Table of Contents
what is Critical Illness Cover?
This pays out a cash lump sum if you are diagnosed with a defined critical illness or serious illness. In our opinion it is the single most important cover you will have in your lifetime. You see most people in their lifetime will be diagnosed with a critical illness such as Cancer, Heart Attacks, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinsons and Alzheimers disease. This cover is the one you will be more likely to claim for.
Different insurance companies cover different types of critical or serious illnesses and they will pay dependent on how severe the condition you contract is. So, Aviva may pay a claim for a less severe form of breast cancer than Legal and General does. I am not saying they do but you get the gist.
how should I decide which provider to choose
Each provider be like a mortgage company in the fact they have their own little quirks. For example, AIG are likely to charge you less or have more leniency for people who are slightly larger in size. Zurich and LV will consider type 1 diabetics more favourably than others. When you speak to your adviser they will be able to advise you who to use and why for example, Barry is a type one diabetic who has had eye complications in the past as well as a host of different medical complications. He approached Legal and General and Vitality life who would not entertain covering him because of his medical history, however, Zurich would and offered him cover. Admittedly they increased his premium. He was informed before the policy started and he was happy to pay the increased premiums and is now covered. If the premiums come out to expensive you can reduce your cover to tailor it to your needs. So, if you have a budget in mind and the premiums go over that then we reduce the cover to fit within your budget
So you see different providers have different rules, criteria and underwriting qualities and your adviser will be able to guide you to the correct provider based on your personal medical history and circumstances. If you are happy with the result of the providers terms, whether they increase your premiums or make an exclusion to not cover you for a certain thing, then you can either accept the providers terms or not its up to you.
A lot of insurers do not cover everything but if you are unsure or have any questions please Get in Touch with one of our specialist advisers who will be glad to help.
Critical Illness Cover Q&As
They are fantastic policies and we would recommend anybody have one.
Insurance companies can look at this in different ways. They can make an exclusion for your existing condition covering you for the rest of the defined conditions on that policy that they cover. Insurers can increase the premiums of the policy because of the extra risk to them having to potentially pay out on a successful claim as you may be at a greater risk of contracting the conditions they cover.