New Zealand Trauma Insurance Calculator

Trauma insurance (sometimes "critical illness" or "living insurance") pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a covered serious condition — cancer, heart attack, stroke, major surgery, multiple sclerosis, paralysis, and 40+ others depending on insurer. Unlike life cover, it pays you while alive, helping with private treatment costs, lost income, home modifications, and travel. It complements, not replaces, life insurance and income protection.

Top NZ insurers — AIA NZ, Fidelity Life, Partners Life, Asteron, Chubb — each cover 40-50+ defined conditions. Core list: major cancers, heart attack, stroke, coronary artery bypass, aortic surgery, major organ transplant, kidney failure, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, motor neurone disease, paralysis, severe burns, loss of limbs, speech/sight/hearing loss, benign brain tumour. Each policy lists exact medical definitions — read the wording, as early-stage cancer criteria vary materially between insurers.

NZ trauma policies require you to survive at least 30 days after diagnosis before the benefit is paid. This is industry-standard and ensures the lump sum supports your recovery rather than your estate (which life insurance is for). A few policies use 14-day survival for some conditions, and certain structural events like loss of independent existence use 0-day survival. Always check the survival period clause per covered condition in the policy schedule.

Standalone trauma is separate from life cover: a trauma payout doesn't reduce your life sum insured, so dependants still receive the full life payout on later death. Accelerated trauma shares the life sum — a trauma claim reduces life cover dollar-for-dollar. Accelerated costs ~25% less but leaves you underinsured after a trauma event. Primary earners with dependants should choose standalone; it's the only structure that fully protects both risks.

Partners Life's Upgrades Benefit (and similar features from AIA, Fidelity Life, Asteron) guarantees your trauma policy always uses the CURRENT definitions of covered conditions. As medical science advances — new early-stage cancer criteria, better stroke imaging, refined angioplasty definitions — your policy auto-upgrades without re-underwriting. It costs roughly 6% more than a base policy and is universally considered worth it. Without it, outdated definitions can fail modern diagnoses.

A sensible NZ benchmark is 1-2× your gross annual income plus outstanding non-mortgage debts. The lump sum should cover 12-24 months of recovery: private treatment not funded by Pharmac, lost income, specialist care, travel to Auckland or overseas for treatment, and home modifications. Couples often buy matching policies on each life. If income protection is weak or absent, lean toward higher trauma cover to fill that recovery-income gap.