subject: New Zealand Life Insurance And Terminal Illness [print this page] However, many people don"t know that "standard" life insurance will also pay out in another situation "" when the insured person is terminally ill. We will take a quick look at how this works, and why it is such an important part of the life insurance policies you"ll have available when moving to New Zealand.
First of all, how do the insurers define "terminally ill"? With New Zealand insurance companies this is typically defined as the insured person having 12 months or fewer to live. In this situation the insurer will rely heavily on the opinion of the medical practitioner who is treating the insured person. Once notified that there is a possible claim to be made, the insurance company will contact the Doctor and request details of the insured person"s condition. They will assess this, and based on the information given will decide whether the insured sum is to be paid out. Typically, the sum paid would be 100% of the total life insurance amount (in the past some insurers would pay out a reduced amount, usually a set percentage, however this approach is quite rare these days, with most insurers simply paying the full amount).
This kind of life insurance early payment for terminal illness is very important for one main reason. This is that it"s relatively rare for a person to die suddenly (for example in an accident or of an undiagnosed health issue). Typically people have more "warning" "" and are aware of the health issue for a significant time prior to actually passing away. This makes an insurance policy very valuable "" it can be used to help with costs that can occur (for example the insured person may have had to stop work). It also gives the insured person the ability to decide how the sum is to be used - for example giving them the chance to spend time with family. Or, in some situations, they can use the sum to pursue alternative courses of treatment.
Finally, some people have the concern that, should their Specialist be proved wrong, and they do not pass away in 12 months, the insurer will request that the life insurance sum be paid back. However this is not the case, and in situations where the insured person lives well beyond the 12 months, the insurer will not request any portion of the life insurance sum to be repaid.
by: LifeDirect
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