TAL Increases Income Protection Benefits

TAL Insurance, previously known as Tower Insurance Australia, has recently launched a new product which increases income protection insurance benefit payments by nearly 95% for critical illnesses.

The new policy is branded as Income Protection Optimal and offers greater peace of mind to clients. The increased breadth of coverage also means that clients no longer have to select a waiting or benefit period at application time.

The income protection insurance policy works by having a Total Disability definition that provides payment in three different ways on the one policy:

Critical Illness Events have no waiting period, are covered to age 70 and have an increased benefit amount applied
Specified Injuries have no waiting period, are paid in advance and have a guaranteed claim period
In all other cases, you are still covered with a four week waiting period and a two year benefit period applying

Income protection covers major critical illnesses

The following lists the critical illnesses that TAL's Income Protection Optimal policy covers.

Alzheimer's Disease
Angioplasty*
Aortic Surgery
Aplastic Anaemia
Benign Brain Tumour
Blindness
Cancer*
Cardiomyopathy
Chronic Kidney Failure
Chronic Liver Failure
Chronic Lung Failure
Coma
Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
Dementia
Encephalitis and Meningitis
Heart Attack*
Heart Valve Surgery*
Intensive Care

Loss of Hearing
Loss of Independent Existence
Loss of Single Limb
Loss of Speech
Major Head Trauma
Major Organ Transplant
Medically Acquired HIV
Meningococcal Disease
Motor Neurone Disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Muscular Dystrophy
Occupationally Acquired HIV
Paralysis
Parkinson's Disease
Pneumonectomy
Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
Severe Burns
Stroke*
Triple Vessel Angioplasty*

* Some restrictions apply for these conditions. Please refer to the PDS for more information

Income Protection Optimal Additional Benefits

Income Protection Optimal also offers the following additional benefits:

Partial Disability Benefit - they pay a Partial Disability Benefit if you suffer an illness or injury and is partially disabled prior to their 65th birthday following a period of Total Disability of at least 14 continuous days.
Waiver of Premium Benefit - they waive premium payments during periods of total or partial disability until the end of the benefit period.
Death Benefit - if you die whilst they are paying a benefit under the plan they will pay a Death Benefit lump sum of three times the monthly benefit to a maximum of $50,000.
Recurring Claim Benefit - if disability recurs from the same or a related cause within one year of you returning to work, no waiting period will apply.
Inflation Protection Benefit - the benefit amount will be increased by the greater of the indexation factor and three percent on each policy anniversary.

September 2011