Key Facts to Check Before Buying

Before purchasing a Critical Illness insurance policy, you should try to work out how much money you would need if you were diagnosed with an illness that prevented you from working. You might need to pay off a specific debt like a mortgage or auto loan, pay for further medical assistance or arrange for nursing care. Your family will need an income that will allow them to keep the standard of living they had before you were unable to work.

Combining Policies

You should perhaps think about combining Critical Illness cover with Life Assurance, as this may work out much cheaper than buying two separate policies.

Conditions Covered

When you compare policies from different insurance companies it is very essential to consider the illnesses that they cover before you compare the price that they charge.

Terminal Illness and Critical Illness Cover

People often confuse Terminal Illness cover with Critical Illness cover. However, they are quite separate products, and it's important to understand the difference between them.

A Terminal Illness is any illness from which you are expected to die within 12 months from diagnosis. You cannot buy a stand-alone Terminal Illness policy, but cover is usually included free within Critical Illness policies and most good Life Insurance policies.

A Critical Illness policy pays out if you are diagnosed with a much wider range of qualifying chronic illnesses, taking into account that you could survive for a very long time. This may include multiple sclerosis, heart disease, certain cancers, or stroke; these conditions will vary between companies. Critical Illness cover will never be included as standard in a Life Assurance policy; it will always cost you extra.