What Are The Different Types Of Accident & Health Insurance Products For Individuals?
Accident and Health (A&H) insurance, as the name suggests, is an insurance sector that provides a benefit during accidental injury & illness, including death.
We can never predict an accident, so the best thing we can do is take some precautions just in case, such as A&H insurance. It is most commonly provided to employees by an employer, as part of an incentive package to make them feel more secure. Having financial support during any hard time will make it a lot less stressful.
A&H insurance is beneficial for any individual, not just employees for companies who provide it. If you become unable to work for some time due to sickness or injury, you wouldn’t have to worry about your income as A&H insurance can cover most of your income.
A&H insurance consists of multiple products like income protection cover, accidental death cover, trauma cover and Total Permanent Disability cover. Either you can take the complete package that includes all products or just select a specific product that you are interested in. It’s completely flexible according to your needs.
Income Protection Insurance
One of the most commonly purchased products that come under the A&H sector is income protection insurance. Protecting your income is crucial to many; there would be nothing worse than being sick or injured while also struggling financially from losing your wages.
If you ever lose the ability to work normally for a certain amount of time, how long would you be able to support your family financially? It would be tough to pay the bills and fulfil the needs of your family if you can’t work. Income protection insurance is designed for such a situation – to help you during a tough time, as it covers up to 85% of your income and you won’t have to worry about financial support even if you are unable to work due to illness or injury.
Accidental Death Insurance
Accidental death insurance is an easy and cost-effective option for life insurance. The only difference is to claim the benefit for accidental death insurance; the cause of death needs to be caused by an accident or injury. This insurance is different when compared to life insurance because life insurance covers death by any cause (i.e. from injuries & sickness).
Life is uncertain, and if you are involved in an accident and lose your life, you can still support your family financially.
It is not uncommon for people to have both life insurance and accidental death insurance; the two policies can co-exist, and both pay a benefit in the event of death caused by the injury.
Trauma Insurance (Critical Illness Insurance)
Trauma insurance, also known as critical illness insurance, provides you with an early, lump-sum payment if you are diagnosed with a listed critical medical condition.
A company such as Aspect Underwriting offers benefits options in the range of $50,000 to $500,000.
Getting diagnosed with a critical illness can financially challenge you and your family in more ways than you expect. However, if you have trauma insurance, you can quickly pay your medical bills and ongoing cost without taking on any debt.
Total Permanent Disability insurance (TPD)
TPD insurance is designed to help people if they suffer from severe injuries/illnesses and can never return to work. TPD provides a lump sum amount once your medical practitioners confirm that you will never be able to return to work as a result of your condition and often has a 6 or 12 month waiting period so the medical professionals can confirm the permanent nature of your condition
Basically, Income Protection plays a short-term role to protect your income until you get back to your work, TPD plays a long-term role.
Mike Wallis
Mike has over 25 years experience, having spent his first seven years working as a Broker at Jardine Lloyd Thomson in Melbourne and in 2002 was transferred to JLT’s Accident and Health Department in London. For four years (2002 – 2005) Mike was a specialist A&H Lloyd’s Broker and during this time developed excellent relationships with the Lloyd’s A&H underwriting fraternity. In 2006 he returned to Australia in a senior broking position with overall responsibility for Placement Strategy, including the implementation of underwriting facilities and the various authorities granted by Lloyd’s. Mike was the underwriter at two specialist Underwriting Agencies prior to founding Aspect Underwriting in 2016.
