'We're all sorted with that.'
'I don't need it reviewed.'
'I have it already, it's all wrapped up and looked after.'
These are some of the objections I hear regularly when I ask people if they'd like a free review of their critical illness cover.
The third one was from my brother! He kindly reminded me that he had critical illness cover already.
I knew that he had critical illness cover already, that's why I was asking to review it. 🤦
Can you blame them though?
It's not something one would look forward to reviewing, discussing Cancer and serious illnesses.
As far as they're concerned it's a necessary evil that will protect them in the event of the unknown, i.e. Cancer, Stroke, Heart Attack. Needless to say, they have it 'all wrapped up and looked after.'
I don't blame them, they don't work in my industry.
It's my job to ask about it, educate people, and point out the flaws for not reviewing their critical illness cover.
For those of you reading who don't have critical illness cover, it's an insurance policy that covers serious illnesses. It can pay out a lump sum if you're diagnosed with an illness that meets the policy definition.
An analogy that I came up with to illustrate why one should review their critical illness policy is, a type writer versus an iPad.
Think of the oldest policy alike to a type writer,
an old policy similar to a computer,
a policy taken out a few years ago akin to a laptop,
and a recent policy kindred to an iPad from the current year with all the latest features on the market place.
Critical illness policies are the same, older policies just aren't as good as the latest models, in fact, some older policies only cover up to 30 conditions, compared to some newer policies that can cover up to 182 conditions!
Insurers are perpetually competing among one another to bring the most comprehensive cover to the market place year on year.
However, insurers won't automatically upgrade your critical illness plan to match their latests version ( read that again ) You'll need to review your policy and upgrade it with them or a different insurer if you want to receive the benefits.
You don't want to pay money in to a plan for years, to contact your insurer with news of your medical diagnosis, seeking financial support, for an insurer to inform you that your policy doesn't pay out for your specified serious illness condition, all because you had an old policy that didn't cover the condition. How would that feel?
Here's proof, below is an example of a report I ran for a client recently, his existing policy on the left column was a 'Zurich Standard' policy taken out between 2016 - 2018.
The comparison I ran was against 'AIG enhanced + children' from 2021, in the right hand column.
This is only one page of many in the report.
The blue ticks indicate that the condition is included by the policy specified.
No blue tick, you guessed it, indicates that the condition isn't included in the policy.
Look at how many conditions the newer policy states it pays out in compared to the older one.
I narrated an example of somebody I knew, a man in his 40's, he took the advice of an expert, his financial advisor, to review his critical illness policy.
For a little extra in monthly premiums, he upgraded his policy to the one of the latest policies on the marketplace.
Post upgrading his policy, he became sick.
Loss of appetite and diarrhoea.
Was admitted to hospital a few months later.
Over time his consultant diagnosed him with Crohn's disease.
It wasn't long before he had to get a portion of his intestine removed to prevent the spread of the disease.
The good news was that he survived, and has since went on to recover.
Better still, his recently upgraded critical illness covered the condition and the policy paid out.
He used the money to pay off his mortgage and still had money to support his lifestyle, this allowed him to take valuable time off work to recover and spend time with his family.
He wouldn't have been able to claim had he not reviewed and upgraded his policy to the latest model.
Why? His older policy which was he bought online didn't cover the condition.
This is why it's imperative to review your critical illness policy every two to four years, and always seek advice from an expert in the industry. Not just going for the cheapest option, alternatives such as those found online are cheap for a reason, you really need to know what they cover.
If you'd like me to review your policy for free, comparing it to the latest editions on the market place, get in touch by clicking below.
It's swift and effortless to illustrate how you could benefit from protection that's more extensive, which could give you a greater opportunity of claiming.
The best way to get something done is to begin.