AIA Enhances Trauma Buyback Options

AIA has announced enhancements to its trauma (Critical Conditions) and life cover buyback options under the AIA Living product suite, effective from 21 May 2025. These updates are designed to provide clients with more flexibility and faster access to reinstating cover after a claim — a move likely to be welcomed by advisers and clients alike.

The key changes include:

1. Earlier Trauma Buyback Option
   Clients can now choose to reinstate their trauma cover within 60 days of claim payment, rather than waiting for the 12-month anniversary. However, if the original claim was for cancer, no further cancer claims will be paid within 12 months of the first.

2. Life Cover Buyback Flexibility
   Life cover linked to an accelerated trauma claim can now also be reinstated within 60 days of the claim payment — rather than only after the 6- or 12-month survival periods. The reinstated life cover will provide accidental death cover only until those periods have elapsed.

3. Updated Cardiac Arrest Definition
   The Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest condition has been updated to reflect current medical documentation standards.

These enhancements will apply to existing AIA Living customers (and select legacy Sovereign and AIA products) if the claim is paid on or after 21 May 2025. The new policy wordings and support materials will be published on AIA’s adviser site. It is worth highlighting that there's no premium increase associated with these enhancements.

Quality Product Research View:

There has been an increasing focus on continuity of trauma cover with three buyback features which are automatic, plus Fidelity Life’s approach to the challenge, which is their Mult-trauma product. AIA’s new feature is a slightly different approach again, as the buy-back is on request, and the way cancer is handled in the new cover is different to the others.

At Quality Product Research we are committed to providing fair comparisons as well as functional comparisons. Advisers tell us that they would like to compare options, or alternatives, that are not ‘exact matches’ as we have done with, for example, specific injury benefits. We will be researching the new feature and providing comparisons for it, but first we are taking the question of how to handle the menu selection and comparison set to our next research advisory board meeting with three financial advisers from the central region, on 13 June. We are looking forward to working through this issue and getting the comparison up quickly after that.

For further details, visit:
🔗 AIA Product Enhancements