Critical Illness Insurance

Any type of insurance product is purchased for a reason, sometimes the reason may be that it is the law to have the insurance, it could be a way of a gift to leave your loved ones behind or it could be to cover existing debts for when you have gone. Regardless of the reason for purchasing an insurance product you will need to make sure it is bought for the right reasons and the right product is bought. It can be a hard decision choosing what type of cover is best for you and more to the point which type, amount and product is needed. Critical illness insurance is a product that offers cover against the life or lives insured against being diagnosed with a medically confirmed critical illness. A few examples of these are things like Alzheimer's disease, heart attack, stroke, cancer, dementia, crohn's disease, emphysema, kidney failure, liver failure, motor neurone disease and many more. As with most insurance policies critical illness offers cover for either a single life or a joint life policy. If you decide to take out a joint life policy in the event of a claim the benefits will only be paid out upon the event of one life being diagnosed with a doctor's confirmation of the critical illness. After this claim has been paid out the insurance policy will cease. Should the other partner develop a critical illness they will not be covered as the policy will have been cancelled. This can be a draw back of taking out a joint policy and it is often advised that you are to take out two single life plans. This can sometimes work out more expensive, however should both lives develop a critical illness then two amounts of benefits can be potentially paid out. If you are taking out this type of insurance policy to cover your existing debts such as loans and should you contract a critical illness and are unable to continue working this will offer a financial support towards things like the bills and general living expenses. In return for a monthly or annual premium the benefits of an insurance policy are available upon the medical diagnosis of a critical illness.

Critical Illness Insurance has become more so popular than it ever has in the past. Only a few years ago people were unaware that this type of insurance even existed. You can take out a stand alone critical illness policy or you can combine it with life insurance. Typically doing this comes at only a small increase in the premium and you have the added benefit and knowledge that the life side of it is covered as well. Unlike many types of insurances critical illness has a deferment period. This means that in the event of the insured developing or being diagnosed with a critical illness, they must survive a specified time period in order to make a claim. Typically this is between 10 and 30 days but will obviously vary between providers. Unfortunately if the insured person does not survive this period then the benefits of the policy will not be paid out. If you are looking at buying a form of critical illness insurance you will need to take into consideration that if you have had a pre existing medical condition or you have family that have a history of certain critical illnesses. This is nothing to worry about as not all conditions are hereditary, however from an insurer's point of view it can be a greater risk to take on board as they are actively aware of the history of either the insured or their family. If this is the case you may then have to have a few investigations such as doctor's reports, medical examinations, and telephone interviews. This is so that the insurance company can assess your case fairly and accurately to provide you and them with the best policy available. In some cases an insurance company can chose to decline a policy or they can add exclusions or even increase the premium. This again is normal however they have to have a good reason behind doing it so that it is a fair decision. An insurance company can provide you with upon request written confirmation of your quote or even policy terms before you accept a policy.