now can protect their future

Transcription

1 Life SmartLife your decisions now can protect their future they re in good hands life we re in it together

2 hello Asteron is one of Australia and New Zealand s largest financial services providers with key business activities in life insurance, superannuation savings, funds management and trustee services. As a member of the Suncorp group of companies, Asteron is part of an entity with approximately 8.7 million customers, $1 billion in life insurance premiums and $9.8 billion in funds under administration. Our sister companies in New Zealand include many well-known brands in New Zealand such as Vero and AA Life. Asteron has a well-earned reputation for personal service. We re committed to delivering the highest level of personal and responsive service, ensuring the needs of our customers, both policyholders and Advisers are top of mind at all times. Important Note: Information in this brochure about insurance policies is of a general nature only. Full details of the insurance policies terms and conditions are available from Asteron. This brochure does not represent an offer of insurance. If there are any discrepancies, implied or assumed, between this brochure and the policy document, then the policy document will prevail. life we re in it together

3 because you don t know, what you don t know When considering insurance protection for yourself or your family, there are many things to consider and co-ordinate. There are also a myriad of options available for your convenience. Insurance is all about not leaving things to chance, with this in mind your Adviser will guide you through an in-depth process to help identify your needs and determine the risks you or your family may face. They will then explain the various options available and recommend solutions that best meet your needs. Your Adviser understands that arranging life insurance can impact on other aspects of your financial and business plans so with your help they can work with your lawyer, accountant, financial planner or mortgage adviser to arrange or structure trusts, wills, powers of attorney, succession planning and debt protection. Together with your Adviser, Asteron can provide you with the knowledge, to ensure you make an informed decision. we keep it personal

4 Smart Research Few people are ever fully prepared for the change in their life following a major sickness, injury, or death of a family member. Together with your Adviser, Asteron can help you ensure you have the right insurance protection in place to take care of yourself and your family. the stats: gulp! Your Adviser may be able to share with you their experiences of how illness and injury can have a significant financial impact. Sadly the reality is that death, sickness and injury are not as uncommon as you may like to think. The following information might help you gain a better insight into the risks that you face everyday. New Zealanders claimed more than 482 million dollars in life insurance between July 2009 and June In New Zealand, approximately a quarter of all deaths are caused by cancer. 2 One person dies every 90 minutes in New Zealand from coronary heart disease. 3 1 in 10 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime and a quarter will die from the disease. 4 Cardiovascular disease (heart, stroke and blood vessel disease) is the leading cause of death in New Zealand, accounting for 40% of deaths annually (approximately 11,300). 5 1 ISI Annual Review Cancer: New Registration and Deaths released by the NZ Health Information Services, 2005 with provisional data for Heart Foundation of New Zealand 4 The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation 5 The Heart Foundation: General Statistics Thursday 11 September, 2008 life we re in it together

5 because lives depend on it SmartLife Asteron s SmartLife policy offers a comprehensive range of products designed to provide you and your survivors with financial relief in the event of premature death, disablement or serious illness. It s hard enough dealing with the emotional strain associated with bereavement or a serious illness, but add to that the financial strain of having to continue mortgage repayments, day to day living expenses, childcare and ongoing medical expenses. We can t replace a loved one, but we can help ease the financial pressure, thus allowing you or your survivors to concentrate on the healing process and take time to readjust their lives without having to worry about money and finances. Options available Life Cover This is the foundation of any risk protection plan. You can arrange for a lump-sum payment to be made available to those you care about, your business or your mortgage provider. Terminal Illness Benefit If you are diagnosed with a Terminal Illness (likely to die within 12 months), we will advance your life cover payment. This can be used to get the best medical care, settle your final affairs and make the most of the time you have left with your family. Grief Support Benefit Up to $900 (depending on the length of time the policy has been in-force) is available to you and your loved ones if a benefit becomes payable under your SmartLife policy. Grief counselling can help you cope with the emotional stress related to Death, Terminal Illness, or a serious health condition. Financial Planning Benefit Deciding the best way to use a lump-sum insurance money is not easy. To help you get the best financial advice once a claim has been paid, Asteron will reimburse up to $2,500 (depending on the length of time the policy has been in-force) for financial planning advice from an Asteron approved Financial Planner. Funeral Advancement Benefit We offer an immediate advancement of your life cover of up to $15,000 (depending on the length of time the policy has been in-force) to help with the cost of funeral services. Special Events Increase and Special Events Conversion If you are under age 60, you can increase your life and accelerated trauma cover without having to provide any further medical evidence if you experience a special event. A special event is when you or your partner give birth to a child, adopt a child, you decide to permanently live with someone in the nature of a marriage or civil union, take out or increase a loan secured over your home or primary residence by $25,000 or more, or your salary has increased by more than $5,000 p.a. Also, every 5 years you have the option of increasing your cover as well. Maximum increases apply. If you are under age 50, and you experience a special event, you can add accelerated trauma or accelerated total and permanent disablement option to your SmartLife policy without having to provide any further medical evidence. Maximum increases and conditions apply. Kids SmartLiving Option Children can also suffer from serious medical conditions or procedures and the financial implications can be just as serious as suffering a trauma yourself. With Asteron s Kids SmartLiving Option, we will pay the Kids SmartLiving sum insured to help cover the costs associated with your child s specific medical condition or procedure. The Kids SmartLiving option also includes a funeral benefit. $10,000 Cover Free of charge Asteron provides the first $10,000 of Kids SmartLiving cover (per-child) free of charge. Additional cover can be purchased at a rate of $1 per month per $10,000 cover. Total & Permanent Disablement Cover For an additional cost, you can protect you and your family s future in the event that you become permanently disabled. By adding TPD to your SmartLife policy, you will receive a lump-sum payment should you suffer a sickness or injury that renders you Totally and Permanently disabled. Ask your adviser about the Accelerated and Stand Alone options available.

6 Trauma Cover Nearly every week you hear about a relative, friend, neighbour or work colleague suffering from a heart attack, cancer, stroke, being diagnosed with a serious medical condition or having to undergo a serious medical procedure. If you or a family member suffers a condition such as those above, not only would you have to deal with a potentially life changing illness or disability, but you would also need to make financial adjustments. Incomes could be lost or reduced. Expenses can increase, due to medical requirements, home alterations may be required to accommodate a disability, nursing or domestic care may be required either part time or full time. Trauma Option This benefit covers you in the event of a major health problem such as cancer, stroke or heart attack. What's covered under Asteron's Trauma Option? Aplastic anaemia Benign tumour of the brain or spinal cord Blindness Cancer* Cardiomyopathy Chronic kidney (renal) failure* Chronic liver failure Chronic lung failure Coronary artery angioplasty triple vessel* Coronary artery bypass surgery* Coma Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Deafness Dementia Encephalitis Heart attack* Heart surgery (open)* HIV medically acquired HIV occupationally acquired Intensive care Loss of independent existence Loss of speech Major head trauma Major organ transplant* Meningitis Motor Neurone Disease Multiple Sclerosis Muscular Dystrophy Out of hospital cardiac arrest Paralysis Parkinson s Disease Pulmonary Hypertension Repair or replacement of aorta* Repair or replacement of valves* Severe burns Stroke* * Cover does not start until 3 months after the policy commencement date. Partial Trauma Benefits In addition to the listed serious medical conditions and procedures under the Trauma Option, we will pay a partial payment if you suffer a serious accidental injury, single loss of limb or eye or you undergo coronary artery angioplasty. Chronic Conditions Benefits A partial advance payment may be made should the life insured be diagnosed with one of the following Chronic Trauma Conditions: Multiple Sclerosis; or Muscular Dystrophy; or Parkinson s Disease ; or Dementia; or Primary Pulmonary Hypertension The amount of the advance is the lesser of: $25,000 and 10% of the sum insured (subject to a minimum payment of $10,000, unless the sum insured is less than $10,000, in which case we will pay just the sum insured). Deluxe Trauma Option This benefit covers you in the event of a major health problem such as cancer, stroke or heart attack. SmartLife Deluxe Trauma option cover all 39 conditions. What s covered under SmartLife Deluxe Trauma Option? Alzheimer s aplastic anaemia benign tumour of the brain or spinal cord blindness cancer* cardiomyopathy chronic kidney (renal) failure* chronic liver failure chronic lung failure coma coronary artery angioplasty triple vessel* coronary artery bypass surgery* Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease deafness dementia encephalitis heart attack* heart surgery (open)* HIV medically acquired HIV occupationally acquired intensive care loss of independent existence loss of limbs loss of speech major head trauma major organ transplant* meningitis Motor Neurone Disease Multiple Sclerosis Muscular Dystrophy out of hospital cardiac arrest paralysis Parkinson s Disease Pulmonary Hypertension Removal of the prostate as a result of early stage prostatic cancer* repair or replacement of aorta* repair or replacement of valves* severe burns stroke* *Cover does not start until 3 months after the policy start date. Partial Deluxe Trauma Benefits Partial Deluxe Trauma Benefits are available by the length of time the benefit has been in force and covers Early Stage Cancer, Diagnosis Benefit and Other Partial Trauma Conditions. We will pay a Partial Deluxe Trauma Benefit depending on the length of time this benefit has been in force. The partial benefit payable will be the greater of $10,000 or; 15% of the Deluxe Trauma sum insured during the first 2 years of your cover, 17.5% of the Deluxe Trauma sum insured during the 3rd or 4th year of your cover, or 20% of the Deluxe Trauma sum insured thereafter. What s covered under Partial Deluxe Trauma Benefits? Early Stage Cancers Breast* Fallopian tube* Vagina* Vulva * Ovary* Cervix* Prostate* Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia* Melanoma* Diagnosis Benefit Hydrocephalus Severe Crohn s disease Severe osteoporosis Severe Ulcerative Colitis Multiple Sclerosis* Muscular Dystrophy* Parkinson s Disease* Dementia* Primary Pulmonary Hypertension* Other Partial Trauma Conditions Undergo coronary artery angioplasty* Suffer a serious accidental injury Suffer single loss of limb or eye Undergo a colostomy and/or ileostomy Suffer major burns Suffer partial heart attack* Suffer diabetes* *Cover does not start until 3 months after the policy start date. life we re in it together

7 Trauma Reinstatement & Life Cover Buy Back. The Deluxe Trauma option also includes the ability to restore your Deluxe Trauma cover and Life cover (if Deluxe Trauma is accelerated) after the Deluxe Trauma Option has been paid out. This means that you are guaranteed future cover even if a trauma event occurs. Accidental Death Option We will pay an Accidental Death Benefit if you die within 90 days as a result of an accident. Accidental death, for the purposes of this benefit, means your death is solely a result of an accident where death occurs from a visible injury caused by an accidental, violent and external event. Needlestick Option Many people work in the Medical and Emergency industry, being at risk from the dangers of Hepatitis B or C or HIV infection. This is why Asteron have included an optional Needlestick Option under our SmartLife policy, to ensure that you can protect yourself against the financial impact of contracting Hepatitis B or C or HIV. Cancer Cover Option Cancer is becoming an increasing threat in society. That is why Asteron has developed the Cancer Cover Option which provides a full or partial payment in the event of Cancer. Early Stage Melanoma and Carcinoma in-situ of the Breast, Ovary and Vulva are just some of the conditions covered under the Cancer Cover Option. This option can be bought in conjunction with either Life Cover or Total and Permanent Disability Option. Terminal Illness Booster Option If you become terminally ill you re likely to have a wide range of unexpected medical expenses to help protect you financially the Terminal Illness Booster Option provides up to $100,000 of additional funds if you re diagnosed as terminally ill. This payment is in addition to the Life Cover. We Pay Your Premium Option With this optional extra you can ensure that your premiums will be paid if you are unable to work for more than 10 hours per week in any occupation for 3 continuous months as a result of injury or illness. In addition to the benefits already explained, talk to your Adviser about these other benefits available under the SmartLife policy: Inflation Adjustment Benefit Level premiums to maximum age 80 Paying by credit card Will Asteron keep updating my policy? Guarantee of Upgrade Yes, if we make any future improvements to SmartLife (without any increase in premium rates) we will provide these improvements to your policy without charging any additional premium. A complete list of Asteron s standard and optional SmartLife benefits are available in our SmartLife policy document. Talk to your Adviser today to know more about protecting you and your family.

8 New Zealanders claimed more than 107 million dollars in trauma & TPD payments between July 2009 and June % or more of people with cancer will be long term survivors New Zealanders on average have a stroke every day, 25% of which are under 65.3 Stroke is the major cause of adult disability in New Zealand. 4 1 in 9 women in New Zealand will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. 5 Asteron Trauma and TPD claims between 2008 and 2009, 50% of Asteron trauma and TPD claims were for women and 50% were for men. The youngest person to claim was just 11 years old, and the oldest was 66 years old. 63% of trauma claims were due to cancer; and 24% were due to heart disease. 81% of people who made a claim were between the ages of 40 and 60. The 5 most common uses of claims money: paid for medical expenses that weren t covered by health insurance. enabled travel overseas for medical treatment that wasn t available in NZ. brought family or friends from overseas to help care for them during treatment. paid off mortgages, credit cards and personal loans to decrease financial stress. reduced claimants hours at work to help them rest and recover during treatment. 1 ISI Annual Review Cancer Society of New Zealand 3 Stroke Foundation of New Zealand The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation about breast cancer Need more information? Talk to your Adviser or visit us at The information in this brochure about SmartLife is a general summary only, and is not personalised to your situation. Full details of the policy terms and conditions are available from Asteron Life Limited or your financial adviser. If you would like advice which takes account of your particular financial situation or goals, please contact your financial adviser. A number of the terms used in this brochure carry a specific definition set out in the policy document. If there are any differences between the information in this brochure and the policy document, then the policy document will prevail. RP229 (01/12)