The Difference Between Critical Illness Cover & Terminal Illness Cover

In this day and age there are countless different types of insurance one can get for themselves. There are many different brackets in which this insurance lies, one of these brackets could be health insurance. And to be even more specific, critical illness cover.

One of the points to remember is that if you are to ever get a policy such as this, then please always do your research first and make sure you fully understand what it is that you are getting. For example, there are many people who are on these policies and simply don't know the difference between them and other similar insurance offerings.

One that gets a lot of confusion is the difference between critical illness cover and terminal illness cover. Sure they sound the same but there are some differences in each policy and knowing these dissimilarities is advised as one could benefit you more than the other.

Basically, with terminal illness cover, you are able to make a claim when a doctor or GP officially confirms that you are likely to die within a year of his or her diagnosis. Somber stuff indeed but again its important to know. Another point to remember is that terminal cover can only be purchased or sold as a combination with another health insurance policy; you can't simply buy this cover on its own.

The good news (if you can call it that) is that terminal illness cover is 9 times out of 10 offered for free with other insurance policies such as life and critical illness insurance policies.

You may think that these two types of insurance (terminal & critical) are sounding exactly the same. This is not the case as critical illness cover policies are generally way more comprehensive.

Let's look at this with some real world examples. Say you were the unfortunate victim of a heart attack or you had suddenly become blind. Blindness is not usually considered to be life threatening and many people who have had a heart attack have managed to live for years after the incident took place.

For the above examples, you would be within your right not to have to go back to work however you would not receive a penny from your terminal illness cover policy as you are expected to manage to live beyond 12 months.

This is why critical illness cover insurance is favored by many and is the main difference between the two policies. It sort of fills any gap there is in the two policies and will give the policy holder a payout if the individual is diagnosed with an illness agreed on the insurance companies insured illness & conditions list.

Basically C.I.C is an insurance policy that will pay the holder a substantial tax-free amount of cash when:

- The holder is officially diagnosed with a serious illness by a doctor or GP
- You have an illness stated on the insurance companies illness & conditions list
- You require a certain medical operation that is already listed in your own policy
- You have unfortunately suffered from a serious accident in which makes you unable to attend work

Hopefully this has made you understand the differences between critical illness cover and terminal illness cover, it is important to understand these details before you take out any policy with an insurance company, it is always advised you consult a professional before you take the plunge.

If you require more information on critical illness cover then please take a look at Jackie McKenzie's blog. She studies insurance during the day and writes about it at night, topics covered include life and critical illness cover so make sure you read as much information as you can before you decide to take out an insurance policy.

by jackie mckenzie