Look at the Small Print When Buying Critical Illness Insurance

by Sheila Challiner

As a reaction against recent criticism that sickness policies are being mis-sold, the industry claims that it has already put new guidelines into place. A review by the ABI provided more rigorous standards, with easier to understand headings on brochures and standard wording to give a clearer picture.

Some providers have also reduced the number of people they refuse - to 15 per cent, at Standard Life, or 11 per cent in the case of Scottish Provident. In total, Scottish Provident paid 45.5million pounds in claims in the first 6 months of last year, with cancer being the most frequent trigger. This brings the amount paid by the insurer to 344m since 1996. Standard Life paid out 5,047 death and health claims in the same period to the value of 134million pounds.

The majority of people, whose claims are refused, are denied a payout because they did not declare a pre-existing condition. Others fail because their illness does not fall within the bounds of the policy. This mistake is easy to comprehend. What is covered as critical illness to one insurer is excluded by another.

If you take out a loan with Sainsbury's Bank, you will be asked if you require its creditcare protection insurance. The highest price "gold level" includes insurance for critical illness. But what the policy covers will be very different to that on offer from Standard Life.

At Sainsbury's it covers open heart surgery, strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, quadriplegia and paraplegia and kidney failure. Cancer also features on the list though there are exceptions, including all but the very serious prostate cancers and lymphoma and skin cancer.

Standard Life encompasses 30 different illnesses including the seven highlighted by Sainsbury's. They range from the human form of mad cow disease and third degree burns to bacterial meningitis and Parkinson’s disease. The company’s definition of cancer has the same exclusions as Sainsbury's.

Insurance broker Simon Burgess states he will not sell critical illness cover since, in too many cases, policyholders never claim or the policy fails to pay out "You see adverts which say one in three people will get cancer and how a critical illness policy will help. But these policies are cancelled when people reach retirement age and that's when most people get cancer. The figures for cancer are nearer one in 40 before 70 years of age, but the adverts don't tell you this."

Mr Burgess also says that the financial advice industry is guilty of churning policies. This means that advisers recommend clients to review policies every five years because it may give them a better deal. According to Mr Burgess this is just a money-spinning exercise because each new policy gives commission to the financial advisor. In some cases this can be equivalent to two year’s worth of premiums from the policyholder.

Even some of the largest providers of critical illness insurance agree that there can be better alternatives for paying the mortgage or generating an income when life-threatening illnesses stop you from working.
In today’s world, a person can sometimes be fighting cancer or other diseases for a number of years. If they are unable to work whilst receiving treatment or recovering from side effects, a lump sum payout from critical illness cover could run out very quickly.

It is worth looking into other kinds of policy such as family income benefit or an income protection policy. With the latter, for example, a payout would be made for a bad back if it prevents you from working.

Clearly this would not be covered in a critical illness policy.

Mick James from Standard Life says. "For every income protection policy sold, people buy four to five critical illness policies.”

Yet that is an improvement on some years ago when the ratio was 10 to one. The fact still remains that the industry as a whole needs to do more to explain the alternatives to people so that they are able to make an informed choice.

If you are concerned about NHS waiting times for treatment after a diagnosis for cancer or heart disease has been made and you think you might want private medical treatment then private medical insurance (PMI) is usually a better choice.

About Sheila Challiner
If you are concerned about NHS waiting times, after a diagnosis for cancer or heart disease has been made and you think you need private medical treatment.Then private medical insurance (PMI) is a better choice. Get a quote on Life insurance? Please Visit the Life Insurance Angel for information and other resources. Our sister site Brokers Online offers information about Life Insurance

Critical Illness Insurance And Disability Insurance

by Paul Abbey

Many of us believe critical illness insurance and disability insurance is something that would be a good thing to have, but when we are fit and healthy, cannot see the point of making a monetary allowance for it in our monthly expenditure. Providing monetary peace of mind for your close family by taking out critical illness protection, for a mere few dollars each week should something occur to you, does not to seem as essential to most of us as having that additional, luxury cup of coffee every day during luncheon.

As the majority of health insurance products now cover common conditions and given the statistical probability that you will be critically ill at some point, it is a good thing to have. The number of men who, before they retire, will suffer from a life-threatening illness is an astonishing twenty percent according to figures published from recent study. For ladies, this figure is slightly lower with only one in six being affected by a life-threatening illness before retirement.

Lack of knowledge or belief in the chances of getting a critical illness might be the fundamental reason why so few adults take out health protection, according to insurance underwriters. For the bulk of people who do decide to take out critical illness insurance, the most essential benefit is to protect their mortgage. As luck would have it, most mortgage security policies will now allow you to include life insurance and critical illness cover.

To make things simpler for someone who wants to take out critical illness insurance, a growing number of individuals begin to start buying products online. Regrettably, being a comparatively new facility, there are new problems that occur as more companies start offering services over the internet for the first time. From critical illness cover providers point of view, this is quite understandable as there often requirements for a medical exam carried out on the insurance applicant prior to the plan being accepted. If you're in the unfortunate position of having to make a claim on your insurance policy , the last thing you want is callous hassle or apparent non-cooperation from your insurance underwriter.

Smokers, regrettably, are treated as higher risk health insurance applicants, including anyone who has smoked within the previous 12 months and as a consequence are placed in a high risk category. It is now thoroughly acknowledged that smoking is dangerous for you and as a result your monthly insurance installment will cost more. For the most part though, when you apply for any type of health insurance, the company will look at your age, health, workplace, environment, activities and so forth. A typical insurance policy will cover you if your prospects are fatal or criticalFree Articles, as well as cover you if you need certain surgery - the plan will also] handle your permanent job loss due to sickness. There can be no argument about the peace of mind that having a critical illness protection insurance policy in place can bring to somebody who has a close family and monetary obligations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P Abbey owns and operates http://www.employersliabilityok.com employers liability