Critical Illness Protection

Insurance cover for critical illness

Critical illness insurance is one of those things that most of us prefer not to think about, the possiblity that we may become ill with a serious disease, major disability or a life-threatening critical illness and what we would do about protecting our monthly income if we could not carry on working.

"As you get older, you begin to think about some of the possible diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer's Disease or Motor Neurone Disease, that might strike at any time and how best to protect yourself and your family against such critical illnesses."

There has been a lot of comment recently, not least on the BBC TV Watchdog programme, about the subject of critical illness cover and the unwillingness by some insurers to pay out in respect of pre-existing conditions that were not declared prior to taking out critical illness protection. If you are considering taking out critical illness insurance cover, you should discuss any such matters with your financial adviser and satisfy yourself that you have fully disclosed your previous medical history or indeed any factors that might materially affect the underwriting of a critical illness protection policy.

The list of medical conditions and diseases potentially covered by a critical illness policy might include:

• Cancer
• Coronary heart disease / heart attack
• Stroke
• Alzheimers and other types of dementia
• Motor neurone disease
• Multiple scheloris
• Kidney disease
• Parkinsons disease

There is, unfortunately, no standard list of such conditions and each critical illness insurance company will provide their own list of what is covered under their particular critical illness insurance policy wording.