Critical Illness Cover
Discussion
Can anybody who has knowledge or personal experience tell me if they think this is a good thing to have? Won't go into too much detail but moved home recently - only had the basic life insurance for both of us to cover the mortgage - moved to new place and essentially got hassled into getting some critical illness cover on top of the new life insurance for the bigger mortgage on new place.
There are reasons why we got hassled into getting this, won't bore you with the details - we only got the OH with the critical illness due to the fact I know nobody would cover me with my ongoing health issues.
Anyway now that we are settled into the new place I'm pissed off with myself and angry with my insurance provider - who is also our mortgage provider. I'm annoyed that I let myself get filled full of s
t during conversations and allowed myself to get hassled into this. We now want to cancel and move our insurance requirements elsewhere. Just wondering what others thought of critical illness cover - did they pay out when needed etc etc.
I know I'm a dick for signing up to something I generally don't believe in!!
dalenorth said:
It really does depend on the provider, there are so many differant companies offering CIC. I don't want to be unbiased on here, so if you would like to PM me with the insurance details, I would be happy to give you my opinion.
Thanks - i've sent you basic info. Any thoughts appreciated.
Barry.
Hi, I'm new to this so please be gentle!! My husband and I took out a critical illness cover about 10 years ago, then in 2007 my husband became ill with Leukaemia - he was off work for over a year by which time our income had decreased dramatically. We made a claim on the critical illness policy and, eventually, the insurance company paid out, so for us it was worth every penny because otherwise we would have struggled badly to pay our mortgage and other expenses. However, please bear in mind that critical illness cover usually has a list of "appropriate" illnesses and illnesses not on the list will probably not be covered. Also if any potential illness is deemed to have been present before you took out the cover (i.e. pre-existing), then that also will not be covered. It might be worth looking at mortgage protection cover and comparing the two, if you were put in a situation where you were no longer able to work.
hawkwood said:
Hi, I'm new to this so please be gentle!! My husband and I took out a critical illness cover about 10 years ago, then in 2007 my husband became ill with Leukaemia - he was off work for over a year by which time our income had decreased dramatically. We made a claim on the critical illness policy and, eventually, the insurance company paid out, so for us it was worth every penny because otherwise we would have struggled badly to pay our mortgage and other expenses. However, please bear in mind that critical illness cover usually has a list of "appropriate" illnesses and illnesses not on the list will probably not be covered. Also if any potential illness is deemed to have been present before you took out the cover (i.e. pre-existing), then that also will not be covered. It might be worth looking at mortgage protection cover and comparing the two, if you were put in a situation where you were no longer able to work.
Thanks for that. I know someone that had a stroke - thought they were covered for this and the insurer never paid out. I have heard a few other horror stories. That combined with the way we were hassled into it have left me wondering if we should bother with it.Anyway - thanks for your thoughts.
As per a thread yesterday, you will always hear lots of stories of when insurance companies don't pay out; bad news travels faster than good news.
Generally critical illness cover is expensive, particularly as you get older and the sums assured go up? But, there is a very good reason why the premiums are more expensive than term assurance; your more likely to get a critical illness during the term of a policy than you are to die.
There are already two posters on this thread that have had their mortgages paid off via critical illness policies, I'm sure they are now glad of any advice they recieved to take out the cover originally.
The two key factors with critical illness cover is the quality of the cover (e.g the number of conditions they will cover you for) and the accuracy of the information you provide. the number one reason for insurance companies not paying out for critical illness claims is NON-DISCLOSURE. Eg people saying that they are a non smoker when they are or saying they are 13 stone when they are really 17 stone!!!
The last thing you should ever judge a critical illness policy by is it's premium; cheap premiums do not equal the best policy.
With regards to whether you should keep the cover you've taken out, only you can really answer that. What I would say is that if your going to have critical illness cover then make sure it's the best the market has to offer rather than it just being from the one provider that the monkey in the bank can use. If your going to have critical illness cover then give yourself the best chance of it paying out and have it with a reputable provider that will cover more conditions than anyone else!
As with most insurances, most people deem them to be a waste of money if they never need them, but for the people that do fall ill and recieve a pay out; they are the best things they ever took out.
Generally critical illness cover is expensive, particularly as you get older and the sums assured go up? But, there is a very good reason why the premiums are more expensive than term assurance; your more likely to get a critical illness during the term of a policy than you are to die.
There are already two posters on this thread that have had their mortgages paid off via critical illness policies, I'm sure they are now glad of any advice they recieved to take out the cover originally.
The two key factors with critical illness cover is the quality of the cover (e.g the number of conditions they will cover you for) and the accuracy of the information you provide. the number one reason for insurance companies not paying out for critical illness claims is NON-DISCLOSURE. Eg people saying that they are a non smoker when they are or saying they are 13 stone when they are really 17 stone!!!
The last thing you should ever judge a critical illness policy by is it's premium; cheap premiums do not equal the best policy.
With regards to whether you should keep the cover you've taken out, only you can really answer that. What I would say is that if your going to have critical illness cover then make sure it's the best the market has to offer rather than it just being from the one provider that the monkey in the bank can use. If your going to have critical illness cover then give yourself the best chance of it paying out and have it with a reputable provider that will cover more conditions than anyone else!
As with most insurances, most people deem them to be a waste of money if they never need them, but for the people that do fall ill and recieve a pay out; they are the best things they ever took out.
Sarnie said:
The two key factors with critical illness cover is the quality of the cover (e.g the number of conditions they will cover you for) and the accuracy of the information you provide. the number one reason for insurance companies not paying out for critical illness claims is NON-DISCLOSURE. Eg people saying that they are a non smoker when they are or saying they are 13 stone when they are really 17 stone!!!
The last thing you should ever judge a critical illness policy by is it's premium; cheap premiums do not equal the best policy.
With regards to whether you should keep the cover you've taken out, only you can really answer that. What I would say is that if your going to have critical illness cover then make sure it's the best the market has to offer rather than it just being from the one provider that the monkey in the bank can use. If your going to have critical illness cover then give yourself the best chance of it paying out and have it with a reputable provider that will cover more conditions than anyone else!
As with most insurances, most people deem them to be a waste of money if they never need them, but for the people that do fall ill and recieve a pay out; they are the best things they ever took out.
What he said.The last thing you should ever judge a critical illness policy by is it's premium; cheap premiums do not equal the best policy.
With regards to whether you should keep the cover you've taken out, only you can really answer that. What I would say is that if your going to have critical illness cover then make sure it's the best the market has to offer rather than it just being from the one provider that the monkey in the bank can use. If your going to have critical illness cover then give yourself the best chance of it paying out and have it with a reputable provider that will cover more conditions than anyone else!
As with most insurances, most people deem them to be a waste of money if they never need them, but for the people that do fall ill and recieve a pay out; they are the best things they ever took out.
Saved me a lot of typing did that.
Thanks for all replies and those that have emailed.
I guess the reason for coming on here and asking for personal experience/thoughts on the matter is simply that we were rushed and hassled by our provider and this has led me to want to move/cancel the policy. I have always been with my current mortgage lender and trusted them (as far as you can with a bank these days), but the meetings I had with their insurance guy and the constant phone calls asking have we signed this yet sent that yet, have really put me off. Now that we're settled into new place we've had time to reflect on the whole thing.
Everyone is right in that bad news travels quicker than good and that's why I always like to get people's personal recommendations/experiences on a variety of issues before purchasing etc.
Thanks for all replies - to those that emailed I will talk things over with the O/H this evening and possibly give you a bell.
Again thanks - replies appreciated.
I guess the reason for coming on here and asking for personal experience/thoughts on the matter is simply that we were rushed and hassled by our provider and this has led me to want to move/cancel the policy. I have always been with my current mortgage lender and trusted them (as far as you can with a bank these days), but the meetings I had with their insurance guy and the constant phone calls asking have we signed this yet sent that yet, have really put me off. Now that we're settled into new place we've had time to reflect on the whole thing.
Everyone is right in that bad news travels quicker than good and that's why I always like to get people's personal recommendations/experiences on a variety of issues before purchasing etc.
Thanks for all replies - to those that emailed I will talk things over with the O/H this evening and possibly give you a bell.
Again thanks - replies appreciated.
r1chie said:
just to echo what everyone else has said really, critical illness cover is not about price. Go to a reputable IFA and they should be able to find you appropriate cover.
I did this yesterday (mate of mine). Taking out Critical illness, Life Assurance (Insurance?) & Income protection. Not all policies are created equally. I know one person who got cancer and got a payout, another very nearly died from pancreatitis and got nothing.I was looking at income replacement rather than critical illness. The thinking was that if i cant work for a few weeks/months or forever i'm ok and if i kark it, life insurance pays out.
whereas critical illness doesn't pay out if you are just off work for a few months for some reason.
Thoughts?
whereas critical illness doesn't pay out if you are just off work for a few months for some reason.
Thoughts?
eliot said:
I was looking at income replacement rather than critical illness. The thinking was that if i cant work for a few weeks/months or forever i'm ok and if i kark it, life insurance pays out.
whereas critical illness doesn't pay out if you are just off work for a few months for some reason.
Thoughts?
You have lots of options, and mail.whereas critical illness doesn't pay out if you are just off work for a few months for some reason.
Thoughts?
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