Do you know of someone who has been affected by cancer? Or had a heart attack? What about a stroke?
These illnesses are not nice to think about, but unfortunately the answer nearly 100% of the time I ask that question is yes.
“Did you know that in NZ, 2,900 men are diagnosed every year with prostate cancer (ministry of health 2012) & 2800 woman are diagnosed with breast cancer every year (NZ breast cancer foundation website 2012)”
It is hard for us to understand the true value of health insurance because it is not tangible and we cannot physically put it into a perspective that we can visibly measure. However, your health is the most valuable thing you have, your health gives you your life, and so preparing for the things you cannot control is equally as important as taking care of yourself.
How does Trauma Insurance work?
If you take out a Trauma Insurance Policy and you are diagnosed with a trauma (one of the listed medical conditions in the relevant insurers policy wording) and survive for 14 days thereafter, you will be entitled to a claim (subject to policy wordings). There is no magic recipe in terms how much you should be covered for, so it all depends on how much you would require if this were to happen to you.
Of course no one has a crystal ball so we will never be able to pre-empt the severity of these things occurring, what we can do is base the amount of cover on a multiple of earnings. For example if you earn $100,000 per annum, we will say insure 3x that amount so the amount you are insured for is $300,000.
This will allow you to have 3 years of income to help with getting through what you have been diagnosed with. Sometimes this is not enough, but I think in general when people need insurance, the amount you are covered for is NEVER enough.
We will always recommend a higher amount in an ideal scenario, and provide options following an ideal position and of course your affordability.
Trauma cover, as you could imagine is claimed on a lot. Make sure you have this as part of your risk portfolio & talk to Makeinsure about the options available to you.