Insurance against death is self-explanatory and the terms of that policy are all based around the policy holder passing away. Critical Illness on the other hand does not require the policy holder to die and provides a cash amount upon diagnosis of a particular illness.
To ensure that the pay-out is triggered, the policy-holder must survive a minimum term to ensure that this is considered a survivable illness, usually about 28 days. Up to two dozen different illnesses can be covered by the policy and they are all survivable to a greater or lesser degree but with improving medical technology the probability of living a full life after diagnosis is increasing.
Because the types of illness covered can strike at any age, it is important to consider the benefits while still young and one of the most important times to think about it is when buying a house. If a young couple buys a house and one of them is taken seriously ill, Critical Illness cover becomes an immediate benfit as it can remove the huge overhead of mortgage payments and make like much easier.
Policies for critical illness can either pay out every month, or every year, but more often they are a lump sum. If the former option is chosen then it could potentially work as an income replacement policy although this is not necessarily a reason to ignore an ordinary income protection plan which can pay out over simple illnesses and short times off work.
Examples of critical illnesses include the obvious, such as cancer, stroke, and heart-attack as well as less common conditions such as Alzheimer's, blindness, deafness and the failure of other major organs such as the kidneys.
This type of policy (which can also been known as Living Assurance or Serious Illness Insurance) has such obvious benefits in everyday life and might seem like it has been around forever, like life insurance. But in fact the first plan was only created as recently as 1983 by Dr M Barnard who termed it cover for "Dread Disease." His foresight against the unexpected has made many lives easier today.
The person taking out the policy must be fit and healthy at the outset because existing health problems are an obvious warning to the insurer that they are likely to lose money by underwriting the client. In that sense the cover must be seen to be precautionary with the insurer suspecting no great likelihood of a policy being honoured.
Due to the potential cost of the policy, and diminishing health later in life, taking out a policy in early life is more beneficial. It spreads the payments longer, therefore making them lower, and it means that the insurer is less likely to be worried about illnesses associated with old age. There are only a small minority who will offer cover to someone over pension age.
Critical illness cover is a very useful precaution for a young person and as life goes on it becomes more expensive but also more relevant. It adds a little peace of mind for you and, with additional life cover included it would ensure peace of mind for any loved ones left behind.
For more information help and assistance choosing the best critical illnesss insurance policy from a selection of life insurance companies why not visit Life-Ins.co.uk Free online critical illness insurance quote
