Cancer is one of NZ’s biggest killers. So when you’re considering life insurance it makes sense to check that cancer will be covered.
In NZ, 63 people are told ‘you have cancer’ every day. Luckily many cancers can be cured if they are found and treated in time. It is estimated that in New Zealand, about 1 person in every 3 who gets cancer is cured. (cancernz.org.nz)
Your life Insurance can help you financially while you and your family get on with fighting the cancer.
-If you have critical illness cover (sometimes called trauma cover) added to your life cover, it will provide a lump sum payment if you suffer from one of the conditions specified, which include cancer. This lump sum payment can be used to keep paying the bills while you’re off work, for alternative treatments which may not be covered by your health insurance or available through the public health system, or however else you choose.
-If you are in the difficult situation where you are told to expect to live less than 6 -12 months (depending on your policy), you can have your life cover lump-sum amount paid early. Again this can be used any way that best supports your family, whether that’s allowing others time off work to care for you, a family trip, extra care or just to keep paying the bills, it’s there if you need it.
If you have had cancer before you apply for cover we will always be able to offer you Funeral Cover, regardless of your current state of health. So even if you currently have cancer you can still get some form of cover. For the first 2 years you will only be covered if you die from an accident but after that time full funeral cover will kick in.
If you want more than funeral cover, and you’ve had cancer in the past it can still be possible to get life cover. We consider each application independently. The cover we offer you will depend on what type of cancer it was, when it was and how it was treated. That will determine:
·the kind of cover we can offer (for example life cover, life cover and trauma cover or if we can only offer funeral cover),
·what the premium might be. In some cases the premiums might be standard rates in others there might be a loading (when the premium is increased above standard rates, for example something like an extra $20 in premium for every $1000 sum insured per year), or
·in some cases cover might be deferred (put off) for a period and then cover can start.
If you’ve had cancer, we are likely to exclude cancer from Critical Illness cover, and it’s possible we wouldn’t be able to offer Disability Cover or Income Protection.
What are the stats?
·Cancer is the leading cause of death in NZ, accounting for around 30% of all deaths.
·The number of people affected by cancer is expected to increase by 50% by 2035.
·NZ has the worst rate of deaths from malignant skin melanoma, along with the worst new rates of cases of leukaemia.
·1 in 6 people will be diagnosed with cancer between the age of 30 and 64.
·For females the biggest cancer killer is breast cancer. All women have a chance of developing breast cancer at some point in their lives. 9 women are diagnosed with breast cancer daily.
·Breast cancer accounts for 17% of all female cancer deaths and around 1 in 9 women in NZ will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some stage in their lives.
·For males, lung cancer is the highest killer – accounting for 21% of male cancer deaths. However, prostate cancer represents the highest incidence of male cancer – 25% of all male cancer cases.
Life Insurance can’t stop you from getting cancer but it can help you financially while you get treatment. If you’ve had cancer, bear in mind that each case is considered by our underwriters, so don’t assume you won’t be able to get any cover. We will try and work with you to ensure an outcome that gives you some sort of cover against worst case scenarios.
