Heart attack. Cancer. Stroke. Alzheimers.
Scary words, right? Even scarier realities for some of us.
I know we don’t like to tackle issues like these when life is good. “Not the right time,” we say. But if we’re honest here, when is the right time for a heart attack? Never.
A health problem will always find you mentally unprepared. But it doesn’t have to find you financially unprepared.
Scary diagnoses can put a serious strain on your financial situation. The good news is trauma insurance can give you coverage and control over your financial expenses when life becomes unpredictable.
What is trauma insurance
Trauma insurance is often referred to as “recovery insurance” or “critical illness insurance”. It’s a type of personal insurance designed to support and assist you financially in case of life-altering diseases.
In other words, trauma insurance helps by taking the financial pressure off and allows the injured party to focus solely on their recovery.
When thinking about trauma insurance, most people believe it only covers “the big four” (heart attack, stroke, cancer, and coronary artery bypass).
But trauma insurance can cover a larger variety of life-altering conditions. It can also cover potential gaps in your other types of personal insurance.
What does trauma insurance cover?
- Permanent medical conditions like blindness, deafness, loss of independent existence, loss of a limb, loss of speech etc.
- Cancer like leukemia, prostate, breast or skin cancer
- Nervous system disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, encephalitis, major head traumas, meningitis, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, paralysis, and stroke
- Heart disorders like aortic surgery heart attack, cardiomyopathy, heart valve surgery, open heart surgery and angioplasty
- Internal organ disorders like chronic liver, lung, kidney disease and major organ transplant
- Blood disorders like aplastic anaemia, medically and occupationally acquired HIV and occupationally acquired Hepatitis B or C
- Other diseases like advanced diabetes, severe osteoporosis, severe rheumatoid arthritis, and intensive care
The conditions mentioned above are not exclusive, though. It’s important to always carefully read through the insurer’s Product Disclosure Statement before deciding and signing a specific trauma insurance.
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Also take into careful consideration…
When it comes to understanding and deciding on your trauma insurance policy, there are three important things concerning your eligibility:
- Make sure you know the qualifying period. In order to be certain you qualify for insurance and benefits you can make sure you get your trauma insurance ahead of time. For example, if you get diagnosed with a specific medical condition within three months of starting your insurance, you may not be entitled to a benefit.
- There are always some exclusion practices. For example, you may not receive a benefit if your medical condition became visible within 90 days of your insurance policy.
- Make sure you know the minimum survival period. For example, if you don’t survive for a minimum period (generally around 2 weeks) after the date of your diagnosis you may not be entitled to a benefit.
These are all important things to take into considerations before thinking about signing a trauma insurance policy. However, the benefits and claims for a trauma insurance may depend on your insurer.
Before deciding upon a specific type of trauma insurance make sure you’ve carefully read through the policy and you’ve received expert advice.
The insurance specialist at Shuriken Consulting can assist you in all matters of personal or business insurance. Whatever questions you may have, come and get in touch with our specialists here.