Compare trauma insurance Australia

Trauma insurance provides a lump-sum payment if you're diagnosed with a critical illness and can be bundled with life insurance.

Life Insurance

Compare trauma insurance policies

1 - 4 of 22
Product AUFLI Maximum Cover Maximum Entry Age Expiry Age Stand alone or Add on policy
$2,000,000
62
70
Stand-alone policy or Add-on option
$1,000,000
55
65
Add-on
Get a quote for up to $1,000,000 in Critical Illness Cover.
$500,000
55
65
Add-on
Get a quote for up to $500,000 in Critical Illness Cover.
$500,000
59
65
Add-on option
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What is trauma insurance?

Trauma insurance, sometimes called critical illness insurance, pays you a lump sum if you're diagnosed with a major medical condition. It's often available as an add-on when you take out life insurance.

The payout is tax-free and you can spend it however you like. You might want to use it to cover your medical bills, hire a care assistant or make your home accessible. Alternatively, you could use it to pay off the mortgage or other debts.

What does trauma insurance cover?

Trauma insurance covers critical illnesses and injuries. Below is a sample list from one insurer, but you should check the product disclosure statement of your insurer to know exactly what you’re covered for.

  • ​​Cancers
  • Coronary artery angioplasty
  • Coronary artery bypass
  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
  • Three vessel coronary artery disease
  • Accidental HIV infection
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Aplastic anaemia
  • Bacterial meningitis
  • Blindness
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Chronic liver failure
  • Chronic lung disease
  • Coma
  • Dementia
  • Diplegia
  • Heart valve replacement
  • Hemiplegia
  • Kidney failure
  • Loss of hearing
  • Loss of independence
  • Loss of limbs or sight
  • Loss of speech
  • Major brain injury
  • Major brain injury
  • Major burns
  • Major organic transplant
  • Motor neurone disease
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Paraplegia
  • Parkison's disease
  • Pulmonary arterial hypertension
  • Quadriplegia
  • Surgery to aorta
  • Terminal illness
  • Viral encephalitis

For your claim to be successful, you'll need to provide medical evidence from your doctor proving that your condition meets the insurer's definition. For example, if you were to suffer a major head trauma, there would need to be permanent neurological damage. Similarly, some insurers won't cover early stage cancers.

How do I calculate how much trauma insurance I need?

Trauma insurance is designed to help you cover the costs of recovery as well as ongoing life expenses in the event you become critically ill or injured. To understand how much insurance you may need, it’s good to consider the following in your calculations:

  • Debts, loans and other repayments. How much do any of your debts, loans and other repayments amount to? At a minimum, your trauma insurance sum should aim to cover the portion of these expenses that your income is typically responsible for.
  • Health insurance. Do you have health insurance? This matters because if you don’t, then you’ll need to factor in any medical costs that could occur as the result of an eligible illness or injury.
  • Family commitments. Are you the primary carer for young children? Would you need to cover the costs for childcare or a nanny?
  • Ongoing expenses. What are your ongoing expenses to run your household? Consider things like your grocery bill, any quarterly bills and annual payments like car insurance.
  • General financial security. In the event that you’re unable to make money due to your illness or injury, how much would your family need to remain financially stable?

Once you’ve gone through these numbers, you’ll have a starting point for what kind of cover you might need.

How much does trauma insurance cost?

Various factors influence the cost of trauma insurance, including your age, occupation, smoking habits and chosen financial benefit.

To give you an idea of how much trauma insurance might cost you, we requested quotes from a range of major life insurers who offer standalone trauma insurance policies.

The below should be used as a guide only. Your own costs will differ.

Provider Annual cost Monthly cost
TAL$1,027.84$93.44
NobleOak$1,099.06$96.17
Medibank$1,277.04$106.42
ahm$1,225.92$102.16
RACWA$1,311.01$114.71
HCF$144.00$13.00

Pros and cons of trauma insurance

We've broken down the advantages and disadvantages of trauma insurance to help you figure out if it's worth it for you:

Pros

  • It's tax-free. That means if you expect a $500,000 payout, that's exactly how much you'll get.
  • Money for medical treatment. A trauma insurance policy can give you the freedom to get the medical treatment you need without worrying about costs.
  • It can be put towards anything. It can help with expensive medical bills or debts you have, including your mortgage.
  • It's often bundled with life insurance. It can sometimes be cheaper than buying 2 separate policies, plus it means less paperwork to sort through.
  • It pays out even if you're not working. Unlike total and permanent disability (TPD) and income protection insurance, you can claim on a trauma insurance policy when you're not employed.

Cons

  • It doesn't pay out for every illness. Trauma insurance only pays out for critical illnesses such as cancer, heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer's and other major diseases.
  • Medical costs may not be that much. There's a chance that the medical costs you incur will be far less than the payout.
  • Smaller life insurance benefit with bundled policies. The trauma benefit is usually deducted from the overall amount you can claim from your life insurance.
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Standalone trauma insurance vs bundled
Bundled life and trauma insurance policies typically cost less than buying a standalone policy because they can reduce life insurance payout. For example, if you claim $200,000 for a critical illness and have life insurance for $1 million, you leave your loved ones with $800,000 when your life insurance pays out.

Life insurance glossary: Key terms to know

A rundown of the tricky definitions for life insurance. Plus, what to look for when you're comparing.

FAQs

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Editor, Insurance

Gary Ross Hunter was an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and news.com.au. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 2 General Advice General Insurance certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio

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Gary Ross has written 646 Finder guides across topics including:
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Publisher of Insurance

Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio

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