Critical Illness Insurance is insurance coverage that pays out when the policyholder meets the specific definition of a critical illness. These illnesses may include heart attack, cancer, and stroke as well as a number of other diseases.

Your insurance provider will have specific definitions of each of these policies, and the illnesses that will need to be met in order to be considered ill by their standards. These requirements will need to be met in order to receive your money.

There are a number of illnesses that are included in these polices besides heart attack, stroke, and cancer. The list of critical illnesses that are covered will vary greatly depending on the insurance company that you are using. This is another reason why it’s good to speak to an experienced life insurance specialist who will know more about the industry.

The ABI has put together a list of extensive definitions used to model critical illnesses so that everyone is clear in this matter. These 23 definitions are what have been included in the Statement of Best Practice for Critical Illness Cover.

These 23 definitions include things like aorta graft surgery (for disease), Alzheimer’s disease, blindness, coma, deafness, heart attacks, HIV infection, among others. Most of the illnesses have specific details relating to the severity of the illness. For example, kidney failure is listed but only if it requires dialysis.
Another example is Multiple Sclerosis (MS) but only if the symptoms are persisting.

The Key Facts Document can be obtained by most life insurance brokers or by going online to different insurance provider’s websites. This information explains the illnesses covered in a clear and concise way. With many of these policies, total permanent disability cover will be included as an bonus feature.

Many citizens of the United Kingdom buy critical illness insurance for their children because it will pay out a portion of the policies sum assured. Children’s policies are usually capped but a lump sum payment could help your child deal with the repercussions of a severe illness.

Some critical illness cover policies will include a waiver of premium that covers the payments if the policy owner falls ill and is not able to work. Usually this is an additional premium to your regular policy.

All of the policies will have certain exclusions that will void your policy so make sure you are aware of these. This could include things like unreasonable failure to follow medical advice, war, drug abuse, and flying among other things.
Different insurers will have different definitions of their exclusions so if you partake in something like a hazardous sport or pastime you’ll want to understand the risks of your policy.

Many insurance companies will use similar specifications and will have their own exclusions so make sure you know what you’re getting into. One of the exclusions that are very commonplace is non-disclosure of medical information, as it might affect your critical cover policy. If you lie to the insurance broker and they find out later you or your family may get nothing and the insurance company usually takes these matters very seriously. It is always better to just tell the truth.

In many cases you can package your critical illness policies with other products that will give you a full protection plan that suits your requirements. These products include your basic life insurance policy as well as Permanent Health Insurance (usually called Income Protection).

Looking to find out about the conditions of critical illness cover, then visit www.criticalillnesscover.org.uk to find the best advice on the illness covered.

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Filed under: Life Insurance

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