What is double insurance?

Double insurance is an option which may be offered on your trauma or TPD policy, at an extra cost. The additional fees will be included in your premiums from the beginning of your policy.

Usually, you will only be able to make one claim on a trauma or TPD policy. If you suffer from a serious illness you can receive a lump sum payout and your policy will expire. If you wanted to have insurance again after making a claim you would have to take out a new policy, based on your health and circumstances at that time. It is likely that it would be extremely expensive, or maybe even impossible, to buy insurance cover at this point.

A double insurance option allows you to reinstate some of your insurance after a claim. For a trauma policy, you would simply continue paying premiums to receive ongoing insurance – although you would no longer be covered for the illness you had already suffered. So, for example, if you made a claim following a heart attack, you could make a second claim should you later contract cancer, but you would generally not be able to claim again if you suffered another heart condition.

On a TPD policy, a double insurance option allows you to keep your life insurance (death benefit) in place after making a claim. Usually you would not need to pay any more premiums from this point.