Critical illness cover – Additional benefits
When first buying critical illness insurance there are a number of additional options available that help to boost your original cover;
one of which is the buyback opportunity.
This buyback option.
This buyback option will allow you to top up your original critical illness
cover in the event that you ever have to make a claim.
To be eligible to use this benefit you have to be under the age of 60,
however if you do make a claim and posses this add on then the provider
will have no choice but to accept your claim and reward your
benefits.
With traditional life insurance providers, before you are able to
use your buy back option you must first meet certain criteria.
For example if you suffer from a heart attack, primarily your doctors
or surgeons will have to be contacted in order to obtain your
medical status.
Before any buyback benefit can be received, there must be sufficient proof that a full year has passed
with no reoccurrence of any symptoms of your original illness.
This option to top up your policy also must be taken within 5 years of
your original claim.
Also know as reinstatement cover by some insurance providers, this
form of top up benefit can be a great advantage.
Customers should also be aware that different insurance providers
may call this product something else or offer it in a different way,
applicants should therefore be aware of what they are being
offered.
Traditionally, this reinstatement benefit will cover a number of
illnesses; however this will not be as comprehensive as your original policy and will often exclude the illness you have suffered from.
However, in recent years the insurance provider Prudential have
updated this product and dramatically improved the service
offered.
Within PruProtects “Serious Illness Cover”, which covers three times
more illnesses than traditional critical illness cover, a Minimum protection account is available.
This Minimum Protected account takes into consideration that, due to
medical advances, the chances of suffering more than one critical
illness and surviving has dramatically increased; the need for increased
protection is therefore vital.
Unlike traditional buy back policies, PruProtects Minimum Protected account can pay out up to three
times, and most importantly it can pay out more than once for the
same illness.
In addition to this, once a claim is rewarded, the Minimum Protected
account requires no further medicals, under writing, and no
change in premium; as well as this the critical illness you suffered from
will not be excluded.
Although traditional critical illness polices do offer additional benefits,
those offered under PruProtects serious illness cover are far more advanced and offer customers a
more comprehensive plan.
Critical illness cover – Additional benefits