critical illness cover needed?

jimbob_3

Hi,

i wandered past a blood testing place on saturday and now wish i hadnt

first test showed my blood pressure was so high that she thought the machine had gone wrong!!

she did it two more times and it came down to a more reasonable level, but it has scared me.

Im in my early 40's, dont smoke but short and well built so am classified as a little overweight, even so my BP should not be that high, but, taking the average, the bottom line is i may not be here next year...

I obviously need to get it checked again, but realised that if i want to get critical ilness cover then i need to do it before im down as having very high BP.

but do i need it?

I am a teacher with 3 children. If i die, i have enough life cover & teachers benefits to pay the mortgage and for them to live comfortably on (probably better than we are living now!)

if i just become ill, i get 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay before maybe retiring on ill health grounds.

so does anybody have any thought as to whether i need CIC or income protection or indeed anything?

thanks

dunstonh

if i just become ill, i get 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay before maybe retiring on ill health grounds.

Retiring on ill health with how much pension? You may get an ill health pension if you are lucky but they dont suddenly give you 40 years service. And dont assume they will pension you off in that 12 month period. You may find a period of no income at all.

so does anybody have any thought as to whether i need CIC or income protection or indeed anything?

Technically, you have a need for both. Whether you want them or not is up to you.

jimbob_3

Thanks for this,

TBH im not entirely sure what is the diff between the two things.

Any chance of a quick summary of the diff?

Would any IFA be able to help if i decide to take it out or do only certain ones deal with insurance?

(I would normally go via the web but feel i might need more info)

thanks

lisyloo

Hi jimbob,

Firstly don't panic about your blood pressure.
It would be a very good idea to see a doctor but it doens't necessarily mean you are going to die.
My advice (if you are worried about it being recorded) is to buy a £10 monitor from lloyds pharmacy.
There is a known syndrome called "white coat syndrome" (or something like that) where some people can get nervous and therefore their blood pressure goes high when they see a doctor.
A way round this is to do it at home on a number of occassions.
Make sure you read the instructions as you can get different results if you sit/stand or don't put it on correctly.

Income protection gives you an INCOME if you CAN'T WORK.
CIC gives you a LUMP SUM if you get one of a small list of SPECIFIC illneses.

In my view because of those 2 differences the former is MUCH more useful.
An income until retirement is very different to a lump sum.

It looks like some long term sickness protection would be a good idea as once your company benefits run out you could be on low state benefits or a pension.
It really comes down to whether you are prepared to pay for that security.
I think it's a good idea to have PHI if you can afford it.

CIC is as useful as a chocolate tea pot in my view (OK that's a bit strong, but if you had many decades to retirement then the lump sum will probably not last long).
It's more useful to pay for house modifications or a round-the-world trip before you die rather than an on-going income and in my view that's a bit of a luxury for most people.
It's a product that's been dreamt up by the marketing teams of insurance companies rather than something that's meeting a real need in my view.

If you have the time then do some more research before seeing IFAs.
Chances are you can get cheaper yourself but even if you decide to go the IFA route you will know the right questions to ask.

cm233lh

lisyloo wrote: »

If you have the time then do some more research before seeing IFAs.
Chances are you can get cheaper yourself but even if you decide to go the IFA route you will know the right questions to ask.

Thanks for this. Where do I start doing some research. I've decided I need some PHI, and I'm seeing a IFA next week, but if it's cheaper direct I'd rather do that. Thing is, I can't find where to buy it from.

dunstonh

Thing is, I can't find where to buy it from.

PHI has very poor internet coverage. Four reasons. 1) its low profit 2) there are multiple version levels (budget, standard and comprehensive) and it gets hard to compare like for like as providers dont conform to a standard. 3) applications are generally paper based still and long, 4) PHI has a number of plans that fall under investment classification as well as protection. A lot of these discount broker websites only hold protection classification and cannot show investment class product (investment class are higher regulated)