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Critical Illness Cover Uncovered

November 12th, 2022

It is a sad fact that many of us will know someone who has suffered from a critical illness. Despite medical … critical illness is still all too common. Critical illness … include suc

It is a sad fact that many of us will know someone who has suffered from a critical illness. Despite medical advances,Guest Posting critical illness is still all too common. Critical illness conditions include such things as cancer, heart attacks, strokes, multiple sclerosis, leukaemia, and total permanent disability.

Being diagnosed with a critical illness doesn’t only spell emotional and physical turmoil. It can also mean financial disaster. If you are unable to work due to a critical illness, or if you have to give up work to look after a child with a serious medical condition, you could quickly find yourself struggling to meet your financial commitments such as the mortgage and other regular bills. And all this at a time when you may be having to find additional money to pay for medical treatment or the costs of ongoing medical care.

With little support available from the State – less than £60 per week if qualify for Disability Living Allowance and just over £70 per week if you qualify for long-term Incapacity Benefit – you could soon find yourself in serious financial trouble.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to help protect yourself from the financial implications of suffering from a critical illness. Whilst the doctors get on with their job of looking after your health, critical illness insurance can help you avoid worrying about money and leave you free to concentrate on getting better.

Critical illness insurance provides you with a substantial tax-free cash lump sum if you are diagnosed with a serious illness. Different policies cover different ranges of medical conditions, but the one thing they all have in common is that they will pay you your chosen level of benefit as a tax-free lump sum in the event of your being diagnosed with one of the insured conditions.

Providing critical illness cover for a sizeable sum is cheaper than you might imagine, and can make a huge difference to your quality of life in the event of a serious illness. For example, once your claim is paid, you could use the money to clear your mortgage or take a holiday to help aid your recovery.

It is easy to argue that anyone who has a mortgage should definitely take out critical illness protection, but the same can apply to anyone who has regular financial commitments that they would find hard to meet in the event of being unable to work following diagnosis of a serious medical condition. In fact, in many ways, critical illness cover is even more important than life insurance, because in this day and age, advances in medical science mean you are more likely to initially survive a critical illness than you are to die from it.

When you suffer a serious illness it can take a long time to recover. You may have to give up work completely to begin with, and it may be a number of years before you are fit enough to return to full time employment. If your critical illness leaves you with a permanent disability you may have to change career, thus leaving you with a lower salary than prior to your illness.

When deciding what level of critical illness cover to opt for, there are a number of factors to take into account. If you were in a position where you were unable to work for a number of years after your illness, then you might need to live off your critical illness benefit for longer than expected. Therefore, it is sensible to try to cover a sum at least four or five times your current annual salary. Remember to take into consideration your mortgage any other outstanding loans and credit card debts when deciding on a level of cover.

All critical illness policies have what is known as a survival period. This is the length of time after you fall ill before your claim can be processed. This is normally in the region of two to four weeks. Then the insurer will need to gather medical evidence and reports from your doctors to ensure the validity of your critical illness claim. This process can take a few weeks depending on the amount of information required. The insurance companies who provide critical illness cover have specialist medical claims staff who will make every effort to get your benefit paid to you as quickly as possible.

In addition to providing critical illness protection for yourself and your partner, it also makes sense to add on cover for your children if you have any. Unfortunately, serious illness amongst children is more common than you might like to think. Historical claims records show that a substantial number of claims are made on children’s critical illness insurance, mostly for leukaemia.

You might assume that if one of your children suffered a critical illness, your household finances would be unaffected. After all, they are not wage earners. However, in reality you may want, or need, to give up your full time employment to look after your child. In addition, their illness may give rise to additional costs for medical treatment or nursing care. Money is the last thing you want to be worrying about if one of your children is taken seriously ill.

A large number of critical illness insurers automatically provide cover for children, so it is worth checking this aspect of the policy when deciding which critical illness provider to opt for.

One of the most important things to be aware of when choosing a critical illness protection plan is the list of illnesses and conditions covered by the policy, as this varies from one insurance provider to another.

All providers cover a certain range of core conditions, such as cancer, stroke, heart attack, and multiple sclerosis. Other companies may provide cover for additional conditions such as loss of sight, loss of limb, or benign tumours. Statistics show, however, that the majority of claims are for one of the core conditions, which every insurer has to cover.

Critical illness insurance can be bought with either guaranteed rate premiums or reviewable rate premiums. The former are normally more expensive, but the premiums are guaranteed to remain the same throughout the life of the policy. With reviewable rates, the premiums are not guaranteed and so you may have to pay more or less per month (almost certainly more!) as the years go by.

Critical illness policies stay in force for a fixed period. The period of cover you select is known as the term. A short-term policy might run for perhaps ten years. Or you might want a longer term policy of twenty-five years to coincide with your mortgage. It is important to remember that your cover will end completely as soon as the term is finished.

The other two things which will cause your policy to terminate are if you die or if you make a critical illness claim. Once you have claimed for a serious illness, it can be difficult to get new cover, as you are seen by insurers as a higher risk. Some companies offer a critical illness buy-back option, meaning that if you do claim on your critical illness policy you can still take out cover again with that same insurer. A buy-back facility will increase your monthly premiums, but for the sake of what may only be a few pounds per month, it is well worth considering from the outset.

As you will see from everything we have said here, critical illness policies can differ in price and provide differing levels of cover and benefits. In addition, some policies cover just critical illnesses, whilst others combine critical illness protection with traditional life assurance.

It is therefore important to take expert independent financial advice before deciding which critical illness policy is right for you.

Critial Illness: What a Disaster?

September 12th, 2022

I agree with Ursula K. LeGuin for critical illness could strike anyone at anytime and in any place with the modern trend of rise in lifestyle diseases that call for prompt and costly medical care.

Ursula K. LeGuin quotes “The only thing that makes life possible is permanent,Guest Posting intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.”

I agree with Ursula K. LeGuin for critical illness could strike anyone at anytime and in any place with the modern trend of rise in lifestyle diseases that call for prompt and costly medical care. The necessity of critical illness insurance or health insurance with critical illness riders was strengthened with my friend Mr. Karthik being diagnosed with multiple blocks in his heart that involved a treatment of 3lac. Then one more friend told us all about the necessity of critical illness insurance and health insurance with critical illness.

Understanding Critical Illness Insurance:

Understanding all about critical illness insurance and health insurance with critical illness insurance riders would tell us that most such health insurance policies would cover 12 critical illnesses besides others. They could include heart attack, coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), cancer, kidney failure, stroke, coma, liver failure, primary pulmonary arterial hypertension, multiple sclerosis, major organ transplant, aorta graft surgery and total blindness.

These diseases and surgical procedures could be wanted by anyone, at any time and anywhere and hence cannot be neglected at all. Health insurance companies generally undertake to pay a lump sum for the treatment of these diseases irrespective of the amount spent. Some companies may include such coverage on payment of additional premium every year. This could vary from company to company and also between companies dealing in life and general insurance.

Features of Critical Illness Insurance

Ø It is quite possible to take up critical illness insurance policies or health insurance with critical illness insurance riders. When a critical illness insurance policy is taken the entire amount of the sum assured is paid on treatment of the critical illness insurance irrespective of the amount actually spent. Such a policy is a benefit plan.

Ø The benefit payment under the Policy will generally be paid to you on survival for more than 30 days on post diagnosis of the critical illness.

Ø However critical illness insurance will not cover ordinary hospitalization and medical expenses. While health insurance policies with critical illness riders would offer extra protection against critical illnesses with payment of additional premium. They would also pay the lump sum on the treatment of the critical illness.

Ø However one needs to understand that critical illness insurance does not have any maturity value and just offer cover in case of critical illness. Such amounts may lapse on their not occurring. Life insurance policies offering critical illness insurance riders have a maturity value but no maturity value is allotted for riders. Riders merely cover the risk of critical illness insurance. However this need not deter one from taking up critical illness insurance, as it is well worth to cover risk of high expenses with critical illness.

Ø Having a look into the premium on Critical Illness Insurance policies would give us information that the amount of premium on critical illness insurance and riders for critical illness would vary depending on the age of the insured and the illnesses that are covered.

Ø Critical illness insurance could have exclusive coverage for all critical diseases or for only some, the terms and conditions varying from company to company. A check would prove useful before taking up a critical illness insurance or life insurance with critical illness riders.

Ø Tax benefits under Sec 80D or Sec 80C of the Income Tax Act are available.

Get critical illness insurance today

“Caution is a most valuable asset in fishing, especially if you are the fish.”

I am sure you would not prefer to be the fish that is not cautious, for life is so sweet and short. Mr. Karthik and his family are now out to advice families like them, for they believe their experience could educate others too.

What are you waiting for to take protection today? Information is nothing more than mental garbage if it doesn’t transfer an individual. Unimplemented knowledge is a burden. Our problem is not ignorance; but inaction. Don’t fall into this trap.

One of these days is none of these days; today is the day to start the big job. Just browse the net, discuss with financial planners for better understanding of the coverage required and product clarity, and get quotes and rest in peace with the best critical illness insurance for you.