Critical Illness Cover

Critical illness policies have been with us for a relatively short space of time. On the basis that many people are likely to suffer some form of illness which causes an expensive change of lifestyle these policies provide a lump sum payment to the insured should he or she be diagnosed as having one of a number of specified illnesses, conditions or diseases.

Critical illness cover can be included in other types of policies including whole of life contracts or term assurance policies. Recent developments meant that many life assurance companies have a standard list of conditions that are covered however the cost of the cover and the type of policy provided will differ greatly from company to company.

Permanent Health Insurance

Also known as Income replacement, these types of policy provide an income to the insured if they are unable to work as a result of accident, sickness or disability. There is normally a deferred period before which the income is paid and the longer the deferred period the lower the premiums payable. There are restrictions upon the amount of income that can be replaced and the rate of premium payable will depend very much upon the insured person’s occupation and lifestyle. Care needs to be taken as, unlike with critical illness cover, the range of definitions with regards to disability can vary greatly from product provider to product provider.

Long-Term Care

Long-term care schemes have recently become available in order to provide insurance cover against the costs of nursing home care. These premiums can be payable either by regular contribution or single premium and will become more popular in the future as the cost of such care increases and the State provision decreases. Together with the increasing trend of families to live further apart and the fact that we are all living longer, the growth of the elderly population requiring care either at home or in a nursing home is only likely to increase popularity with these types of products.

Private Medical Insurance

These policies pay for private medical insurance should hospital or specialist treatment be required. Some provide extremely comprehensive cover but can be very expensive, lower price products will of course pay for less benefits and could be restricted only to those areas not covered during a certain time from the National Health Service. The level of cover and price paid is likely to vary substantially from company to company and on the terms of the policy taken out.