Adviser feedback spurs AIA coverage updates

AIA NZ's recent overhaul of its trauma buyback options gives customers a new 60-day window to reinstate their critical conditions and/or life cover immediately after making a full critical conditions claim. It has also expanded its out-of-hospital cardiac arrest definition to include more types of evidence.

The changes, which took effect in May, apply retroactively to existing policies dating back over two decades. With a high cost of living and insurers straining under rising medical costs, AIA says its updates aim to “make sure that insurance is affordable.”

"We know that many of you [advisers] have been asking for these types of enhancements. We have listened, and we are on the move with you," says Aaron Gilmore, AIA national sales manager for retail.

The enhancement work by offering customers the choice of two reinstatement options for critical conditions cover after a claim immediately (within 60 days) or at 12 months. For cancer claims, customers who reinstate immediately will have a 12-month exclusion on all cancers from the original claim date.