claims relate to cancer with cardiovascular disease coming in second. Trauma insurance is paid out on diagnosis of a specified injury or illness and the funds are used for:
- Any private medical costs above your health insurance
- An income stream if you stop working
- The ongoing cost of any therapy and special transport costs
- Adjustments to housing and lifestyle changes
- Debt repayments
Being diagnosed with cancer is enough without worrying about your financial situation as well. Imagine being diagnosed with a serious illness and on top of that still having to go to work to keep up with bills and living expenses, not to mention the new costs associated with being sick. I don't know about you but I would much rather sit at home and concentrate on getting better knowing that my finances are looked after.
Some scary Cancer facts to consider:
- Males have a 1 in 3 chance of suffering cancer before age 75
- Over 120,000 new cases are diagnosed every year
- The lifetime financial cost of cancer per individual is $100,000
- in the last 25 years the number of cancer cases has grown 200%
- This year will see more than 14,000 cases of breast cancer diagnosed
- The estimated number of new cancer diagnosis in 2017 is 134,174
- The estimated number of deaths in 2017 is 47,753
There are many other things to consider when taking out Trauma insurance but I hope this information gives you an idea of what Trauma cover essentially is.
Hit the link below to get a full picture of what Trauma insurance covers with One Path, a major insurer.
Thanks.
