Critical illness cover (merged)

JasonW_2

Im no expert on that, and it depends on your circumstances and medical history I would imagine, but that sounds high to me. I would have a shop around to find cheaper, you have nothing to lose.

dunstonh

There is a difference between a sickie and cancer or heart attack.

At the end of the day, no-one knows if and when a critical illness is going strike. It would make things easier if we did.

One of the my clients got a claim paid out on one of their policies this week after a critical illness. I just wish I had been stronger them to increase their CI cover as their situation would be a heck of a lot better now.

Quackers

Big_Cheese wrote:

My IFA sold me critical illness cover at £55 a month two years ago. I want to save some money, so wondered if I really needed it? I'm 50, in a permanent job, with pension, and would be paid my full salary for 6 months if I fell ill. Oh, and I haven't had a sickie since 1991...

YES! You need it!!! We didn't have it. Hubby was diagnosed with MS 2 years ago. Life would be soooooo much easier if we'd have had it.

Big_Cheese_2

OK, OK, I get the message - and I wasn't suggesting that a sickie was the same as cancer, just that it indicated I'm in pretty good health, touch wood. I'll shop around. Thanks, folks.

dunstonh

Firstly, shopping around for CI cover is risky if you work on price alone. There is no standard level of cover. So cheap ones tend to have things missing that are present on more expensive ones. The fact an IFA sold it at least lets you know that a balance between cost and cover would have been achieved.

Another thing is that CI plans available today are not as good as plans sold over 2 years ago. This mainly applies to plans with guaranteed premiums rather than reviewable as reviewable plans will soon get the newer terms on their first renewable period (usually 5 years). Renewable plans tend to be cheaper for that reason too.

So, yes, you may get cheaper but you may end up getting a lot worse for your money.

Big_Cheese_2

Thanks, dunstonh, that's very useful. I will check the cover and see if there's anything comparable that's cheaper - probably not, judging from what you have said.

Baglady_2

Sorry been away. Thanks for making it clearer. I now have a better idea what to do re: critical illness protection.

Krisp_3

Hello

Just to add my twopennorth on this...

me and my partner got CI cover (guaranteed premium) when we took out our mortgage in 2001, for total £96. At the time it was expensive because I was overweight. We were looking around this week and the cheapest premium we could find was £55 each. So, some proof positive that dunstonh comments are indeed true!

(By the way, I'm not overweight now!).

Diddidi

Hi - does anyone know if the Family Income Protection policies are any good? I have been looking at reducing my Critical Illness costs for some time as the policy is being reviewed this year. I have found a good quote at a quarter of what I currently pay per month and yet it actually covers more illnesses.

Obviously one pays a lump sum and the other pays an income each month - but other than that is there any reason not to switch to the FIP?

Thanks,

Diddi

GoFigure

Are you sure it also covers critical illness Diddi? Often Family Income Benefit/Protection policies only pay out on death. The cost of critical illness cover has gone up substantially over the past few years, and illnesses covered decreased so it is really important to double and treble-check this as the premium sounds low for similar cover. I would recommend you consult a good IFA - DIY critical illness cover re-broking has its pitfalls. Also, getting the payout monthly effectively makes this a decreasing cover policy - die (or get sick?) in the last year and you only get 1 year's benefit. You have to make sure this is what you really want - or would a level lump sum be of more benefit to you the whole way through?