Life & Critical Illness : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Author's product rating:

Competitiveness of APR	Average
Product package	Average
Efficiency of service	Average
Value for money	Average

Advantages:	May give extra security if the worst happens .
Disadvantages:	Critical illness doesn't always pay out .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Hi, folks!! I haven't been around for a while because I've been feeling pretty rough but I have decided to try for an op today. When trying to decide what to write about I abandoned all thoughts of my usual food ops and decided to go for a topic that I could discuss first-hand and which hopefully would help some people in the future.

For anyone who doesn't know me on the site I will give a brief resume. Up until a year ago I was a happy go lucky mother of two. Granted some days I didn't feel very well (so, deep down I knew there was something wrong) but tried to push it to the back of my mind. In November last year, however, my world caved in when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at 37. Not the end of the world, I hear you say, but it feels like it on really bad days. I am, however, keeping optimistic and taking one day at a time.

So, what gives me the right to give advice? Well, this is a topic that I know something about. In my employment I used to persuade people to take out both life assurance and critical illness assurance. I didn't sell it to them, as such but I passed them on to the relevant advisers. Would I sell ice to the eskimos? No, I am very ethical and would only try to sell something if I strongly believed someone needed it.

So, following on from that I have to tell you that I am insured to the hilt if I should die, but do I have critical illness insurance - NO!! I tried to take it out just prior to my diagnosis but it was a case of "closing the stable door after the horse had bolted". Now that the dust has settled, if I was back to being that carefree individual, would I take it out now - NO!! My reasons will become apparent as we progress.

I will discuss life assurance first. This, as far as I am concerned is a must for anyone who has a spouse and dependants. To lose either one income from a family or the housekeeper is a terrible burden and something that won't be easy to get out of. The concept of level term life assurance is that you pay a specific premium each month over a certain number of years and if you die within the term, the policy will pay out a set, previously agreed tax-free lump sum. This could be a life-saver for your family and could pay off a mortgage, help with day-to-day expenses or just give you nest-egg to make the future a bit easier. There are various different types of life assurance but level term is by far the most popular. If you do not have this cover in place I would certainly advise you to go and get it now!!

Now, we come to the critical illness cover. The concept of this is the same - you pay a certain premium each month in return for a tax-free lump sum payment but this is not paid out on death. It is paid out on diagnosis of a critical illness. Each provider of this cover will give a list of the illnesses covered by the policy.

The main ones are:
Aorta Graft Surgery
Blindness
Cancer
Coronary Artery By-Pass Surgery
Heart Attack
Heart Valve Replacement or Repair
Kidney Failure
Loss of Limbs
Major Organ Transplant
Multiple Sclerosis
Paralysis/Paraplegia
Stroke
Total Permanent Disability

To receive payment it is normally stipulated that you must survive for 28 days after diagnosis. Once again the benefit of the plan is to make life easier, while you are still living - whether to adapt your property, go on a holiday of a lifetime or to stop work with financial security.

Sounds great, doesn't it? But, beware, the small print. For example, it is not all cancer types that are covered and in my case it is not just simply on diagnosis - the symptoms must have persisted for a continuous period of 6 months. Now, the nature of the beast with Multiple Sclerosis is that symptoms come and go for set periods so you would have to be pretty far down the line for them to persist for 6 months at a time. So, basically, if I had taken out this cover it could be years and years before the insurance would have considered paying out. In fact, my MS nurse told me that she is not aware of anyone whose policy has actually paid out and she has been in the job for years.

So, although life assurance is vital the pros and cons of the critical illness cover have to be weighed up - in particular against the premium that would be payable. That is the reason I didn't take it out earlier. My husband and I are both smokers and the premiums were extortionate. Had the premiums been reasonable I wouldn't have hesitated in taking it out.

No one likes to think that they are going to die young or contract a critical illness but it does happen and the incidence of heart attacks in young men seems to be on the increase. So, think carefully about it, life assurance doesn't cost the earth and dependant on your personal circumstances maybe critical illness won't either.

Peace of mind is the factor here. Provide for your family now just in case the worst happens.

Any insurance company will gladly quote you for either of these and it is a highly competitive market - so shop around.

The ratings below are irrelevant since I have not discussed a particular company's products. I have given the category 4 stars because of my thoughts on the critical illness side.

Life & Critical Illness

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