nib Ultimate Trauma Insurance (critical illness cover): A review

nib NZ: A brief company overview

nib New Zealand is part of nib Group, one of Australasia’s largest and fastest-growing providers of health, travel, and life insurance. Originally established in 1952 as a hospital fund for steelworkers in New South Wales, the company has since expanded significantly, entering the New Zealand market in 2012 through the acquisition of Tower Medical Insurance Limited and then OnePath’s medical portfolio in 2015. 

Today, nib supports over 1.6 million residents, students, and workers across Australia and New Zealand with a range of accessible, affordable insurance options. Its New Zealand arm continues to grow, most recently with the acquisition of Kiwi Insurance Limited. 

Financially, nib NZ remains strong, with a premium revenue of $218 million for the first half of the 2025 financial year and an A (Strong) financial strength rating from S&P Global Ratings. 

Policywise works with the full suite of nib Ultimate insurance products, including life, medical, income protection, mortgage protection, and total and permanent disability cover. In this review, we’ll look at their Ultimate Trauma Insurance plan in detail.

nib Ultimate Trauma Insurance (critical illness cover): Features and benefits

nib Ultimate Trauma Insurance provides a lump sum partial or full benefit payment when you suffer a serious medical condition covered by your policy. You can choose a benefit amount that suits your needs, up to a maximum of $750,000.

Covered conditions

nib Ultimate Trauma Insurance covers 60+ critical illnesses, injuries, and procedures, such as:

Cover types: Standalone vs. accelerated

nib offers two types of Ultimate Trauma Insurance cover:

• Accelerated: This is linked to your Ultimate Life Insurance policy. If you claim the trauma benefit, your life cover will be reduced by that amount. 
• Standalone: Your trauma cover is independent from your life cover and doesn’t affect your life insurance sum insured. Should you wish to switch from a standalone to an accelerated trauma cover, you may be able to do so once under your plan’s trauma cover conversion benefit. 

Built-in benefits

• Full trauma benefit: Pays the full benefit amount after being diagnosed with a listed full trauma condition for the first time. 
• Partial trauma benefit: Pays a lump sum benefit if you're diagnosed with a listed partial trauma condition for the first time. You’ll receive the lesser of 25% of the amount insured or $100,000, which will be deducted from your trauma cover amount insured.
• Newborn children's benefit: After 12 months of cover, provides financial support if your newborn is diagnosed with a listed condition and survives for at least 30 days after birth. This benefit provides $50,000 per diagnosed child.
• Children's trauma benefit: Covers your children between the ages of 3 months to 20 years if they’re diagnosed with one of the listed full or partial trauma conditions for the first time. This benefit provides $50,000 and $12,500 per child for full and partial trauma conditions, respectively.
• Financial and legal advice benefit: Reimburses the cost of professional financial or legal advice (up to $2,500), related to how the full benefit payout is used.
• Counselling benefit: Reimburses the cost of professional counselling (up to $2,500) for you or your loved ones if you suffer a full trauma condition.
• Support person accommodation benefit: If you need medical assessment or treatment outside your residential region (100km or more from home) for a covered full trauma condition, accommodation costs for a recommended support person may be reimbursed. Cover is up to $300 per night (maximum of 10 nights).  
• Support person transport benefit: If you need medical assessment or treatment outside your residential region (100km or more from home) for a covered full trauma condition, the transport costs for a recommended support person may be reimbursed. Cover is up to $1,000 or the actual reasonable travel costs, whichever is lower. 
• Return to home benefit: If you suffer a covered full trauma condition overseas and the full benefit is paid, return flights to New Zealand or Australia for you and one support person are reimbursed. Cover is up to $10,000, the actual transport costs, or the cost of standard economy fares, whichever is less. 

Optional benefits

• Early cancer benefit: Provides a lump sum payment for certain early-stage cancer diagnoses. The payout is either 25% of your amount insured or up to $100,000, whichever is less.
• Life cover buy-back benefit: Lets you restore the amount of life cover that was reduced due to your accelerated trauma cover claim.
• Trauma cover deferred buy-back benefit: Allows you to reinstate your trauma cover after a set deferment period. 
• Multiple trauma cover immediate buy-back benefit: Automatically reinstates your trauma cover after a claim, allowing continued protection for new and unrelated conditions. Stand-down periods apply.

Please note: Terms and conditions, as well as exclusions, apply to all nib products. It's important to review your policy carefully to understand the specific terms of cover, benefits, and any limitations. This ensures that you have a clear understanding of the protection provided by each product. If you have any questions or would like some help finding the right policy, book a callback with a Policywise adviser; it's fast and free.

nib offers more ways to strengthen your cover

Trauma insurance is just one element of a comprehensive protection plan. For greater peace of mind, nib offers other insurance products that can complement your critical illness cover. 

• nib health insurance: Ultimate Health, Ultimate Health Max, and Easy Health give you comprehensive protection, covering private hospital care, surgery, and cancer treatments, with options to cover GP visits, dental expenses, and other costs. 
• nib Ultimate Life Insurance: Offers a lump sum payment if you die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness, helping your loved ones cover major and recurring expenses, like funeral costs, rent or home loan repayments, living expenses, children’s education, and debt payments.
• nib Ultimate Income Protection Insurance: Provides monthly benefits if you’re unable to work due to illness or injury. By replacing a portion of your income, it helps ensure you have funds for living costs like rent and groceries, and other expenses while you’re off work. 
• Ultimate Total & Permanent Disability Insurance: Provides a lump sum payment if you become totally and permanently disabled due to illness or injury, and either cannot return to work, are unable to perform activities of daily living, or suffer an irreversible impairment specified in the policy. You can get TPD cover as a standalone plan or accelerated against your life cover.
• Ultimate Mortgage Protection Insurance: Assists with your home loan repayments or replaces a portion of your lost income if you're unable to work due to an illness or injury-related disability.
• Company health insurance: Supports your team’s wellbeing by providing generous cover for private surgical and non-surgical treatments and cancer care.

RECOMMENDED READINGS

AIA trauma insurance

Asteron Life trauma cover

Chubb critical illness insurance

Fidelity Life trauma cover

Partners Life trauma insurance

Do you need nib's critical illness cover in New Zealand?

Life can change in an instant. Trauma insurance provides financial security if you’re diagnosed with a serious medical condition. Here’s why more and more Kiwis are choosing to protect themselves with this kind of insurance:

• Serious illnesses can strike at any age: Conditions like cancer, heart attacks, and strokes can occur even while you’re in your 20s to 50s. For example, in 2022, over 7,400 new cancer cases were registered among Kiwis aged 0 to 59. A significant number of strokes (up to 30%) occur among Kiwis under 65. Trauma cover pays you a lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a covered condition, helping you regain your health when life throws you a curveball.
• Critical illnesses and injuries can affect your income: Being too unwell to work - even temporarily - can lead to a sudden loss of income. In the March 2022 quarter, over 44,000 employed New Zealanders were off work for a week due to sickness, illness, or injury. While sick leave or savings may cover some time off, they often fall short in the face of a long recovery. Trauma insurance gives you a one-time cash payout that can be used however you need, whether it's to replace income, reduce debts, or give yourself breathing room.
• Medical and recovery costs add up: Even with New Zealand’s publicly funded healthcare, medical costs can quickly accumulate. You may need to pay for private treatment and consultations, medications, home modifications, or rehabilitation services. Trauma cover can help fill those gaps, giving you quicker access to care and more flexibility when choosing your treatment options.
• Financial support for your family: The impact of a serious medical condition is not just physical or emotional; it's also financial, and often affects the whole household. Ongoing bills, like rent or mortgage, childcare, groceries, and utilities, don’t stop just because you're sick. A trauma insurance payout can help cover living expenses and keep your family financially secure while you recover.

Policywise: Helping secure your health and finances

Policywise is a 100% free service which tells you which health, life, and disability insurance provider best fits your needs. We offer fast, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand comparisons of all leading providers and a simple summary clearly recommending which insurer is best for your situation.

Not all insurance policies are the same. Policywise can help you sort out the duds, avoid the lemons, understand the fine print and exclusions, and get the right insurance for you and your family.

We make the important decision of where to buy your insurance super easy. We’ll answer your questions, provide experienced advice and quotes, and manage all the back and forth throughout the application process. Taking out your cover through us means you'll have our lifetime support and claims advocacy, and we'll help you negotiate a positive outcome at claim time. We can also take care of lodging any claims on your behalf and back you up if the going gets tough.

Check out the reviews on our homepage for how other New Zealanders have found our service, because now is the time to get your critical illness cover sorted. Give your family or someone you love the most outstanding financial support possible. Book a 5-minute callback with Policywise today; our service is fast and free.