What Else Do I Need to Know About Critical Illness Cover?
On meeting a specified definition, the policy pays out a lump sum. Payment will be made on the specified condition, but if it’s not listed then no payment will be made. Please note that some conditions listed won’t pay out if the case is not deemed severe enough.
You also need to know that once the lump sum is paid the policy will cease.
What If I Want to Insure More Conditions?
If you want to cover more conditions, you can consider ‘Serious Illness Cover’. This type of policy can cover over 170 conditions. The product will take into account the severity of a condition; the less serious the condition the lower the pay-out, however, a policyholder is more likely to receive a pay-out from a serious illness policy than they would from a critical illness policy, as more conditions are eligible for cover. Furthermore, because the pay-out is based around the severity of the condition, less serious conditions can still qualify for a pay-out albeit at a lower rate.
What Else Do I Need to Know About Serious Illness Cover?
While this type of product can pay out on more conditions, it is possible that you could get a lesser pay-out than you would with critical illness cover. For example, this could happen if someone was diagnosed with a cancer that is eligible for a pay-out even if the cancer is in its early stages and therefore easier to treat; in this type of case, a critical illness plan would pay 100% of the claim. A similar claim with a serious illness cover plan could result in only a 25% pay-out, as it would take into account the severity of the condition.
Serious illness plans don’t cease after the first claim; they will remain in force until the policy holder has claimed 100% of the insured sum.
What Should I Take Into Account When Deciding Between Critical Illness Cover & Serious Illness Cover?
Serious illness plans will cover you for more conditions and the severity of that condition will be taken into account effecting the pay-out. Critical Illness plans will pay out on fewer conditions but could pay out a higher sum as the severity isn’t taken into account.
Critical illness plans will cease after the first claim. Serious illness plans can continue to pay out (regardless of the number of claims made) until such time that 100% of the insured sum has been claimed. Serious Illness cover also gives you the ability to “top up” your cover back to the original sum assured after every claim without going through the underwriting process again.
