The peace of mind experienced by knowing, in case of the unexpected you have at minimum, prepared you and your family financially.  Alleviating the stress that comes from overwhelming medical bills is half the battle of getting back to health.  The burden of living without you is partially eased in case of fatal disaster.

However, before you run off to purchase life and/or critical illness cover it’s important to know just what these two programs offer, how they differ and what package will best suit you and your families needs.

Let’s start by looking at Life Insurance cover first.

Historically, Life cover has been around since the period of the Roman Empire.  Termed “burial clubs”, this antiquated form of Life cover would supplement the cost of the deceased funeral expenses and provide some monetary assistance to the survivors family.

A more modern version was introduced in the 1600’sby a the now famous Lloyds of London Company, but was more specifically designed to service the shipping and trading industry with it’s many related risks.

Though policies have become a bit more complicated today, Life cover has spanned the globe and has become an important addition to every civilized society.

What exactly is Life cover?

In its purest definition – Life Insurance cover is a legal contractual agreement made between Insurer and a Policy owner.  The Insurer agrees to pay according to the agreed upon terms a lump sum (benefit) to the policy holders designated parties (beneficiaries) at the time of his death in exchange for the Policy owner paying the required monetary amount (premium) determined at time of entering contract.  These premium payments are usually set to be paid monthly, some policies will allow a lump sum payment.

Here is where death insurance can become complicated and it is vital to take some time to identify the differences in the various forms of cover before investing in protection.

Listed below are the differing options with a brief description to give you any idea of how these options will affect you as a potential Life cover holder.  Please note due to lack of space we will not be including investment and annuity type policies in this article.

Temporary Term Life cover Insurance – Life cover for a specific length of years.  The premium may vary over time increasing or decreasing.  The terms of this life cover plan can be a minimum of one year (which may be renewed annually) with premium buying protection only in the case of death.  If the policy owner dies before the term has expired, payment will be made.  If she outlives the policy, no money is paid out to the beneficiary or policy holder.

Permanent Life cover Insurance – Policy remains active up to the time of death of policy holder.  The cancelling of this policy cannot be initiated by the Insurer other than in the case of application fraud.  Policy holder will have money management options as the policy builds over time.

Whole Life cover Insurance – This policy contracts a fixed premium price with a fixed and guaranteed death benefit.  This plan also allows for additional terms ( riders) to increase cover or provide greater monetary amounts to beneficiaries.  Also “loans” may be granted but will decrease the benefits given to the designated survivors.

Universal Life cover Insurance – This is the newest option and is a form of investment life cover.  Combining a cash account with the premium payments and related interest will be applied to these sums in order to increase the beneficiaries payout.

Limited Pay Life cover Insurance – this policy provides for a limited number of premium payments.  Once the contracted period of payment is met, between any variation of time starting at a minimum of 10 years or up to the age of 65, that policy has been paid for and no further premium payments are required.

Endowment Life cover Insurance – This is basically a savings plan.  The accumulated amount this plan the exact amount of the payment received once the policy owner reaches a certain age.  His being dead or alive is not a condition to distribution of the contracted amount (endowment).

Accidental Death Life cover Insurance – This policy is a limited life cover plan that will only cover death by accident which most often does not include suicide or health problems.

Keep in mind all of the above optional policies can include riders (policy add on), specific terms of contract, and confusing terminology that could disqualify a policy holder from receiving the expected benefits.  Be sure to read thoroughly through your policy before signing.

Taking a look at Critical Illness Cover Insurance

In 1983 a South African cardiac surgeon, Dr.  Marius Barnard presented a plan to the insurance world that would protect an individual’s life rather that providing for his death.  Today it is known as critical illness cover and is slowly growing in demand around the world.

Despite the benefits of nationalized health care, critical illness can create an overwhelming financial burden for anyone.  The ability to work may be at risk due to the illness itself or the stress it brings can make it difficult to hold a job.  The basic functioning of any home can take a hit; bills, utilities, fuel, food are all dependent upon a steady income.  When dealing with a serious illness you could loose more than just your health.

Critical illness cover was created to minimize some of this burden by paying a lump sum within a 30 day time period the policy owner is informed of his illness.  The money is paid directly to the policy holder and can be used in any way.  The critical illnesses covered usually includes: stroke, heart attack, cancer, organ transplants, blindness, organ failure, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s along with several more serious conditions.

Critical illness cover assumes you will survive your illness and is designed to help with your expenses while in recovery.  HOWEVER, the explanation here has been simplified for clarity so be careful.  Many policies have some very tricky stipulations to your critical illness that must be met before your funds are released.  Read and discuss carefully any and every policy you may be considering.

“The principle of life is that life responds by corresponding; your life becomes the thing you have decided it shall be.” Raymond Charles Barker

How does your life correspond to critical illness cover insurance and death? That is the question we all must consider for ourselves and our families.

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If you have been told that you have a critical illness and your cover pays out you may want to use the money to help with medical bills or you may need things done to your house to make you cope better with your condition. your payout from your cover would also be tax free.  Critical illness may be classed as heart attacks and kidney problems, cancer, strokes etc.

Critical illness cover is different from Income protection.  This is when you have not been able to work for a set length of time, i.e.- about six months and it will pay out a monthly amount.

Choosing Critical Illness Cover Insurance

When you have received your quote and have asked about critical illness cover, you have to realise that there are quite a lot of different kinds of critical illness and different policies cover different illness’s.  Although all policies cover heart attacks, cancers and strokes you have to make sure that you get a quote for the cover that will grasp all your needs.  It is sometimes advisable to speak to an independent adviser before going ahead with the cover

New rules came into force in 2003 that change the conditions that applied to claiming on critical illness policies. These rules mean that all insurers will not cover illnesses such as non invasive skin cancer and suchlike.  Also any claims for heart attacks to be successful will need evidence of pains in the chest and changes on the ECG.  Angina and other moderate conditions are not covered by critical illness policies.

It is also noted that as well as the insurance companies main list of illnesses there is an other list that includes illnesses that are not serious enough to pay out on.  HIV & AIDS are not covered if they have been the result of drug abuse.  Minor heart operations and not taking advice from your doctor when recuperating from critical illness could also rule that your claim is null and void.

Critical Illness Cover Insurance For Your Family

Remember that if you have a family, critical illness cover insurance is good sense but if you are a single person it could be more important for you as it could pay off any mortgage that you have left to pay off.

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I decided to make this site as I felt it would be a great way for me to keep all the information I learn throughout my studies, in one easy to reach place.

I have to admit, all the books and information I have to study is a bit overwhelming for me, please don’t take anything on this site to be professionally qualified advice.  This site is just a place where I can write down my thoughts on my studies so I can better understand them myself.

I have always had an intrest in law, although professionally I have not had much experience in it.  My career thus far has been in retail working for some large supermarket chains in the area.

After a few years doing that I knew it was not for me, therefore i decided to make a change and begin to study law at college.  As you may have guessed I want to become an insurance expert, this will take years of hard work but I am prepared to put in the hours.

I have made a commitment to myself to grow both professionally and personally and I hope this site will aid me to do this.

Away from work, I am a very keen badminton player (although I’m not very good at it he-he) so if your in the Manchester area please get in touch and we can have a game.  I also love reading books, believe it or not I’m currently going through all the Harry Potter books again, back to back!

I hope you like my little site.

Jackie

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