Getting sick can cost a lot of money. There are the costs of
treatments, the costs of hospital car parks, and worst of all, not being able
to work.
Worries about who would take care of things such as mortgage
payments lead many to take out life insurance. This is pretty widely seen as
being a sensible idea.
The problem with life insurance is that it only pays out
when you are dead. While of course this is essential for helping you family
cope when you are gone, it does not do you much good when it comes to dealing
with the costs of illness.
Some insurance policies come with critical illness cover.
What this means is that if the person who the policy is for falls ill with
certain diseases then they receive a payout. What diseases are covered will
depend on the policy, and it is something that anybody thinking of paying for
something like this should consider very carefully.
Typically the kind of diseases that would result in a payout
from a critical illness clause of a life insurance policy would be things like
heart attacks, cancer and stroke. Organ transplants and Alzheimer’s disease are
often commonly covered.
There are usually a number of restrictions on what will be
covered. If you have a strong family history of certain conditions it is likely
that most policies will not cover you for those.
The kind of payout that is received can come in a number of
forms. In some cases it can be a lump sum payment, in others however it can be
a an on-going allowance. Sometimes there can be provisions to waive remaining
premiums for those that are not able to carry on their normal employment – though
of course this option will come at a cost.
