Trauma Insurance has evolved significantly since it was first introduced in the early 1980's.
When Trauma Insurance was first launched it only covered 4-6 conditions. The exact definition of the condition depends on the specific insurance company.
The four benefits were:
- Heart Attack
- Stroke
- Coronary Heart Disease (requiring surgery)
- Cancer
Since those early days, Trauma Insurance has been developed and enhanced significantly with almost all insurance companies offering in excess of 40 benefits for this one product. The question remains though… Do all these increased benefits mean more claims? This is a very tough question and is difficult to answer as each insurance company keeps its own statistics and has slightly different policy wordings.
In more recent times the insurance companies have begun to compete for ratings (based on their products) in a bid to convince advisers to recommend one insurers product over another's. It appears to be a case of each company trying to outdo the others to enhance their market share. Is this what's best for the clients?
At BRAVEday we don't think so. When you boil down each company's policies to the three original benefits offered back in the 80's they all tend to rate quite well - it's when all the small details are reviewed and analysed that some companies appear better. I use the word 'appear' as it's not just policy wordings that matter at claim time. Also policy wordings are amended and 'enhanced' regularly so positions at the 'front of the pack' can be changeable.
At BRAVEday we feel that there is a real need to review the whole package that an insurance company offers: cost of product, product benefits, customer service, claims team strength and service as well as financial stability and of course claims paying ability. This all adds up to so much more than words on paper. At the end of the day we're in the relationships business. Relationships with our clients are why we are in business, but it is also our relationships with insurers that allow us to seek out the best terms, negotiate for new clients and to push to the limits to get claims paid.
Our experience with Trauma claims for our clients has shown that cancer is by far the biggest cause of claims with 14 of our 19 claims being cancer related. The remaining five include: heart attack, heart defect, stroke, and two benign brain tumours.
As advisers it's extremely difficult to recommend one provider over another simply based on policy wordings. Our two clients with benign brain tumours have proved this - had their cover been with different providers they would not have had their partial claims accepted.
It strikes me that looking at our claims experience with our clients, all but three would most likely have had valid claims based on the early products of the 1980's. In some way all this competition by the insurers over the 'bells and whistles' is window dressing to a large degree if other advisers have similar statistics.
That being said, as advisers it would be gut wrenching to recommend a stripped down Trauma product (which is often on offer by banking institutions - for a similar premium I might add) and have a client suffer from a condition for which they aren't covered but would have been had they taken a more comprehensive product offering. (In these situations a crystal ball to help predict the future would be so helpful).
Trauma insurance is, in our opinion, one of the most valuable insurance benefits available today. It helps those who suffer from a critical or life changing illness by providing financial security and stability. If you don't have Trauma insurance I would recommend considering it - even a small sum if that is all your budget allows - something is better than nothing. Something Dean says a lot - "if you are going to have something, have Trauma - it is where we see the most claims".
Summed up in one word…Trauma Insurance equals "CHOICE".
Not many people realise that insurance is all about choices - and keeping your options open.
We all know someone who has suffered from a heart attack, stroke or even more likely cancer.
Who do you know? Did they have trauma insurance, and if so, how did it help them to retain the ability to make choices?
Live boldly, and have a BRAVEday
