Serious Illness Cover: The Whole Story on Why You Need It

No matter how much certainty we require to go about our lives, the only assurance we can ever count on is uncertainty. I don’t like to start a blog post in a negative tone, but being realistic helps with being more prudent about the importance of not taking anything for granted – especially our health and well-being.

You may not like to think about the bad what-ifs in life, but the truth is they’re there; one minute you’re full of life, headed to the office, and the next your life is hanging by the thread and you’re left battling a serious illness. Such things might happen, or they might not happen, so what you’re left with is taking the proper precautions every step of the way.

Specifically in terms of illness, you can make sure you lead the healthiest possible lifestyle to minimise all the risks. In addition to eating wholesome and balanced meals, exercising properly and with measure, and getting enough sleep every night, you could also go a step further by ensuring your livelihood by investing in suitable serious illness cover to keep the income coming even when you’re incapable of work.

Do You Need Serious Illness Cover?

If you already deal with more expenditures than you can handle, then this is a logical and expected question to have. But your own health and well-being are just as important as say insuring the material stuff, like the car, the home, or even the business, so it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Especially if you don’t have that many savings to back you up in case you’re unexpectedly seriously ill and bedridden. Things get even more uncertain when you’re the only breadwinner in the family, and you have more mouths to feed, all depending on your capability of work.

People who work without any employment benefits packages that cover unemployment periods due to serious illnesses are also the perfect candidates for critical illness insurance for the protection of their source of income. If you need help with covering the medical bills, or even adapting the home to the new way of life-related to the illness, these are instances when this cover proves to be essential too.

What Is the Difference Between Serious Illness Cover and Income Protection?

The illness cover is a better solution as it pays you up your lump sum tax-free and it’s based on the diagnosis of the illness that’s defined and covered in your specific policy. But, you need to keep up your part of the deal with the premiums so you could receive the cover payment if something happens, so be sure you can afford to pay them up. On the other hand, income protection is a type of insurance that offers you a regular payment that’s taxable.

What Does Serious Illness Cover Cover?

Although the illnesses covered by different insurers can vary, as it depends on what they consider to be serious or critical, some of the usual that you can expect to be covered in general include:

• stroke
• some types of cancer
• heart attack
• some diseases (e.g. Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis)
• some organ transplants
• serious head injuries

Some other conditions, such as hypertension, and broken bones, might also be exceptions but it all comes down to your insurer and your case as well as its severity, even if it’s listed as covered. In some cases, even your kids with these conditions could receive a smaller sum by the insurer. Keep in mind the sum and coverage can vary according to the case, as well as the background of the person in need of the coverage.

The insurance company could take your health prior to the issue into consideration, and your sum might change if you’re a smoker, and could also be affected by your weight, your family’s medical history, plus the risk of your occupation. How old you are has its significance too as the older you are the higher the chances for claims, which could further affect the cost and sum of insurance.

It’s important to disclose everything prior to getting the cover, so there won’t be any unwanted consequences if you hide some of the facts. Other factors that can influence it are your dependents, debts, expenses like bills, mortgage or rent payments, childcare, present medical expenses, and other insurance covers if you have any. What this means is your insurance payment could also come out pricey based on your lifestyle.

This type of cover usually comes in a combination with another, such as life insurance. Given the various elements that play their role, it’s important to consult insurers who have years of experience on the matter to be able to find suitable personal accident and sickness insurance for you and your family. A broker and financial adviser could also shed some light on the matter.