Accidents happen. This is a fact of life that most of people are aware of. When you focus on it, this could be stressful; and even more stressful is the fact that you might be unprepared financially and emotionally when these things happen.

Just thinking that your lifestyle could change in a moment when accidents happen can be depressing. But much more depressing is the thought that you could be unemployed due to disability or illness, or your savings might not be enough to sustain you and your family if you become disabled or severely ill. This would become intolerable if you don’t have anything to fall back on.

However, there is something called TPD or Total and Permanent Disability Insurance that could be very helpful in such times as disability or illness. TPD or Total Disability Insurance is a type of insurance which an insured person can have in the event of disability which will render him unable to work.

TPD can be part of or a separate cover from life insurance. Having TPD will give you the benefits of being covered for total disability and all the costs it would incur. These costs could include some or all of the following – medical expenses, rehabilitation programs, and equipment used for the rehabilitation of the person. Some policies even include payment for the care received by the disabled.

Why is TPD Needed?

Despite the benefits it offers, you can still be amazed at how people tend to hesitate to have themselves covered. The most common excuses people would give for not purchasing one are either it is expensive or they are healthy and the chances of an accident to occur are very slim.

However, if you look at the statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 20% of the Australian population between the ages of 15 to 65 years old suffer from some sort of disability. If that is be translated to a more specific figure that would be a total of 516,700 Australians.

In addition to the statistics, there are more valid reasons why Total and Permanent Disability Insurance is needed. For one, you have other expenses and a sudden accident resulting in disability could drastically change your lifestyle. With this additional strain, your family might undergo a lot of stress not only financially, but emotionally as well. Moreover, the savings that you have might not be enough to sustain your family if your disability continues. That’s why even before such things happen it is better to arm yourself with TPD insurance like the AXA Total Permanent Disability Insurance Plan.

AXA Total and Permanent Disability Insurance Plan Types

The AXA Total and Permanent Disability Insurance Plan has three types – TPD own occupation, TPD any occupation, and Activities of Daily Living TPD or ADL. These types differ on their definition of what disability is and the benefits the insured person gets when disabled.

Furthermore, the TPD Insurance Plan can be purchased in three ways:

• TPD as a plan allows you to buy TPD independent from the life insurance plan
• TPD as an option will let you purchase TPD as an additional option to your life insurance plan.
• SuperLink TPD works like the TPD as an insurance option in terms of pricing and function. They can be attached to your life insurance plan, as well. However, there are certain parameters in the SuperLink TPD must match the other options in the life insurance plan. This means that if one feature is accepted in one plan, it should also be accepted on the other connected plans.

AXA Total and Permanent Disability Insurance Plan Benefits

Positioned as one of the global leaders in the financial market, AXA offers a competitive benefits package in their AXA Total and Permanent Disability Insurance Plan which includes:

• ADL TPD

which you will be paid if you are likely to need future care and has suffered severe cognitive impairment.

• Future Insurability Benefit

This allows you to increase your cover every year without submitting additional medical proof.

• Indexation benefit

This protects your benefits against inflation by automatically increasing your cover until you are 65 years old in line with the Consumer Price Index or CPI.

• Accommodation Benefit

A maximum of $150 per day for a maximum of 14 days will be paid to you if you remain confined to bed during that period and a friend or family member has to travel to care for you.

• Financial Plan Benefit

This benefit is paid to your financial adviser if you have obtained a financial plan from him within 6 months after you have been paid 100% of your benefit.

• Upgrade of benefits

This gives you the access to upgrade or made improvements on your plan without providing additional medical proof.

• 24/7 Worldwide Cover

With AXA TPD, you have the assurance that you are covered anytime, anywhere in the world.

No one knows the future but you can prepare for it. And one of the best preparations you can have is by having the AXA Total and Permanent Disability Insurance Plan. Why wait for something to happen when you can act on it before it happens?