Personal Health Insurance
Under a Permanent Health Insurance policy (PHI), an income benefit is paid out to the policyholder during disability caused by sickness and injury. Beneftis are paid at the end of an initial waiting period (deferment period), which may be 4, 13, 26 or 52 weeks. The benefits can be payable until the policyholder returns to work, dies or the policy term expires, whichever is earlier.
A PHI policy aims to replace the earnings lost through sickness or injury and the usual maximum is 50% - 60% of earnings in addition to state benefits.
The policyholder can opt, at commencement, for an income that stays level or that increases by a predeterined rate each year (at an additional cost).
There are policy exclusions which will vary between different providers and will be set out in the Key Features Document.
Occupational Categories are set and is a key element in the pricing and underwriting procedure. Typically life offices categorises occupation into four classes. Class 1 represents the lowest risk (administrative) and Class 4 the highest risk (heavy manual work).
Policies usually expires at age 60 or 65.