Critical illness insurance is no longer seen as something that is nice to have, it has become an essential feature in financial protection planning. It’s crucial to have a plan to provide for your family in the event that you’re diagnosed with a serious illness that prevents you from working. There’s no doubt that it can be helpful if you ever need it, but what exactly are the chances that you’ll actually need critical illness coverage?
This does not constitute advice and advice should be sought in all instances before acting on it.
The benefits of critical illness coverage
The money from your critical illness lump sum payout from critical illness can be used for anything you need, so your loved ones don’t have to worry. Let’s take a look at how this money can help you and your family.
- Helps to cover medical expenses: Medical expenses that may not be covered by traditional health insurance, such as experimental treatments, alternative therapies, or travel expenses for treatment can be paid for with CIC.
- Provides financial security: Not only can a critical illness diagnosis be emotionally devastating, but it can be financially draining as well. Critical illness insurance helps to cover your expenses and maintain your lifestyle while you focus on your recovery so you can maintain financial stability in an otherwise unstable time.
- Protects your savings: If you need to use your own money to pay for medical expenses, or even if not working means you’re losing out on income, a critical illness can quickly deplete your savings, and leave you struggling. You can help to protect your savings if you get a lump sum payout that can be used to cover your expenses through critical illness.
- Pays off debts: If you have debt from a mortgage, credit cards, or even personal loans, being diagnosed with a critical illness that prevents you from working can make it difficult to keep up with payments. Your critical illness payout can be used to pay off your debts, so you can have peace of mind.
Critical illness insurance is an essential part of financial protection planning, helping you to maintain your financial stability in the event of a critical illness diagnosis, but how likely are you to actually need coverage?
What are the chances of being diagnosed with a critical illness?
Critical illness provides a lump sum payout upon a claim that you are diagnosed with a covered condition, such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, or multiple sclerosis. The statistical chances of being diagnosed with a critical or long-term illness varies depending on a variety of factors such as age, gender, lifestyle, family history, and other health-related factors.
In the UK, here are some statistics for suffering a critical illness or being unable to work due to sickness:
- Around 1 in 2 people born after 1960 will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime.
- Around 1 in 3 people will develop dementia in their lifetime.
- Around 1 in 4 people will suffer a stroke at some point in their lifetime.
- Around 1 in 2 people will develop some form of musculoskeletal condition, such as arthritis, at some point in their lifetime.
- Around 1 in 4 people experience mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression.
As you can see, the likelihood that you might need to make a claim against your critical illness insurance is higher than you might have thought. The truth is, it’s a very real possibility for a big portion of the country.
Get help finding the right policy for you
Since risk varies from individual to individual, speak to your healthcare provider before you discuss your insurance options such as critical illness insurance with your financial adviser. The experts at Dental & Medical Financial Services are here to help protect you against the financial impact of a critical illness, so get in contact with us to get started today.