A Quick Checklist

To make sure you get the best from your policy we've put together a quick checklist of the most important features:

• Remember, critical illness cover is primarily designed to provide a lump sum, not an income.
• Give your full medical history when applying for this cover. If you don't, your policy may not be valid if you make a claim.
• Check the cover is what you need - if you want to replace income or pay off your outstanding repayment mortgage debt, there are specific contracts for these, (see the mortgage protection fact centre).
• You will usually need to wait at least a month after being diagnosed before being able to make a claim.
• Make sure you know exactly what is and is not covered.
• Check that the total permanent disability cover pays out if you can't follow your own occupation, not any occupation.
• Check whether or not the premiums are fixed (guaranteed) or might go up over time (reviewable). Fixed premiums tend to be higher at the start but could end up being far cheaper over the longer term compared to reviewable premiums where the company can put your premium up at their various set times over the term of the plane based on their own criteria.
• If you have children under the age of 18, look for a policy that provides cover for them as well. Many insurers now provide this cover for free. Then, if they become critically ill or seriously disabled you may be able to make a claim.
• Make sure you read the key features document carefully. Check the plan is right for you and ask questions if you're unsure.
• Use the key features documents to compare critical illness cover form different providers and to check what conditions are covered and those that are excluded. Remember - You can only claim if you're diagnosed with a specified illness on your provider's list - this will vary from company to company.
• When you are comparing the conditions covered by different provider's, the core conditions listed are the ones that the ABI feel are most likely to occur. For that reason it makes sense to compare those conditions first. Once you have done that, examine the definitions of the cover provided for the other 'additional conditions'.
• To help you to compare different plans, key features documents normally list the critical illnesses covered alphabetically.
• Always shop around

To research your critical illness position further you can use our exclusive interactive research tool, the critical illness finance navigator.

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