A Simple Guide To Critical Illness Cover

A Simple Guide To Critical Illness Cover

/ Blog / By

Helping you to focus on your recovery from illness, not your finances

Let’s take a further look at a simple guide to critical illness cover. Everyone wants to believe that they would be able to cope financially even if they were diagnosed with a critical illness. Critical illness insurance can help you and your family cope financially if you become critically ill. A critical illness can strike anyone at any age, strike at any time, and turn people’s lives upside down.

While it’s easier to explain why life insurance is important, many people fail to consider what would happen if they were diagnosed with a critical illness. One in every two people in the UK will develop cancer at some point in their lives, and someone will have a heart attack every seven minutes and a stroke every 12 minutes.

Focusing on getting well

If you are unable to work due to a serious illness, having the appropriate amount of money on hand will help reduce some of the financial strain. The most essential thing is to be able to concentrate on getting healthy rather than worrying about money.

Critical illness can have a significant impact on how you live your life, especially if you have to support your family while you recuperate. People who find themselves in this circumstance may use their savings to supplement their lost income, rely on a job benefit package, or decide that critical sickness insurance is the best option for them.

Lessening the financial burden of a critical illness

It’s easy to say, “I’d cope, that’ll never happen to me”. A simple guide to critical illness cover can make you see this differently.

But most of us know someone who has been touched by illness, either directly or through friends and family. Any of us can fall ill at any age, and having the right critical illness insurance in place can assist to provide financial security during a tough period.

Critical illness insurance can help you and your loved ones cope financially if you are diagnosed with a serious disease. For example, if you needed to take time off work to recover or if you died during the policy’s term, the money might be used to help pay for your mortgage or rent, regular payments, or even simple things like the weekly grocery purchase, giving you and/or your family peace of mind when they needed it most.

Sufferers may not be able to return to work soon (or ever). They may require home modifications or private therapy care after surviving a catastrophic illness. It’s heartbreaking to consider a scenario in which someone survives a terrible illness but dies as a result of the financial difficulties that follows. When we’re feeling well, the last thing we want to worry about is preparing for the worst.

On the diagnosis of certain specified life-threatening or debilitating (but not necessarily fatal) conditions, such as a heart attack, stroke, certain types/stages of cancer, and multiple sclerosis, critical illness insurance, either on its own or as part of a life assurance policy, is designed to pay you a tax-free lump sum.

Combining life cover with critical illness insurance 

The illnesses covered, as well as any restrictions and limitations, are listed in the policy, which may vary between insurers. Critical sickness insurance normally only pays out once, so it’s not a good way to supplement your income. Some insurance policies provide coverage for both life and severe sickness. These pay out whether you survive the illness or end up dying because of it. Either way, you still get compensated.

If you already have a critical illness policy, you may find that replacing it will result in you losing some of the benefits if you have developed any ailments after the original policy was taken out. Pre-existing conditions may not be covered by a new policy, therefore it’s crucial to obtain professional guidance before replacing or switching your coverage.

Survival period

Only a few policies will pay out immediately if you are diagnosed with one of the ailments listed in the policy, and most will only pay out after a “survival period.” This means that if you die within this time frame (even if you fulfill the policy’s criteria of a serious illness), the insurance will not pay out.

In most cases, the policy will cover total and permanent disability. Some insurers define ‘permanent total disability’ as being unable to work as usual as a result of illness, while others define it as being unable to do three or more ‘Activities of Daily Living’ independently as a result of illness or accident.

Activities of Daily Living include:

  • Bathing
  • Dressing and undressing
  • Eating
  • Transferring from bed to chair and back again

The cost of critical illness insurance is determined by a number of criteria, including the type of policy you choose, your age, the amount you want the policy to pay out, and whether you smoke.

Do you have the financial resources to help cope with a serious illness?

The good news is that medical advancements have allowed more people to survive illnesses that would have killed previous generations. You can use critical illness insurance to pay for a less stressful lifestyle while you recover from an illness, or you can use it for anything else. Please contact us to learn more or to address your concerns – we look forward to hearing from you & we hope that a simple guide to critical illness cover has made this all clearer for you.

Regulatory Statements

True Advice Financial Services is a trading style of TA and SE Hollom Ltd which is an Appointed Representative of New Leaf Distribution Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority : Number 460421.

Registered Office : New Leaf Distribution Limited, 165 – 167 High Street, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 7QA

Ashley Hollom
Latest posts by Ashley Hollom (see all)