Ron and Marion were a happily married couple in their fifties. Ron was a director of a large landscaping firm in Melbourne and Marion was a secondary school teacher.

One night, Ron suffered a severe stroke that left him paralysed. He was admitted to the Monash Medical Centre where he was treated for three months. He then spent six months in rehabilitation.

Ron had a total and permanent disability option in his life insurance policy and received a lump sum payment of $1.2 million.

Ron recovered to a limited degree: he lost the power of speech and can only walk with the aid of a walking frame. While Ron can, in part, function independantly, he needs constant care.

Marion insisted on caring for Ron. The lump sum payment from his insurance policy allowed her to retire and take up full-time care, without financial hardship. The insurance money enabled Marion to refit their home so Ron can support himself more easily. Marion was also able to sell their car and purchase a van that better accomodates.

David, a 51-year old accountant, was married with two teenage children. During a routine annual medical examination, David's doctor discovered that David had small amounts of rectal bleeding. Subsequent tests revealed that David had bowel cancer.

David stopped work immediately to undergo surgery. David's private health insurance allowed him the choice of hospital and surgeon with the recommendation of this doctor. The surgeon removed the section of bowel affected by the cancer and David then underwent chemotherapy.

David has income protection that covered him for 75% of his income, which he used to cover many of his family's ongoing living expenses. Three years before diagnosis David's financial adviser had recommended he purchase a trauma protection policy (he already had adequate life insurance through this superannuation fund).

In addition to receiving the benefit from his income insurance policy, David's trauma protection policy provided a lump sum payment of $200,000 when he was diagnosed with cancer. The payment allowed David's wife to take 3 months off work to care for him and meet some of the costs and household expenses while he was unable to work.

David continued treatment for several months and made a complete recovery and was able to return to work.

John was a 45-year old motorcycle mechanic...

John was a 45-year old motorcycle mechanic who had his own motorcycle repair business in Brookvale, Sydney.

He had recently bought a small house with his 37 year old wife, who was pregnant and preparing for the arrival of their second child.

Soon after they moved to their new house, John began experiencing strange feelings in his chest, accompanied by dizziness and shortness of breath. John visited his doctor and, after further tests, was diagnosed with congenital heart disease.

John required surgery that kept him away from his business. He had health insurance but it was low-level cover and only paid a portion of his substantial hospital bills.

Thankfully, John had an existing Income insurance policy that covered up to 75 percent of his current earnings. On the advise of his financial adviser, this was suplemented by a Business Expense insurance policy.

John's income insurance policy enabled him to cover his and his wife's mortgage repayments, while benefits from the Business Expense policy helped to cover the Business Expense required to keep John's business operating during his forced absense. Most importantly, the money provided by the insurance gave John peace of mind, allowing him to recover in optimal time. Before too long, he was back to work.

Stewart was a construction supervisor at a large building site in Adelaide. On weekends, he liked to keep fit and sometime enjoyed a game of touch football with his friends. During one game, Stewart fell awkardly and injured his knee. He was taken to hospital by ambulance, where it was determined he would need a knee reconstruction. Given the nature of Stewart's work, he was forced to take four months off work while his knee healed.

Recognising that staying in strong physical shape was a necessity in his line of work, Stewart had taken out income insurance prior to his accident. As a result, he was able to claim 75 percent of his income just 30 days after his injury. This covered his living expenses while he recovered.