Critcal Illness cover advice

lightspeed

Hi

I am currently considering taking out critical illness insurance for myself. I am 28 in July, male, non-smoker, no known medical conditions but have a father who had a heart attack age 56 (mitral valve problem to be precise).

The cover that i will require would be about 125K (cost of mortgage) but would obviously like to have a company that covers a range of illnesses as i have heard that there is some variation in the levels of cover.

Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks in advance

stephenni1971

It's important to be careful when selecting critical illness policy as there are variations on the conditions covered from policy to policy - and even within the same insurer - some offer basic cover on smaller selection of illnesses, others comprehensive cover.

If you go to an Independent Financial Adviser, they will be able to give you impartial advice on the whole range of insurers.

somewhatnew

Hi Lightspeed

Make sure you take advice when you purchase a critical illness (CI) policy. Given your current age and your fathers age when he had his heart attack this could actually increase the cost of your cover - make sure if this is the case you ask the advisor and find out up front.

In reality most companies cover between 30-40 different conditions however about 85% of claims are for heart attack, stoke and cancer. For men the most common cause of claim is heart attack.

Tell the advisor you are concerned specifically about what you are after. All policies have to cover the same 23 conditions as a minimum as set out by the ABI (the association of british insurers). If you want to get good heart cover then look for a policy which has an ABI+ definition of heart attacks. The ABI+ means the insurer goes above and beyond the minimum required.

Getting a bit more technical heart conditions have become mor difficult to claim on because they require 'open heart surgery' in the definition. With improvements in medical science less and less open heart surgery is being done, often keyhole surgery up an artery in you leg can widen an artery these days, so try and get an ABI+ definition where open heart surgery isnt required.

Regards

OshayAway

somewhatnew wrote: »

Given your current age and your fathers age when he had his heart attack this could actually increase the cost of your cover

Unlikely as he was over 55 as long as only one blood relative affected with this condition.

somewhatnew wrote: »

Getting a bit more technical heart conditions have become mor difficult to claim on because they require 'open heart surgery' in the definition. With improvements in medical science less and less open heart surgery is being done, often keyhole surgery up an artery in you leg can widen an artery these days, so try and get an ABI+ definition where open heart surgery isnt required.

You are referring to angioplasty. An insurer that has ABI+ definition for heart attack doesn't necessarily cover angioplasty.

One thing that Somewhatnew is right about though is the benefit of getting advice. Make sure you use a protection adviser / IFA who is whole of market for critical illness cover though as many are restricted to ‘a limited number of insurers’ the document ‘key facts about our services’ that they have to provide you with will state this.

pedro123456

"All policies have to cover the same 23 conditions as a minimum as set out by the ABI"........I thought no Insurace companies HAD to include all Illness, I thought they were recommendations.
There are apparently "core conditions", but I'm not aware they HAVE to be provided for (although I may be wrong)

As for definitions the Insurance companies dont have to impliment ABI definitions as the ABI definitions are apparently "guidelines"........this of course allows the IC to make its definition more stringent, allowing less successful claimants and therefore increasing IC profits, thats why they are multi billion pound institutes.

Same as all other areas really, the IC are there to make money of the consumer end of story.

ps...... open heart surgery is nothing to do with angioplasty, and bears to resemblence in actual fact.I wont bore you with medical gargon, cant be bothered, sorry.

Light you are old enough to make your own decisions mate.........
In My opinion CI is not worth the paper it is writen on. anyway enough rambling from me......good luck.

dogbot

In My opinion CI is not worth the paper it is writen on. anyway enough rambling from me......good luck.

Fair enough, that is a common view, but I would highlight my half brothers case.

He was 26 when Diagnosed with several cancerous tumors. The critical illness policy paid out and he and his wife were able to clear their mortguage. Sadly he passed away at the age of 28, but the critical illness policy, together with his life cover, left his wife in a very secure financial position, and she was kind enough to pass some of that benifit on to myself and his sister on his other side, which has enabled both of us to now be in a secure financial position to start looking for our own homes.

The chances of these events, particullary for people so young ARE low, but the risk is there.

pedro123456

Fair do's Dogbot..........you are talking from personal experience so am I..........in your experience they played the game, in what was obviousley a traumatic time and experience for your half brother, his wife yourself and the rest of the family, and this was good.

My negative thoughts about CI cover, Insurance companies (not them who work for them as they are just normal every day ppl) remain.......... although I except and understand what you are saying.

dogbot

Oh absolutly, I think that for people with a low family history you can take the chance and of course there certainly are issues with claims payments with some insurers. An IFA can be of great use there to reccomend those they know are reliable and also to explain the policy in full.

I am about to first time by too and am still deciding what to do and I should say that even with my experience I probably won't be buying critical illness straight away because of the cost.

OshayAway

pedro123456 wrote: »

In My opinion CI is not worth the paper it is writen on.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. How sad it would be if someone was put-off taking out CIC as a result of being influenced by someone with a bias viewpoint...and then suffer a claimable event.

Over 90% of claims are paid out. I personally know of two cases (a friend and a colleague) who each had their mortgages paid off in their 20's. For obvious reasons they are real advocates of CIC as likely the 90%+ other successful claimants are.

mumoffour77

I have to agree with OshayAway

My OH was involved in a RTA nearly 5 years ago, it left him in a coma for 18 months and he also sustained severe brain damage.......with cognative difficulties, he is in a wheelchair and as the kids are getting older he is finding it harder to recognise them. I was 27 he was 28 when this happened our youngest child was 2.
We had critical illness ins that paid out after a few months, it cleared our mortgage and I was able to manage on it for nearly 2 years before I applied for any benefits.
I dont know how I would have coped if I had a huge mortgage to deal with on top of what had happened!!

dunstonh

Statistically, you have a 1 in 6 chance of a claimable event before retirement. Life assurance is 1 in 5. So, there isnt much in it. When you see what other insurances people buy where the stats are closer to 1 in 20 or even 1 in 100 then CI is not a waste of money by a long shot. Nowadays, we seem to have more clients putting in CI claims than life assurance claims. My youngest claiment was 26. Had one at 31 last year. Typically though it tends to be early 40s for me.