Total and permanent disability insurance (TPD) is a personal insurance that is paid as a lump sum payment to the insured person should he or she become totally and permanently disabled and be unable to work. The two defining aspects of this type of insurance is that:

• Work can be defined in two ways. The work for which the insured person is trained to do as his or her usual occupation or any kind of work, and
• The disablement is that as defined in the policy.

When taking out the policy the insured person will choose if they would prefer to be covered for the work he or she considers their normal occupation or for the inability to carry out any kind of work at all. The insurance company itself will define the type of disablement they are willing to issue the insurance against.

BT Total and Permanent Disability Insurance can be purchased as either a stand alone policy or as an extra cover added to an existing life insurance or superannuation policy. It will provide financial support should you unfortunately become permanently incapacitated through contracting a serious illness or injury. If you make a successful claim the money so paid will enable you to cover the cost of any necessary rehabilitation as well as help you adjust to any lifestyle changes that may be required. It can be used to ensure your rent or mortgage payments are paid as they fall due. In fact any debt you may be carrying at the time can be paid and therefore release more money for everyday cash flow purposes whilst you make any necessary financial adjustments. The premium payments that are required in order to obtain such protection can be paid on a monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis, whichever suits you best.

BT Total and Permanent Disability Insurance Features.

The main features that come with a BT total and permanent disability insurance include the following:

• Counselling benefit. If your situation is such that you need counselling in order to better overcome the new hardship you have suddenly encountered, you will be entitled to an amount of $5,000 to cover such costs.
• Interim cover whilst waiting for your application to be processed. You will be eligible to receive up to $1 million free interim accident TPD cover while you application is being processed.
• Large total TPD pay out. The total cover you will enjoy with BT Total and Permanent Disability Insurance is $2 million.
• Worldwide cover. No matter where you travel in the entire world your cover will always remain the same.
• Optional needlestick benefit. This option is available to people employed in the medical profession. It offers cover of up to $500,000 if you occupationally contract HIV or hepatitis B or C.
• BT Children’s benefit is another available option. If this option is chosen it will pay a lump sum amount if your child were to contract a large range of listed medical conditions. Children between the ages of 2 and 14 can be covered up to a maximum of $200,000 per child.
• BT benefits are all adjusted automatically to allow for inflation. This means your cover will always keep up with the cost of living. Guaranteed upgrades will assure you will receive all policy upgrades without cost as they come about. Your policy renewal is also guaranteed so that no matter what level of health you enjoy in future years your policy will always be able to be renewed.
• There is a financial planning benefit. This benefit helps you adjust to your changed circumstances as well as a loyalty benefit that rewards your loyalty to BT if you keep your policy going for three years.

When you are considering taking out TPD insurance it is always a good idea to ask yourself if you and your family would have enough resources set aside to pay your ongoing living expenses, including debts, if you were taken down with permanent disability that prevented you from being able to keep bringing in an income. Besides these normal living expenses there is always the extra costs related to your medical and physical condition. You may feel you could afford to run the risk, if you do, think for a moment of the financial devastation that would result if you were unfortunate enough to suffer such a disaster.

You have most likely accepted the need for life insurance, and you have achieved peace of mind knowing that if something were to happen to you and you were no longer there to provide for your loved ones, they, at least would be able to survive financially. But what if you were not to die? What if you survived the accident or illness only to suffer a disability that prevented you from working ever again? Isn’t it as equally important that you and your family have the same protection? There are many people existing on a government disability pension today who wished they had not run the risk.