Step 1: Find out what your current policy covers.
If you’re unsure what your policy covers, you should check with your insurer.
This is an important step because it can help you avoid buying the same coverage twice. For example, a lot of employer-based life insurance policies provide some form of critical illness protection.
But it’s worth noting that even if your current plan does cover critical illness, it might not cover as much as you think. In most cases, employee benefit plans only provide a percentage of your annual salary (typically between 50% and 75%).
That amount might not be enough to cover all of your expenses in the event that you get sick — especially if you have dependents who rely on your income to pay for essentials like childcare or groceries.
Step 2: Keep a note of critical illness providers that you like the sound of.
- Make a note of companies you like the sound of.
- Check their financial rating.
- Find out whether they have an online quote system you can use.
- Compare the quotes you receive on similar policies to see which one is best for you. Remember to consider:
- What’s your budget? Can you afford the monthly premium?
- What are they offering in terms of cover?
Step 3: Get your quotes together in one place.
With the quotes you’ve collected, you can use a quote comparison site to compare your policy options and pick the most useful one. This site should display all of your available policies in one place and allow you to compare the key details about each policy (for example, how much it costs and what it covers). The best comparison sites also offer advice to help you make sense of your comparisons.
Step 4: Compare all your prices against each other.
Although the comparison site we used was not an exact match to our insurance plan, it did help us find a reasonable option that fit into our budget. After comparing dozens of plans with different deductibles and premiums and finding out which ones were available in our area, we settled on this one.
The major benefits of this plan included its lower premiums and deductibles, no medical ID card needed for our cat, less paperwork, and a $1 million limit if something went wrong. We also liked that there were no pre-existing condition restrictions—it made everything more affordable for us!
This policy provided us peace of mind that our cat would be protected if anything happened to him. So far he has been healthy so we feel confident about not having to file a claim. All in all it was a good experience!
Critical-illness insurance is a form of cover that can help you pay for treatment for serious illness and/or recuperation after a major operation
Critical-illness cover pays out a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with a medical condition or undergo a major operation. Some policies will have more conditions covered than others, but the most common conditions covered include cancer, heart attack and stroke.
The lump sum can be used to pay for treatment and/or recuperation if you are unable to return to work due to your diagnosis. It can also be used to make adaptations in your home, such as installing special equipment, or buying a new car that will better suit your needs as you recover.