As part of its ongoing commitment to helping Kiwi’s love healthier, longer and better lives, the enhancements continue to be fit for purpose for customers and provide better claim outcomes when families need them most.

AIA NZ chief partnership distribution officer, Sharron Botica says they are proud that these enhancements were designed to extend the support available to customers if they or their tamariki were to encounter one of these events.

“Unfortunately, experiencing a trauma such as serious illness or injury at least once in our lives is more common than you might think. With these enhancements in place, we hope that parents can have greater peace of mind that we’ve got their back, when they need it most,”

The new enhancements include:

• Widening the coverage ages for the Built-in Children’s Trauma and Optional Children’s and Maternity benefits to provide cover from three months to the child’s 21st birthday. Up until now, coverage was only eligible from two years of age.
• Altering the congenital conditions exclusion to only exclude congenital conditions where signs and symptoms develop before the child is three months of age. Previously, all congenital conditions were excluded regardless of when they first presented.
• Introducing three new claimable conditions to the Built-in- Newborn Children’s Benefit that includes changing the existing ‘absence of limbs’ condition.
• Introducing a new Children’s Congenital Conditions Benefit to the Optional Children’s & Maternity Benefit, providing cover if a child is diagnosed with and undergoes treatment for one of eight listed congenital conditions.
• Enhancing the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus with Lupus Nephritis condition to include ‘Alopecia’ as an additional evidentiary clinical criterion.
• Changing the timing of the 90-day impairment test within the Severe Illness and Injury condition to better support customers who have extended hospital stays.
• Enhancing the Aortic Surgery condition to include cover for aortic dissection.
• Enhancing the benign brain and spinal cord tumours condition definition to provide cover for pituitary gland tumours where an open craniotomy is medically necessary.