Summary
In the past, Critical Illness Insurance has not enjoyed a good press. As a result, its value is greatly miscalculated. This article emphasises just how imperative critical illness insurance cover actually is.
Figures now show that one in three of us will endure some type of cancer during our life time. And it is skin cancer that has predominantly played a part in this escalating problem .
Whereas many people do beat cancer, its brutality undoubtedly has an enormus bearing on the patients life and employment. Yet would you believe it, only 11% of the working public has insured themselves for serious illness despite the existence of insurance to specifically help in such situations.

Critical Illness insurance is becoming extremely vital. A study from RGA Reinsurer Company, who are expert re-insurers, has shown that the amount of critical illness claims has gone up by by 23 per cent over the past twelve months.

The majority financial advisers will say that cheap life insurance  is a necessity if you have a mortgage or dependants. But a life insurance policy pays out only if the insurance policyholder were to die So what occurs if your seriously ill and cannot work?

improvements in medical knowledge indicate that people are now much more likely to survive illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and strokes than twenty years ago. But recovering is not really the same as being well enough to continue with your career. Lots of people survive but have to take a less stressful job or retire. As a result their income dives. Subsequently, financial advisers say that critical illness cover should be far higher up on people’s list of insurance priorities. They view it as a much needed insurance rather than just an option.

As one adviser put it, “Unlike life insurance, critical illness cover pays out not if you die but if you develop an sickness. With Critical Illness Insurance there is a large quantity of claims because we all live longer now.”

With Critical Illness Insurance, immediately the policyholder is diagnosed with a serious illness, the policy settles the whole insured value as a tax-free lump sum. So long as the insured sum is enough, this lump sum can provide the income to pay off the mortgage and other debts. It could also be invested to provide the family with an steady income. Even though you are not forced to give up work due to ill health, you should be at least  adequately financially secure to work part-time or take extended time off. There will not be any  restrictions as to how you an spend the money so you may prefer to put the money towards your medical costs. If you have to claim you have complete flexibility with Critical illness insurance to take whatever steps you need.

The specific conditions covered by critical illness insurance policies does vary between insurance companies and it’s very important to find the most suitable policy. Never just blindly opt for the cheapest. For instance, many insurance policies cover you for the onset of Alzheimer’s but with one, this insurance cover ceases once the policyholder reaches the age of sixty. With other insurance companies cover ceases at the age of sixty five. Some insurance policies will cover you against being infected by HIV if you are attacked or assulted and others will cover you if the HIV infection is contracted during a blood transfusion. To some, these may sound like ”petty details”, but with critical illness insurance, it’s the details that are so important.

Like many forms of life insurance, the younger you are when you start a critical illness policy the cheaper it will be. As a guide, a non-smoker aged 30 taking out a twenty five year policy, the monthly premium would be around 19 pounds 50 pence. This jumps to £36.40 if the same person delayed taking out the policy until they were 35 If you wait until you are forty, this increases to 38 pounds and 20 pence.

It is a fact that these days an increasing number of single twenty one – thirty one year olds do not have steady partners who would support them should they become severely ill. Young Ladies, above all, should contemplate taking out critical illness cover as statistics show that they are more likely to make a claim than gentlemen. The report from Swiss Re found that nearly 60 per cent of all claims from women were from under 40 year olds compared with just forty one per cent with men. But the fact is that below 32% of all critical illness policies started by 19 to 35 year olds are taken out by females.

The claims also reveal a male female divide. Women account for 55 per cent of all cancer claims and 65 per cent of cancer claims. Then again, 90 per cent of heart attack claims come from men.