subject: Trauma Insurance Questions For The Nz Life Insurance And Nz Health Insurance Market [print this page] Over the years insurance companies have been hard at work trying to match the growing list of covered trauma conditions provided by their competitors. This has resulted in an impressive list of covered conditions which, from a layman's point of view, would appear to cover every conceivable health issue.
All trauma insurance products cover the major health crises such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, etc. So the question is - do these add-ons give any additional benefit to the client?.
The answer is - there is very little additional value created as a direct consequence of the bulk of these 'extra' conditions which have been introduced over the years. Whilst it is intended to create certainty regarding the comprehensive nature of the cover provided, in reality the key benefits of the product remain very similar to the benefits that existed before these add-ons.
Don't be fooled. Insurance companies do not add 'free' benefits to their policies unless they are very comfortable that the chances of a client claiming against these benefits are very slim. A corresponding price increase is usually a good indication if a new benefit adds real value to a client.
The right questions to ask of a Trauma Insurance Product are:
1. Are the most likely conditions covered?
2. How easy is it to receive a payout for these conditions?
(Is one insurance companies definitions more stringent than the others).
3. Do the covered conditions apply to all policyholders?
(Do they provide comprehensive cover only for people 55+ or is there conditions included that will provide real benefit to someone under 35).
4. How quickly will the client get paid anything?
(Will you get paid on the diagnosis of a condition or will you have to wait for the medical profession to confirm that the full benefit criteria have been met).
It is pointless comparing the small stuff. Insurance companies will continue to add more and more 'freebies' which in most cases are just marketing hype. It is extremely important to compare the real value added parts of each contract. Comparing the small stuff only makes sense if the products you are comparing are identical for the important stuff.
You can save yourself a lot of time and frustration by utilising this approach. When an insurance company adds a new condition for free the chances are that it is either such an obscure condition that the likelihood of claims is too small to have an impact on the price or they have simply re-named a condition that was already effectively covered. The cold hard facts are that trauma insurance claims worldwide have been higher than expected. The cost of trauma insurance is gradually increasing and is likely to continue to increase. In this environment it would be very difficult for an insurance company to add genuine additional value to their products without having a price increase to accompany it. It truly is a case of you get what you pay for.
by: Naomi Jonas
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