Top Tips for Critical Insurance Buyers

You could effectively get Life cover included within your Critical Illness policy at no extra cost!

You may well be able to buy a combined Life and Critical Illness policy cheaper than a policy for Critical Illness alone. In effect this means that you are getting the extra life cover for nothing!

After you have been contacted with a critical illness insurance quote, ask for a new quote combining the two and see if you get a cheaper quote. It’s worth trying!

Think about buying two single Critical Illness Insurance policies rather than a joint policy.

A Joint Critical Illness policy pays out if one of the policyholders contracts a critical illness. The policy then automatically terminates. This leaves the second person uninsured and probably at an older age. Older people can struggle to get critical illness cover, so consider taking out separate policies now rather than a joint policy. It will work out a little dearer but you get double the cover and double peace of mind.

Now could be a good time to include Life Insurance within your new Critical Illness policy.

There are three good reasons why it could make good sense.

• If you are going to need Life Insurance in the future, then consider including Life Insurance now within your Critical Illness policy. It will work out significantly cheaper than buying two separate policies.
• You should be able to buy a combined Life and Critical Illness policy with a guaranteed fixed premium. This is a big advantage as many life insurance companies will not offer a guaranteed premium if you buy Critical Illness alone.
• If you contracted a critical illness and died within 28 days of being diagnosed, then a critical illness policy by itself, would not pay out (you have to survive 28 days to qualify for a critical illness pay out). However, with a combined Life and Critical Illness policy you would be paid out under the life cover provisions.

Has the Critical Illness quote worked out more than you can afford? Ask for a quote tailored to your budget.

If the first quote is over your budget, then simply say how much you can afford and, whilst you’re on the phone, ClickLife will tell you how much cover they can get for you.

They can do this by reducing either part of the cover to match your budget. Normally this will involve reducing the critical illness sum insured as it costs more than pure life insurance. Alternatively, you could choose to change the total sum insured. To make sure you get the right insurance deal for your needs, ClickLife will be able to process as many alternatives as you require.

Top Tips for Critical Insurance Buyers

A Guaranteed Critical Illness Policy could eventually work out cheaper than a Reviewable.

Reviewable critical illness policies have the lowest premiums on day one but Guaranteed policies work out much cheaper over the medium/long term. This is because as the years go by, Reviewable premiums increase whereas Guaranteed policies have their prices fixed and guaranteed forever (there’s more information about this on our FAQ Menu).

Is it Critical or Terminal Illness cover you want?

People frequently confuse Terminal Illness cover with em>UK Critical Illness cover - but there’s a world of difference between the two. Make sure you appreciate the difference.

A Terminal Illness is any illness from which you are expected to die within 12 months from diagnosis (as certified by a Doctor). You cannot buy a stand-alone Terminal Illness policy – terminal illness cover is always included free within Critical Illness policies and most good life policies automatically include Terminal Illness cover at no extra cost.

In comparison with Terminal Illness Cover, a Critical Illness policy pays out if you are diagnosed with a much wider range qualifying chronic illness and, with many, you could survive for a very long time. For example: certain cancers, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, loss of speech/sight/hearing, onset of Parkinsons or Alzheimers disease before the age of 65, coma, various tumours, stroke, third degree burns etc. Conditions do vary between insurance companies. Critical Illness cover always costs you extra.

Thinking of using a Critical Illness policy to protect your mortgage? Then consider increasing the cover.

You may decide that you want to use Critical Illness insurance to pay off your repayment mortgage. It’s an excellent idea because if you become critically ill, you may well be faced with medical bills and it is likely that you will need to spend money on your house to make it easier to live in (stair lift, wider doors, ramps, downstairs toilet etc). You might even want your insurance to provide an extra contingency sum to help out with these extra costs or to help offset an inevitable loss of income. (Remember, payouts from insurance policies are not subject to income tax.)

If you want Critical Illness cover to do more than pay-off your repayment mortgage, then discuss this with the brokers when they call. You could buy separate Mortgage Life Insurance and Critical Illness policies to achieve this, but the cheapest way of getting this cover would be to buy a special combined policy. You will be able to get a quote on this over the phone.

Did you know?

• 100,000 men under age 65 will die this year but around five times as many will suffer a critical illness
• Every 40 seconds a serious illness is diagnosed
• You are 15 times more likely to be off work for 6 months because of an accident or serious illness than you are to die before retirement
• Around 40,000 homes are sold each year to pay for long term care
• 1 in 4 males and 1 in 5 females will be diagnosed with a serious illness before retirement