Australia's Leading Life Insurance Comparisons Reveals Alarming Statistics for Under-Insured Australians

Life Insurance Direct Finds Trauma and TPD Insurance Getting Left Behind

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Aug 29, 2013, 08:35 ET

SYDNEY, Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Australians are leaving themselves under-insured when it comes to critical illness and total and permanent disability, according to Life Insurance Direct, Australia's No.1 in Life Insurance Comparisons.

In a survey of 500 of their clients over the past 12 months, Life Insurance Direct found that while almost 60 per cent of their clients took out life insurance, only 7 percent took out trauma insurance and 10 per cent took out Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) Insurance.

While acknowledging that most people were in the market for life insurance and that trauma insurance was generally more expensive, Russell Cain CEO of xLife, owner and operator of Life Insurance Direct, said that the findings were quite alarming.

"We have always found that life insurance was the most popular type of insurance we compared, followed by income protection," Mr Cain said.

Trauma Insurance typically covers a range of critical illnesses, including heart attacks and cancer, while TPD Insurance provides a benefit if you become totally and permanently disabled.

"So while people are focused on insuring their lives and protecting their income, they are not protecting themselves and their families financially from critical illness and total and permanent disability – despite the statistics!"

Those statistics (courtesy of the Heart Foundation and the Cancer Council) are quite alarming:

Cardiovascular Disease

Affects one in six Australians or 3.7 million
Causes 1.4 million people to suffer from a disability
Caused 482,000 hospitalisations in 2009-10

Heart Attack

Each year around 55,000 Australians suffer from a heart attack
Estimated 380,000 Australians have suffered from a heart attack

Cancer

Estimated that 124,910 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2013
Cancer costs more than $3.78 billion in direct health costs

Mr Cain urged people to speak to their adviser about trauma and TPD insurance and ask about combined policies.

"Of our clients who took our trauma and TPD insurance in the last 12 months, only 2% took out stand alone trauma insurance and less than 1% took out stand alone TPD, showing how popular a combined policy is," Mr Cain said.

"Combined policies are a great way to take out fully comprehensive policies in a cost affective manner."

LifeInsuranceDirect.com.au is Australia's No.1 in Life Insurance Comparisons: a leader in providing policy comparisons, education and customer experience for those seeking life insurance policies.

The information in this press release is for Australian residents only and is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances or needs. Do not act until you seek professional advice and consider a Product Disclosure Statement. We recommend that you speak to (Phone Number 1300 882 762) a Life Insurance Direct specialist financial Adviser before you make any decision regarding life, income protection, trauma & funeral insurance.

Lifeinsurancedirect.com.au is owned and operated by xLife Pty Ltd, a corporate authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Ltd, AFSL No. 244252.

Media Contact:

Daniel Abelsohn
Number: (612) 9929 7355
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