Critical Illness Cover
Critical illness protection
Critical illness insurance is a type of personal protection insurance. It is designed to payout a lump sum if you are diagnosed with an illness that is covered by your policy. There are over 13 main providers in the UK. I have whole of market access and will research the whole market to find the most suitable policy for your circumstances.
Financial Safety Net
Critical illness cover is about making sure you, your family and your finances have a safety net if life takes an unexpected turn. Most policies cover between 50 and 60 conditions. There are different levels of cover, depending on the insurer with some offering budget options and others offering enhanced cover.
Choosing the right cover
It is important to get the right cover in place from the beginning. The older you are when the policy starts, the more expensive the monthly premium is likely to be. The policy is underwritten based on your health and lifestyle at application.
Guaranteed insurability options
A Guaranteed Insurability Option (GIO) allows you to increase your critical illness cover after major life events without undergoing further medical underwriting. This ensures your payout keeps pace with life changes, protecting you from future illnesses or conditions that might otherwise render you uninsurable. GIO
Pure Protection
Critical illness cover is a pure protection product designed to ensure financial resilience if you are diagnosed with a covered critical illness. It can provide support through a one off lump sum. Typically, when the policy pays out, the policy ends. Critical illness cover can be 1 part of a meaningful and robust safety net to keep your financial goals on track if you had to make a claim.
Serious Illness Cover
Critical illness cover with added serious illness cover is a special feature with one insurer. This type of cover can include cover for up to 178 conditions overall. You can make multiple claims for either 2 or 3 times your benefit amount.
Whole of market protection advice
After a comprehensive search of providers, the recommendation will be tailored to your specific requirements. I have access to all the main UK providers.
Application
You are not alone to make the application. I will apply for the policy with you and talk through the underwriting questions to ensure accurate information.
Underwriting
Income protection is underwritten at application. This means it accounts for any pre-existing medical conditions and your current lifestyle and BMI. Pure protection policies cannot be cancelled by the insurer for changes to health or lifestyle.
Age costed policy
An age costed income protection policy is typically a low start policy. The premiums are low to start with but increase each year with your age as well as increase due to increased cover. Generally a useful option for young people where budget is key. However, bear in mind that the cost of the cover increases with age and the cost of switching to a none age costed policy further down the line will also be higher.
Other types of cover
Life Insurance
Life insurance, or level term assurance, provides a specific amount of cover for the term of the policy. This can be to provide a legacy for family, to cover debts or the financial shock if you are no longer around. Level term insurance is often taken out in combination with critical illness cover.
Critical Illness Cover
Critical illness cover is a type of insurance that pays out a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a covered condition. Generally speaking, most providers cover up to 60 illnesses. People use these funds for various reasons, including making home adaptations, lifestyle choices such as family holidays or to cover daily expenses.
Some policies also offer serious illness cover. This type of policy pays out a percentage of your cover amount for less serious conditions. There are options to have up to 3 times the benefit amount covered and 178 different conditions.
Family Income Benefit
Family income benefit is a type of life insurance that pays out a monthly income rather than a lump sum. It is generally less expensive than lump sum life assurance and can also be used to provide critical illness cover.
A key use of Family income benefit is to provide an income for children in the event of your death. Parents typically run a policy to their child’s 23rd birthday with a benefit amount that would pay school fees, university costs, driving lessons, the associated costs of “raising kids”. As the payout amount is less the closer the policy is to end date, the monthly premium is lower.