Trauma insurance and total & permanent disability (TPD) insurance provide lump sum payments when you’re diagnosed with a serious illness or permanently unable to work. They sit alongside — not instead of — life insurance and income protection.
What’s in This Section
- Trauma Insurance NZ — Critical Illness Cover Guide
- Total & Permanent Disability Insurance NZ
- Trauma vs Income Protection Insurance NZ — What’s the Difference?
- Best Trauma Insurance NZ 2026 — Provider Comparison
- Disability Income Cover NZ
How Trauma and Disability Insurance Fits Your Cover Stack
Most New Zealanders should build insurance cover in this order:
- Income protection — monthly benefit if you can’t work due to illness
- Life insurance — lump sum if you die
- Trauma insurance — lump sum on diagnosis of serious illness (heart attack, cancer, stroke)
- TPD insurance — lump sum if you’re permanently disabled and can’t work again
Trauma and TPD address a specific gap: what if you’re seriously ill or disabled, but not dead, and not expected to recover quickly enough for income protection to carry you?
A cancer diagnosis might mean you can’t work for 12 months. Income protection replaces your monthly income. But you may also face treatment costs, home modifications, childcare, and other lump sum needs that a monthly benefit doesn’t cover. Trauma insurance fills this gap.