Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover: Expanding your Security

Life insurance with critical illness cover is an option that you can explore when considering the various types of life cover being offered. Under critical illness cover, your insurance policy pays you an assured sum of money in the event that you are diagnosed with a critical condition.

Advantages

Taking out a critical illness cover can be a valuable lifeline for you and your family. If you are unable to continue employment due to a serious condition, the payout you receive from your insurance policy can be used to replace lost income. The funds from your policy can cover expenses such as health care bills, everyday financial obligations and similar expenditures.

If you have outstanding debts such as mortgage payments, you can also use your benefits to settle your balance. This way, you won’t have to add the possibility of losing your home to your worries.

Separate or Combined?

You may find yourself facing the choice of whether to purchase life insurance with critical illness cover as a separate policy or as an add-on to your basic life cover. Taking out a combined life insurance policy may require higher monthly premiums but you can investigate further as to the amount of coverage that you will receive.

Different companies provide varying types of cover. Some agencies will provide benefits when either of the two occurs – when you die or when diagnosed with a critical illness. Others provide benefits in both instances, when you suffer from a serious condition and once again when you die. Make sure to check thoroughly when you are directing your queries to insurance companies.

Critical Illness versus Terminal Illness

Critical illness and terminal illness insurance are two different policies involving entirely different sets of conditions, yet many people are often confused between the two. Life insurance with critical illness cover pays out when you are diagnosed with a serious disease but remember that each insurance provider has a different set of ailments included in this cover and the number or types of diseases may vary. Also, there is a new rule established that imposes more restrictions on claims when it comes to certain conditions. For example, a condition like cancer is included in the list of ailments covered but a mild type of prostate cancer is not.

Terminal insurance isn’t usually available as a stand-alone policy, rather it is included in most critical life covers. If you are diagnosed with a disease from which you are expected to die within 12 months, your policy will pay out.