Wellwoman plan

Legacy_user

I got some correspondence via my union about an insurance plan against 7 female specific cancers. It pays out £25000 upon diagnosis of one of them. It costs £10.95/month for someone my age and I can also add my husband on for £1.95/month with payout in the case of him being diagnosed with one of 4 male specific cancers. No family history is required.

Does this sounds like a good option or should I consider some other type of insurance instead?

lisyloo

Well you probably know my opinion already.

It's better to get insurance for every illness rather than specific ones.
The exception would be if there was a medical history of female cancers in your family and in this case it can make sense.

dunstonh

These plans seem to be fashionable at the moment but when you compare them to full critical illness cover (or PHI) then they dont seem that attractive.

They are effectively cut down versions of the full CI product.

DrFluffy

How old are you? Are there age restrictions or variations for different types of 'female' cancer? For example, given that just being a women gives you a 1 in 9 chance of getting breast cancer (before factoring in risks from lifestyle etc), how does the company make money out of this policy?

It might be worth looking at the full T&Cs, if you haven't already.

lisyloo

Must admit there is something that doesn't add up there.

They don't pay for "pre-malignant" cases.
I have no idea how significant this is medically/statistically, so I'm none the wiser after looking at the Ts&Cs, but I am intrigued by what DrFluffy has said.

Does anyone medical have any comments?

i.e. if the vast majority of cases are "pre-malignant" then the policy is clearly less useful than it appears at first sight.

System

DrFluffy wrote: »

How old are you? Are there age restrictions or variations for different types of 'female' cancer? For example, given that just being a women gives you a 1 in 9 chance of getting breast cancer (before factoring in risks from lifestyle etc), how does the company make money out of this policy?

It might be worth looking at the full T&Cs, if you haven't already.

I'm 48 and there is no history of female specific cancer in my family. My dad however had cancer of the voicebox which was thankfully caught early enough for him not to lose his voicebox. He also had cancer of the oesophagus which was also caught early due to monitoring of his Barratts Oesophagus condition. He had to have part of his stomach and all of his oesophagus removed though. His sister died from stomach cancer.

lisyloo

Pam - I honestly have no idea whether cancer in your family makes your more likely to get ANY cancer.

I think we could really do with someone medical here.
It's all very well saying read the Ts&Cs but I have no idea of the significance of them.

If anyone has any medical knowledge then please can you comment on the Ts&Cs and worthwileness of the plan and the specifics of Pam's case.

Personally I'm more interested now I know my chances of claiming are at least 1 in 9, but there's something that doesn't add up there and I would love to know the answer,

lurdane

I took this policey out over 7 years ago, mainly as a savings plan as you get your money back after 15 years, a few years ago I had cancer cells in the cervix which i found i couldnt claim for as it wasnt in situ . resintly thou I was diagnosed with breast cancer and at 33, i have my husband and 3 young children . I work as a relief so am not entital to sick pay, and finding it difficult to get any assistance from the benifit agancy to help. this policy has been a gods send to me and my family allowing me to stay at home and be with my family and recover from what ever treatment thats thrown at me. nowaday the statistc stand that 1 in 9 women will be diagnosed with a female cancer, Iam just glad I took out this policey, at £10.45 a month its hardly been missed Iam so gratfull that I have the money to spend the time with my family it one less worry.