Category: Cost
Trauma cover premiums rise each year on the default Variable Age-Stepped structure, with the steepest increases from your 50s onward. Level premium structures hold flat for a defined term but start at a higher rate, and indexation lifts both the sum insured and the premium each anniversary.
General advice only. The structures and PDS references below are factual product information, not a personal recommendation.
| Insurer | Default structure | Level option | Indexation default | |---------|------------------|--------------|---------------------| | AIA | Variable Age-Stepped | Level Premium available | Higher of CPI Increase and 5%, opt-out available (Priority Protection PDS v32, 9 November 2025, Section 7.2) | | Zurich | Variable age-stepped premium structure | Level option available | CPI-only mechanism (Wealth Protection PDS, 1 November 2025) | | TAL | Variable Age-Stepped Premiums age 19 to 62 | Variable Premiums to age 65, reverting to age-stepped | Greater of Indexation Factor and 5% (Accelerated Protection PDS, 12 December 2024, Section 2.3) | | OnePath | Stepped premiums | Level option | CPI-linked Indexation Benefit (OneCare PDS, 1 October 2025) | | ClearView | Stepped premiums | Level option | CPI Indexation Benefit standard (ClearChoice PDS, 13 May 2024, Update 5 June 2025) | | NEOS | Variable age-stepped premium | Variable premium to age 65 option | Higher of 5% or CPI (NEOS Protection PDS, 6 December 2024) | | Encompass | Variable age-stepped | Level option | Greater of CPI or 3% (Encompass Protection PDS, 26 September 2025) | | Acenda | Variable age-stepped | Level option | Greater of CPI or 5% (taxed-source); or CPI or 3% (other) (Acenda Insurance PDS, 27 September 2025) | | Futura | Variable age-stepped | Level option | Higher of 5% or CPI; stops at age 70 for Critical Illness Cover (Futura Protection PDS, 1 October 2025) |
The default Variable Age-Stepped premium recalculates each plan anniversary based on your age. Increases are modest in your 30s and 40s, then accelerate from your 50s as the statistical risk of a Critical Illness Event rises. The advantage is a lower starting premium when you are young.
By your 60s, an age-stepped premium can be multiples of the starting rate. This is built into the pricing because Critical Illness claim probability rises sharply with age.
Level premiums hold flat for a chosen term, commonly to age 65 or 70. Your starting premium is higher than the equivalent age-stepped premium, but the long-run cost can be lower if you keep the cover for the full term.
Level premiums are not immune to indexation. The sum insured still grows each anniversary, and the premium grows with the indexed cover (typically by the same percentage as the indexation factor). What is fixed is the rate per dollar of cover, not the absolute premium.
Every panel Trauma PDS applies automatic Indexation Benefit by default. The increase mechanism varies: AIA uses the higher of CPI or 5%, Encompass uses the greater of CPI or 3% (the lowest floor in the panel), Futura indexation stops at age 70 for Critical Illness. You can opt out of indexation on most anniversaries to keep the sum insured flat, which also keeps the premium step that year smaller.
General advice only. A licensed adviser can model the long-run cost of stepped vs level on your circumstances.
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