Most people wouldn’t dream of driving without car insurance, or living in a house without home and contents insurance, so it is remarkable that the majority of Australians do not think about protecting their families through life insurance, in the event of death, accident or illness.
With the incidence of cancer increasing year on year and the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases preventing many families from living a full life due to disability, it is becoming increasingly important to consider crisis cover as part of a life insurance portfolio. Many Australian families struggle, both emotionally and financially, when someone in their family is diagnosed with a life threatening or debilitating health condition. By taking out crisis cover, you can help ease the financial burden should you be unfortunate enough to suffer a traumatic event. You might think ‘it’ll never happen to me’, but you may think again after considering these facts.
In Australia, cancer has been the leading cause of death in Australia over the past six years, with more than 39,000 people estimated to die from it each year. 1 in 2 men, and 1 in 3 women, will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 85.
Amongst the most common cancers in Australia are cancer of the digestive organs, breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer.
Almost 3,000 men die each year of prostate cancer and around 18,700 new cases are diagnosed every year. Each day about 32 men learn news that they have prostate cancer – tragically one man every three hours will lose his battle against this insidious disease.
More than 2,640 women will die from breast cancer in a single year – that’s over 7 women each day. 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85.
Over 380,000 Australians are treated for skin cancer each year – that’s over 1,000 people every day. Over 1,600 Australians die from skin cancer each year. Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Skin cancers account for around 80% of all new cancers diagnosed each year in Australia. Each year Australians are four times more likely to develop a common skin cancer than any other form of cancer.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the term used for heart, stroke and blood vessel diseases. CVD kills 1 Australian every 10 minutes and prevents 1.4 million people from living a full life because of disability caused by the disease. CVD is one of Australia’s largest health problems. Despite improvements over the last few decades, the health and economic burden of CVD exceeds that of any other disease.