Crictical Illness Cover
"1 in 3 people will suffer from some type of cancer at some point in their lives"
"230,000 people will suffer a heart attack this year".
The average age of someone making a claim on their Critical Illness Policy is 42, which when considering that the average age of a first time buyer is 30 means that a borrower is likely to make a claim half way through a typical 25 year mortgage.
Lets face it, the statistics are pretty grim, and the point very serious. We all know someone who has suffered from a heart attack or been diagnosed with cancer unexpectedly.
In such situations most people are normally off work undergoing treatment and have to accustom to a changed lifestyle. As sad as this may be, what is even worse is that such people could also lose their home on top of it all.
Losing your home...
If you were to suffer from a critical illness such as brain tumour, heart attack, stroke etc. then you could potentially end up losing your home. The reason is that if you were diagnosed with a critical illness then you'll be off work for a lengthy period and may not recover fully enough to return.
In addition to that you'll be facing prolonged treatment which you may need to raise money for and will need to get accustomed to a changed lifestyle, all putting tremendous strain on your health and finances, especially your mortgage.
Lenders are unsympathetic to someone who is struggling with their mortgage payments for any reason and after some time of no mortgage payments will repossess the property and evict the borrowers.
The solution...
Obviously you don't want to be in this predicament especially if you have a family to support. The way out of such a situation is to have critical illness cover when taking out your mortgage.
Then if you are diagnosed with a critical illness your mortgage will be paid off completely leaving you without the stress of having mortgage payments over your head in addition to all the stresses that your illness will bring.
Anyone who takes out a mortgage should take out Critical Illness Cover, because anyone can suffer from a Critical Illness and be affected financially as a result.
Different cover options...
There are different cover options available. You can set the level of cover such that you get payment for the full amount of your outstanding mortgage when making a claim. Or you could set the level of cover such that you get a specific amount as a lump sum payment to pay off your mortgage and another lump sum to use for hospital treatments.
Or you could choose to receive some as a lump sum payment and some as monthly income to pay your monthly mortgage payments. A mortgage adviser will be able to advice you of which one would be suitable for you.
A word of caution...
A final note on Critical Illness Cover is that you will be covered for specific illnesses from a list which every insurance provider provides. This list differs from one insurance provider to another - some providers will include certain illnesses and conditions whereas others won't.
Go for an insurance provider that will cover you for the greatest number of illnesses and conditions because the last thing you want is to suffer from an illness only to discover that illness wasn't covered by your insurance policy.
The best way to avoid this is to go for quality insurance providers such as Scottish Provident, Bright Grey, Axa, Legal & General, Norwich Union and avoid the supermarket insurers because they are notorious for leaving illnesses out in the small print.
Again a mortgage adviser will be able to give you quotes and explain the different options open to you.
Click here to get a quote or for some friendly advice.