Over the past few weeks, we have looked at the various types of life insurance policies available and what life insurance is the best for people – taking into consideration various factors, such as, joint life insurance, decreasing life insurance, fixed term life insurance. There are so many life insurance policies to choose from, we felt it important to highlight the most common types.
Is critical illness important, can I just rely on life insurance?
Part four in our life insurance series, we look not at life insurance but rather a bolt-on for added protection. Today’s blog is looking at specifically critical illness cover. Critical illness as a financial investment evades many people as it is often misunderstood or overlooked as an important element of family finances. We receive many questions at the LifeInsuranceCover Services office so the team has put together a few pointers for customers, examining how they can combine this cover with life insurance to provide crucial financial assistance when the worst scenario happens.
Many people make the sound financial choice of life insurance, ensuring that their loved ones remain financially protected in the event of their passing away. We already talked about the differing types of life insurance policies here so today is all about that frequently asked question: “should I have critical illness cover?”
Most people understand that life insurance protects our loved ones should we die. Most importantly, life insurance provides a cleared mortgage, perhaps a lump sum factored into future proof living costs; household bills, shopping, childcare and college funds.
Life insurance combined with critical illness gives strong protection
We talked about “illness denial” in an earlier blog. It is perhaps an anomaly to plan our finances beyond our death, but not plan for a situation where illness takes us out of the workplace and into our sick beds, perhaps for a long period and often a scenario more common than one of us dying. What happens to our finances when we are too sick to work?
This is where critical illness cover comes into its own. A critical illness policy provides cover for a list of different illnesses ranging from various types of cancer to dementia.
With more and more people becoming self-employed, statistics show that 1 in 5 aims to become self-employed in the future and women are a growing statistic in this scenario, it is extremely important to consider a bolt-on such as critical illness protection existing life insurance policies.
How does critical illness cover work?
Critical illness insurance pays out a lump sum on diagnosis of a wide expanse of illnesses and conditions enabling the insured to sustain their living expenses and outgoing finances while off work. Policies can cover everything from suffering a stroke to a broken wrist. Basically, anything that will keep you off work for a lengthy period.
Illnesses typically include serious cancers such as prostate cancer, cancers of the bowel, colon and rectum, these being among the most common critical illness claims suffered by the male population. Other critical illness claims include heart attack and organ failure, multiple sclerosis, loss of vision/hearing, loss of limbs, stroke, plus many more. It is very important to check potential new policy documents to make sure you are fully aware of the list of illnesses, and any exclusions.
Advantages of critical illness cover
In the same concept that life insurance protects our loved ones if we die, having critical illness cover in place protects the family from a financial crisis should the main breadwinner be off sick for a prolonged period. Illness and injury are likely to occur more so than death, so planning for the unexpected is more than a good idea, it is providing peace of mind for the policyholder, not only financially but with added support, allowing him or her to concentrate on getting well and back to work again. Many insurers provide automatically extra benefits when a policy is taken out, including support services and automatic critical illness for any children of the family, applicable from birth. Check out the range of insurers that offer these extras and more, by calling one of our team today.
How much is critical illness cover?
Many people think critical illness cover is expensive, but it need not be. With a range of policies and providers, allowing customers to scour the market and compare prices for critical illness policies, the offerings are immense and there is a policy to suit every person and budget. Getting covered early, before the life-changing events such as buying a house, getting married, having a child, will drive those premiums down even lower.
The conclusion is that nobody needs to go without critical illness cover and the risks that people face of becoming ill and unable to get to work confirm the crucial requirements of cover.
Speak to an adviser today to find out more about how a critical illness policy can offer peace of mind and support for you and your family.