Other How long to go with critical illness

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moreoran

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My wife and myself have a critical illness policy of 50k (with some life cover) which is due to expire in 7 years time when I'll be 62 and
my wife 61. At that stage the last of our kids will hopefully be able to look after themselves. We took out the policy 12 years ago and pay 62E
a month.
A financial adviser I know is encouraging us to drop our existing policy and take out a new 20 year policy - he says it is vital we have cover
when we retire and beyond. This would cost at least 130 euro pm which is a stretch for us!
Would love to get people's opinion on critical illness at this stage of life.
 
Generally serious illness cover lasts up until 75, did the agent confirm you would be covered into your 80's? Like all cover there are pro's & con's to serious illness cover, some companies cover more illnesses than others etc. Make sure all cover is explained to you and your policy isn't being churned to the benefit of the agent.
 
There's no point in taking the advisors word as gospel.

Instead, ask yourself, what will the 50k be used for is one of you were to get critically ill or pass away. With this information, we'd be better able to advise you on your options.

In my opinion, someone approaching retirement, in general, should not need such a policy. In theory, their children should be grown up, their mortgage should be paid off and they should be able to survive on their pension.

At the end of the day, if you can afford 130 euro p/m out of your retirement income, your retirement income is enough to not need the policy in the first place and the premiums would be better of invested.

If the policy is actually needed, what are the plans should you both survive past the age of 75?
 
deco22 said:
Is artritis classed as critical illness.
Click to expand...

Every policy has different illnesses and severities of those illnesses but I highly doubt arthiritus is included in any of them.

Even cancer or heart attacks can be excluded if they don't meet the level of severity defined in a particular critical illness policy.

It is for this reason that a lot of people prefer to go for Income Protection policies - in case you get an illness that prevents you from working but isn't included in the list of illnesses for which you are covered under a critical illness policy.

There are two main types of policies that cover Income Protection. The better ones pay out if you get an illness that prevents you from doing "your own job". The cheaper ones only pay out if you have an illness that prevents you from doing ANY job.

As an example, if a plumber has the cheaper policy and can no longer do his job because of arthiritus, he should receive a payout under the better policies. However, he may not under the cheaper policies because he's still able to answer a telephone in a call center.
 
Ithink if you have cover until the children are reared any other cost is a bit of a luxury. Also inurance companies are getting VERY tight over critical illness , eg I am told they try VERY hard to NOT pay out on heart attacks UNLESS you get a stint etc .
Methinks stay covered and review when 60 . It MIGHT also be worth checking to see does your policy give you an {automatic} role over.
 
There is no roll over on the present policy which is a problem - This is not something I thought about when I took out the policy.
I imagine it will be pretty expensive to take out a new policy at 60!
 
Some insurance companies have a maximum age a person can take out serious illness so that may be why the broker is encouraging you to take out the policy now for 20 years If you wait until you are 62 you may be either too old to take out the cover or you may be in bad health and not qualify.

Decco22: Arthritis is paid on serious illess plans but mostly when it has got to the stage that a person needs help to dress/feed them selves etc. If its not named as an illness it will fall into the loss of independence category.
Same with all illnesses they have to meet the minimum definition. Some companies pay a lower partial amount for lesser illnesses such as inSitu cancers and Angioplasty
 
We're with Acorn Life - they have NO age limit on their critical illness policies.
 
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