Archive for the ‘Critical Illness’ category

Examine Those Clauses When Purchasing Critical Illness Insurance Policies

November 30th, 2009

As an outcome of recent reviews that critical illness insurances are being mis-sold, the insurance providers claim that it has already put further procedures into place. A review by the Association of British Insurers formed more exact values, with straightforward headings on pamphlets and normal wording to give clear picture.

Many life insurance underwriters have also reduced the amount of people they decline – to 16 per cent, at Life Search, or 11 per cent in the case of . Quite a lot of people, whose claims are declined, are left without a settlement because they did not own up to a pre-existing condition. Others fail because their condition does not fall within the bounds of the policy. This error is easy to understand.

What is covered as critical illness to one insurer is not included by another.

Should you take out a loan with Tesco Finance, you’ll be required to say whether you want its creditcare protection insurance. The highest price “gold level” contains critical illness insurance and life insurance quotations. Although what the insurance policy covers will be very different to that on offer from Life Search.

At Virgin Money it covers quadriplegia, paraplegia, open heart surgery, strokes, heart attacks and kidney failure. Cancer also features on the list although there are exceptions, including everthing but the very serious prostate cancers and lymphoma and skin cancer.

Standard Life incorporates 28 different conditions including the seven highlighted by Money Expert. They span from bacterial meningitis, Parkinson’s disease, the human form of mad cow disease and third degree burns. The company’s meaning of cancer has the same exclusions as Virgin Money.

Insurance broker Alex Peters says he won’t sell critical illness insurance cover since, in too many cases, insurance holders do not claim or the insurance cover does not pay out “You see adverts which say 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer and how a critical illness policy will benefit. But these insurance covers are revoked when people reach the age of 60 and that is when the majority people get cancer. The numbers for cancer are nearer one in 40 before the age of seventy, but the adverts don’t tell you this.”

Even many of the top providers of critical illness insurance cover concurr that there could be better substitutes for paying the mortgage or generating an income when serious illnesses stop you from working.

In the current world, a person can occasionally be fighting cancer or other conditions for a number of years. If they are unable to work while receiving treatment or recovering from side effects, a lump sum payment from critical illness insurance could be used up very quickly.

It is worth looking into different forms of insurances similar to family income benefit or an income protection policy. With the last one, for instance, a payout would be made for a bad back if it prevents you from working. Plainly this wouldn’t be covered in a critical illness insurance policy.

Still that is an improvement on a few years ago when the ratio was twelve to one. The certainty still remains that the insurance companies as a whole needs to do much more to elucidate the choices to clients so that they can make a decision to suite their own circumstances.

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What Insurance Do You Need To Protct Your Family? Part 2

November 6th, 2009

Summary
It is always wise to be sure exactly what you are looking for in the way of cover as only you understand your personal circumstances.  We explain what you need to be aware of and how to maintain it after you have it.

Andrew Merricks, head of investments at Lancaster-based financial adviser Peel Townsend Financial Services, counsels that it is very shortsighted of people not to have Life Assurance and/or Critical Illness Insurance as he maintains that life has two major threats – either being alive too long and dying too soon.  “Its absolutely essential to have some cover in place – particularly if youve got a young family,” he states. “These days you need to build your own little welfare state because no one else is can do it for you.”

Greg Suttcliffe at Bestdeal says now is the right time to buy such insurances as there are many very cheap premiums about owing to the intense competition for business within the industry. “The price of life insurance has come down – reduced by about forty five per cent in three years. It has never been as cheap,” he adds. “The critical illness industry paid out on 85% of claims in 2007 – up from 79 per cent  the previous year.”
Be aware of what insurance cover you have before you take out more.  Do you have any investment policies or does your company pension fund give you any cover?

The best way to assess how much cover you need is to calculate how much you would need to have the same standard of living over a year and then times it by twenty five years.  The minimum amount needed should pay off any outstanding debt and provide a lump sum for all your dependants.

Making sure you get the best deal – When making a decision on your insurance cover it is very important to read the manual that many insurance companies have of the illnesses and conditions that they deal with. It will list everything and should be clear-cut and easy to grasp.  You will also want to see the documentation of the significant facts of the cover which will contain all benefits and exclusions.

When a person takes on the responsibility of a home loan they are normally advised to take out critical illness insurance cover but should research the market and not just take the first insurance cover suggested.

If you start paying these insurances when you are younger they are significantly cheaper, distinctly different to leaving it until you are older, when insurances goes up quite substantially.

Insurance premiums can also be reduced by giving up smoking.  Alison Hines, manager of protection at AxA Insurance states ” as well as giving a longer and healthier quality of life, giving up smoking can save people a vast amount of money.”

If you stop smoking you can knock as much as a third off life, critical illness cover and income protection insurance premiums because the facts that we now have shows that smoking can trigger serious illness and aggravates any other existing medical conditions. If your circumstances change you may have to alter your policy.

Under no circumstances feel that once you have purchased your policy that you can just continue with your life and forget about it. Always be very mindful of the cover you have and make certain that, should your situation change, or, are about to change your insurance must accommodate these changes.  Clear examples are changing your job, or do you intend to have more children; frequently think about everything that may raise your living costs and will need to to be covered if you are taken ill and cannot work.

Our advice is if you want cheap life cover, go online – that’s where all the cheapest deals will be found.

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The Main Points To Consider When Buying Critical Illness Insurance

September 28th, 2009

Summary
Quite a few people in the street with critical illness insurance don’t really appreciate how these plans function. There are appeals for more comprehensiveruleson the marketing of such insurance. Most peopleneed more knowledge on insurance products which best suit their individual needs.

The city regulator expressed its concern a few years ago that hundreds of thousands of people with insurance failed to comprehend what their policies covered. Those uncertainties remain.

The City Regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) stated that data indicated that providers, including supermarkets, insurers, financial advisers and banksoften made little effort to understand if the cover was acceptable and no explanation was given to customers of how policies operates. While most companies were working to stick toenhanced standards, others continued to offer a poor service.

In the event that a stroke, cancer, heart diseaseor other listed life-threatening illnesses strike, critical illness cover,insurance pays out a lump sum. Almost without exception, it is those who are worried about paying off mortgage, debts and loans if they were unable to stay in work, who purchase these plans.

There are two types: those policies where the premium is fixed for ever (a guaranteed premium) and those where the payments increase over time. Figures from the Association of British Insurers prove that, alltogether, there are over of 4m insurance policies covering 12m customers. An average policy will pay out sixty eight thousand pounds.
These “protection” policies have proved to be controversial. While the ploicies arebeneficial, these “protection” policies have proved controversial and financial commentators allege that not many people make claims. There is no information available on the number of people claiming made vis-à-vis the total premiums paid. The city regulator, the Financial Services Authority review did reveal, however, that on average, 25 per cent of the claims made are not paid out.

Recently, in one case a plan holder was diagnosed with cancer but specialist could not identify which one. The plan holder was unfortunately told it was unlikely the cancer specialists would know for certain until he seven feet under.
Until a diagnosis was available, the insurer would not pay out. The policyholder’s wife appealed realising that should he die, the insurance company would pay out a life insurance policy worth £20,000 rather than the critical illness planwhich was worth some £80,000 as only one policy would pay out. The argument with the provider caused increased stress to the client. After a public fight, the insurance company gave in and paid out on the plan for critical illness.

The Consumers’ Association which publishes Which?,  said it thinks the situation is   more serious than the Financial Services Authority claims and that sales of critical illness arrangements are at the centre of a mis-selling situation.
Michael Chunkline, principal policy adviser, says finance companies, brokers and commission-hungry advisers, saw an opportunity to make considerable earnings. He said Which? had forecast the mis-selling that was seen in the pensions industry and would be replicated in the critical illness business.

His predictions are on the back of complaints in in the House of Commons regarding the mis-selling of critical illness policies. Gordon Duncastle, the MP, says the Financial Services Authority’s study proves that there is a high risk that plans are being sold to clients who do not appreciate what they are buying or who don’t even need them. The MP wants rule changes at the FSA that would restrict sales to be made by financial advisers working under stricter guidelines.

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