What's Trauma Cover?

Trauma Cover provides a lump sum payment that allows you to focus on your recovery. The payment can be used for any purpose – which could include reducing debt, covering living expenses, paying for alternative treatments or a holiday to recuperate. And remember, ACC don’t pay for illness.

On-going improvements and advancements in modern medicine mean you have a greater chance of surviving a serious illness or condition but the financial impact it can have on you (and your family) can be significant.

Suffering a serious illness is devastating in any circumstances but the burden will be far greater if your financial security is also put at risk. A person suffering from one of the four main critical illnesses (heart attack, heart disease, cancer or stroke) has a nearly 50% chance of surviving for up to 10 years beyond the critical incident. However, in many cases this involves a reduced working capacity and necessitates significant lifestyle changes and costs.

This benefit gives you a financial boost when you most need it, and can help you cope with the financial cost of illness, including the fact your partner is unlikely to be working the same hours while you’re ill. You’d likely have expenses associated with the illness that you need to pay for too, which makes trauma cover a vital part of your insurance plan.

But I can get a disability payment for illness from the government, right?

If you’re married, in a civil union or de facto relationship, with or without children, your joint weekly income before tax must be less than $943.88 before you get a cent from the state. That’s joint income of no more than $49,081 per year to qualify. If you’re single and have no children, you usually qualify if your income is $635.98 per week or less. Two-thirds of “disabilities” where people are off work aren’t caused by accidents, so ACC pays nothing for these people. Most of us have only 5 or 10 days sick leave available in any given year.