Critical illness life insurance

Most people tend to believe that critical illness insurance is included into their life insurance policies. Sure, it sounds logic because critical illness is often connected to the situation when life insurance gets triggered – the death of the policyholder. Critical or terminal health condition can disable the person and make it impossible to sustain the regular income for supporting the family. Yet, in reality it's a rather frequent misconception caused by the lack of knowledge in terms and conditions most policyholder have about life insurance. Some life insurance policies might feature critical illness coverage, however in most cases you will have to buy this coverage separately.

When does critical illness coverage apply and how it is different from life insurance?

As the name suggests critical illness coverage pays in case the policyholder holder is diagnosed with a critical or terminal health condition from the list of specified conditions indicated in the policy. When the person receives the diagnosis he has the right to file a claim and receive all the benefits indicated in the policy. That's the first difference from life insurance, which pays out only when the person dies. Another important detail is that the person can receive the benefits and keep them even if they actually recover from the critical illness. For example, if the policy lists prostate cancer as a critical illness and the policyholder is diagnosed with this condition, he receives the benefits and keeps them even after being treated successfully.

How can I purchase critical illness insurance?

There are two ways you can get critical illness coverage. The first one is buying a separate policy, which you can get even from another provider you already have life insurance with. Or you can include it to your current life insurance policy as a weaver for a little increase in premiums. Which option to choose is for you to decide, but make sure to consider both options and analyze the offer before making the decision. For some it will be more affordable to buy separate policies while for other the addition to the current policy may seem more competitive. It all differs from company to company. But one thing is for sure. If you are predisposed to a particular health condition that can be classified as critical and may put you out of work for a really long time having critical illness coverage is a must if you want to avoid financial hardships for you and your family.