Most insurers do not include TPD in their standard trauma, allowing it either as an 'add-on' or expecting that if it is wanted, it will be chosen from the menu of available benefits – after all, virtually every insurer offers it. To some extent, I know why this is, and appreciate it. In the hands of a competent risk adviser it makes it easier to set TPD levels according to the needs analysis, instead of first having to go through the fiddly business of deducting the TPD found in Trauma and IP. But claims like this one underline that this isn't market practice. We know that one of the most commonly sold packages of benefits is life and trauma. Including TPD acts as a back-up – a rare disorder that is extensively disabling then doesn't have to be declined, a payment either can be made, or will be in prospect if the condition worsens, it helps to improve the perception of fairness. Of course, things would have been better still if income protection had been sold.
By Russell Hutchinson – www.chatswood.co.nz