Critical Illness Cover

How will you or your family cope financially if you were to suffer a serious illness?

In a recent survey, 60% of us thought we were unlikely to suffer a serious illness* yet:

  • 1 in 3 men aged 30 will have a stroke, cancer or heart attack before the age of 65, and the same fate will happen to 1 in 5 women of the same age**.
  • Every 2 minutes somebody suffers a heart attack***.

A critical illness plan provides protection in the event that you suffer a serious illness such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, or multiple sclerosis etc. The good news is with medical advancement the chances of surviving a serious illness are now far greater. The bad news is, if you do survive your recovery will take time and there will be financial implications for you and your family. 

A critical illness plan will pay when you have been diagnosed with an illness that is covered under the terms of the policy. It is our experience that as well as using the proceeds to shore up the family finances during this difficult time, many clients elect to use the money to seek out the very best medical treatment.

   

..."many clients elect to use the money to seek out the very best medical treatment."

Critical Illness Cover is available on a single life or joint life basis. The policy has a fixed term and will pay out the sum assured (cover) should you suffer a specified critical illness at any point during the term. The policy only has a value should you make a valid claim during the specified term. Cover will cease at the end of the specified term or if you stop paying the premiums.

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Although not a standard arrangement, most providers will include life cover on their critical illness cover for little or no extra cost.

Critical illness premiums quoted by providers are based on your age, sex, smoker status and the assumption you are in average health for your age.

You will often hear the term "underwriting" when arranging critical illness cover. Underwriting refers to the checks the critical illness cover provider does to ensure that you are in average health for your age. In the case where a medical condition requires further investigation, the critical illness cover provider will write out to your GP and in some cases may ask you to attend a medical. This medical is at the provider's expense.

If the critical illness cover provider feels your current health represents a higher than average risk, they can still provide cover. They may ask for an additional premium to cover the increased risk. Only in extreme cases will they decline to cover you.

The majority of clients are accepted by critical illness cover providers on the standard premiums they have quoted as average health is a pretty broad brush.

From our experience the three main causes of clients not being accepted on standard premiums are:

  • a family history of serious illness (cancer, heart disease),
  • their having high blood pressure
  • obesity.

If you are considering Critical Illness Insurance, please feel free to contact us for Independent Critical Illness Insurance Advice. We are able to provide home appointments across the whole of West Sussex - Brighton, Hove, Haywards Heath & Crawley, East Sussex, Surrey - Croydon Sutton, Reigate, Redhill,  South London - Wimbledon, Fulham, Chelsea and Hammersmith and Central London.

* Source: Axa protection report 2007, **Source: ERC Frankona,*** Source: British Heart Foundation 2008

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