Asteron Life Trauma Recovery Insurance review: Protecting your financial future

Asteron Life Insurance - a brief company overview

“We’re in this for life.”

Asteron is backed by Suncorp New Zealand - a prominent player in the general and life insurance sector. Suncorp New Zealand is part of Suncorp Group, with more than 9 million customers and over A$96 billion in assets - a reassuring promise of Asteron's financial stability (rated A+ by Standard & Poor’s) when you need to make a claim. The Asteron claims team has accepted 94% of claims made, providing $121 million to customers from 1 July 2022 to 31 June 2023.

Recently, Suncorp Group and Resolution Life Australasia entered into an agreement for the purchase of Asteron Life. Resolution Life Australasia, a part of the global life insurance company Resolution Life, currently serves about 1.1 million customers in Australia and New Zealand. The company has around NZ$1.7 billion in-force premiums and NZ$30.4 billion in assets under management. The sale is currently undergoing regulatory approval.

Asteron Life provides insurance products specifically tailored towards the Kiwi lifestyle and aims to “help build bright futures and protect what matters most.”

Policywise works with the full suite of Asteron products, including life, trauma, income protection, total and permanent disablement, and business cover. In this Asteron Life Trauma Insurance review, we’ll look at their critical illness cover in detail.

Asteron Life Trauma Recovery Insurance: Features and benefits

Modern medicine has significantly improved the treatment of serious diseases and injuries. Survival rates have increased as a result, although the consequential costs of medical care and time off work can be financially stressful. 

With over 9,000 New Zealanders affected by stroke - 25-30% of them below 65 years old - and more than 25,000 New Zealanders diagnosed with cancer every year, trauma insurance can provide a multitude of benefits, easing the financial stress of long-term illnesses and life-altering injuries.

Trauma insurance provides a lump sum partial or full benefit payment to the policyholder for a policy-defined illness or condition. Adjusting to a new kind of life while recovering can be challenging; critical illness insurance can help. Below are some key advantages to consider about Asteron Life’s Trauma Insurance.

48 POLICY-DEFINED ILLNESSES/INJURIES COVERED

Asteron Life’s Critical Illness Insurance covers 48 policy-defined medical conditions and procedures, including the following:

• Cancer and tumours
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Open heart surgery
• Chronic kidney failure
• Major organ transplant
• Loss of limbs
• Burns
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Aneurysm
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Coma
• Dementia
• Paralysis
• Deafness and blindness
• HIV (medically and occupationally acquired)
• Chronic liver failure.

BUILT-IN BENEFITS

1. Trauma recovery: Provides a lump sum payment if you experience a qualified medical event, condition, or surgical procedure. It's a financial lifeline to cover medical costs and daily expenses during your journey to wellness.
2. Early-stage cancer cover: In the case of an early-stage cancer diagnosis, a portion of your trauma cover is paid out early.
3. Financial planning: Asteron Life reimburses the cost of a professional financial planner (up to $2,500), who can help you make the most of your lump sum payment, from debt management to future financial security.
4. Grief support: Asteron Life covers the cost of professional grief counselling up to $2,500 to assist you and your family through the emotional challenges of illness or recovery.
5. Special events increase or conversion: For special events, such as marriage, a new mortgage, a pay rise, or the birth of a child, Asteron Life allows you to increase your sum insured cover or add other plans to your policy without further medical assessments. 
6. Inflation adjustment: Your sum insured can be increased to keep pace with inflation without further underwriting. 

OPTIONAL BENEFITS

• Asteron Life Connected Care: Provides access to online services for medical advice, mental health support, and wellbeing assistance at no extra cost with eligible policies.
• Free Kids Cover: $50,000 trauma cover for your children or grandchildren, with an option to increase this cover amount up to $200,000.
• Asteron Life pays your premiums: Asteron Life covers your trauma insurance premiums if you’re not able to work more than 10 hours per week due to illness or injury.
• Needlestick: Protects medical workers who contract Hepatitis B or C or HIV during work.
• Early Trauma: Asteron Life pays the greater of $10,000 or 20% of your total cover (up to $100,000) to provide treatment for an additional 20 conditions. Some of these conditions include severe rheumatoid arthritis, loss of hearing, diabetes, colostomy, severe ulcerative colitis, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and serious accidental injury.
• Continuous Trauma: Immediately reinstates your trauma recovery sum insured after any claim, allowing you to claim up to three different trauma events.
• Trauma Reinstatement. Restores your Trauma Recovery Cover once you’ve claimed, allowing you to file claims in the future.
• Life Cover Buy Back: Restores your Asteron Life Cover after an accelerated trauma recovery claim.
• Total and Permanent Disablement: Pays the sum insured if you become disabled and can't work.
• Major Trauma: Pays an additional portion of cover if your condition is considered 'major'.
• Specific Injury Support: Provides a lump sum for 29 specified injuries - ranging from fractures to burns, loss of limbs, and paralysis - even if you can continue to work.

Please note: Terms and conditions, as well as exclusions, apply to all Asteron Life products. It's important to review your policy carefully to understand the specific terms of cover, benefits, and any limitations. This ensures that you have a clear understanding of the protection provided by each product. If you have any questions or would like some help finding the right policy, book a callback with a Policywise adviser; it's fast and free.

Options for structuring your cover: Stand alone vs Accelerated

STAND ALONE:

Choosing a ‘stand alone’ type of insurance means your Trauma Recovery Cover is an individual policy, separate from your Asteron Life Life Cover. The sum insured of your life cover won't decrease if you file a trauma claim. 

ACCELERATED:

This is an option to combine your Trauma Recovery Cover and Life Cover, meaning that your trauma recovery claim will be paid out of your life cover. You can add a benefit to resume the value of your original cover (Life Cover Buy Back) later on. 

Payment options: Level premium vs Stepped premium

Level premium payment

This payment option means your premiums don't increase with your age, similar to a fixed-rate mortgage.

Stepped premium payment

This option starts at a lower price point than level premiums but goes up every year based on your age.

Asteron Life offers more ways to strengthen your cover

Asteron Life offers more than just trauma recovery insurance, so you and your family can rest assured that other requirements will also be met. 

• Asteron Life Insurance Cover: Offers financial security to your loved ones in the event of your passing. Life Insurance Cover provides a lump sum payment to your beneficiaries, ensuring their financial stability and covering outstanding debts, mortgages, or future expenses.
• Asteron Life Income Protection Cover: Ensures you have a reliable source of income if you cannot work due to illness or injury. It offers regular payments to help you meet financial commitments, such as bills, rent or mortgage, and daily living expenses.
• Asteron Life Total and Permanent Disablement Cover: If you can't work due to your disability, ACC cover might not be enough for all your expenses. Total and Permanent Disablement cover provides financial security if you suffer a complete and permanent disability that prevents you from working. It offers a lump sum payment to help you maintain ongoing expenses, rehabilitation, and lifestyle modifications.
• Asteron Life Group/Employee Insurance: Enables business owners to support and reward their employees by offering them life, trauma, disability, and income protection cover.
• Asteron Life Business Cover: Designed to protect your business in case you or a key person in your organisation has a serious illness or injury or passes away. It can provide funds to cover ongoing business expenses, hire temporary staff, or keep the company afloat during a challenging period.

Do you need Asteron Life Trauma Cover in New Zealand?

Asteron Life’s Trauma Cover provides essential financial backing in the event of a traumatic occurrence or policy-defined severe illness diagnosis. Offering a lump sum payment, trauma insurance can be used for major expenses, such as medical treatments, specialised care, living costs, and necessary lifestyle adjustments.  

MOST POLICYHOLDERS UTILISE ASTERON LIFE RECOVERY INSURANCE TO:

• Allow their spouse or family member to take time off work to provide help and care at home.
• Pay for additional, alternative, or complementary treatments.
• Handle additional expenses, such as childcare and travel to medical appointments.
• Reduce outstanding debts, like mortgage or credit card payments.
• Assist with medical costs, including alternative treatments and treatments not covered by Pharmac.
• Take leave from work to rest and recover, often opting for reduced working hours.
• Enhance their recovery by treating themselves to something that brings joy, such as a family holiday. 

This is why trauma insurance is worth it:

• Financial security: Of 2.8 million employed Kiwis in the March 2022 quarter, 44,200 were away from work for a full week because of sickness, illness, or injury. There are an estimated 5,000-6,000 hospitalisations each year due to work-related ill-health. Asteron Life’s Trauma Insurance and Total and Permanent Disablement Insurance provide a strong financial backup for your family if you need to stop working temporarily or permanently.

• Debt protection: Home loan rates in New Zealand have been volatile since Covid-19 struck in 2020, rising from lows near 2% to more than 7%. Asteron Life’s Trauma, Life and Mortgage and Living Insurance can help pay debts, rents, mortgages, and loans, relieving your loved ones from the burden.

• Income replacement: The cost of living in New Zealand rose by 7.0% in the 12 months to the December 2023 quarter. Asteron Life’s Trauma Cover can help your family pay for health expenses on top of regular bills, while their Income Protection Insurance can help replace your financial input as a breadwinner or income earner. 

• Peace of mind: From June 2022 to May 2023, Kiwis sustained approximately 35,805 injuries that resulted in more than a week away from work. More than 989,003 home-based injuries were reported to ACC in 2023. Although ACC offers some financial relief for accident recovery, it does not cover all expenses. Asteron Life’s Trauma Cover or Total and Permanent Disablement Insurance ensures your loved ones are financially secure while you are off work.

Policywise: Your trusted insurance adviser

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Check out the reviews on our homepage for how other New Zealanders have found our service, because now is the time to get your trauma recovery insurance sorted. Give your family or someone you love the most outstanding financial support possible. Book a 5-minute callback with Policywise today; our service is fast and free.

Disclaimer: All information on this page or website is general information only, not intended as advice, and does not take into consideration your personal circumstances. We recommend consulting a Policywise adviser before making any insurance decision.

Please note: Policywise advisers are licensed by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice in relation to health insurance, life insurance, and disability insurance. You can learn more about this on our Public Disclosure page. All insurance covers are subject to the insurer’s approval of your application. 

Insurance policies and their built-in and optional benefits may be subject to stand-down periods, exclusions, terms and conditions, and premium loadings not listed on this website. Optional benefits also have additional premiums. Please refer to the insurance product’s policy document for full details. Insurers may alter these details at any time. 

Therefore, nothing in our product pages is intended to be definitive or binding. Where there are discrepancies between any policy wording on this website and the policy wording provided by the insurance company at the time your cover is approved, then the insurance company’s wording will be deemed the correct version.