Critical illness insurance – the facts
Critical illness insurance can be a confusing business with a host of policies all offering various levels of cover, so the bare facts are important. Discover more at Endsleigh.co.uk.
What is a critical illness?
A critical illness is often summed up by the insurers as an acute condition: conditions that respond readily to treatment. It differs from a chronic condition which has no apparent cure – it reoccurs and needs long term surveillance.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) helpfully takes this definition further. Their Statement of Best Practice for Critical Illness Cover regulates what any ABI member must class as a critical illness in order to fulfil the lowest level of service. The ABI’s core illnesses are cancers, coronary artery by-pass surgery, heart attacks, stroke, kidney failure, major organ transplants and multiple sclerosis. It seems obvious that these diseases should fall under the banner of critical illness.
One in five critical illness claims is for breast cancer. This is a regular example of what critical insurance will cover. The buyer must still be wary as some insurers will further define cancer in terms of “pre-malignant” or “non invasive.” When someone signs up for critical illness cover, they may overlook specific definitions, which is understandable. This has heaped controversy on the critical illness insurers, but if the insured take time to read the documentation, any definitions should be clearly spelled out.
Critical illness insurance can become invalid if your ailments are, for example, self inflicted, if you have indulged in hazardous sports or if you live outside the European Union.
With one in three people developing some form of cancer during their lifetime, critical illness insurance is more important than ever. It may feel like a gloomy policy to take out but it does mean your health woes won’t be added to by economic misery.
A critical illness policy can be researched through the Endsleigh.co.uk website and talking to their advisors.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment