Critical Illness Insurance. Big Changes On The Horizon
by: Michael Challiner
In recent years sales of critical illness insurance have flagged. The primary cause is the huge 70% increase in premiums experienced during recent years. For many, critical illness insurance has simply priced itself out of the market.
It's not that critical illness insurance is a bad idea. After all it pays out a lump sum if the policyholder is diagnosed with one of the many critical illnesses listed on the policy and the policyholder survives at least 28 days from diagnosis. (Note: some policies have a 14 day survival period.) Most policies have a huge list of insured illnesses although about 60% of claims are for cancer – not surprising, as 1 in every 3 people will develop cancer sometime in their lifetime. In fact when you look at the concept of Critical illness insurance you can easily make a case that everyone living on earned income should have a policy. It's designed to give you a pot of capital to live on if serious illness prevents you from working normally.
Premiums have increased dramatically because medical advances have meant that many illnesses that proved fatal in the past are becoming quicker to detect and easier to treat. Hence insurance companies have found themselves paying out earlier on claims and on illnesses which are not necessarily debilitating - which was the original purpose of critical illness insurance.
To give you a better idea of the sort of illnesses we're talking about, here's a typical list:
Alzheimer's Disease
Aorta Graft surgery
Bacterial Meningitis
Blindness
Brain Tumour
Cancer
CJD
Coma
Coronary Artery by-pass surgery
Coronary Artery Angioplasty
Deafness
Heart attack
Heart Valve replacement/repair
HIV/AIDS resulting from blood transfusion
Inability to perform your duties of occupation
Kidney failure
Leukaemia
Loss of limbs
Loss of speech
Major organ transplant
Motor Neuron diseases
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Critical Illness Insurance. Big Changes On The Horizon
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