How Unwell Do You Have To Be To Make A CIC Claim?
Summary.
Critical Illness Cover (CIC) pays you the total amount insured, which is free from tax, if you are identified with a life-threatening complaint which prevents you working.
Insurers are acertaining that while life protection claims are falling, they are having to honour more and more claims on CIC cover. The outcome of this is that the cost of CIC is becoming a higher cost than life plans. If the number of CIC claims dimish then inevitably the cost of premiums will fall too.
The cost of Swiss Life and Legal & General’s CIC has rocketed by circa 20 and 25 per cent respectively. But the likes of Liverpool Victoria and Scottish Equitable come first in the price increase race with increases of up to 60%. Other insurance companies are attempting to charge more for CIC as well as the market thinks over the designation of ‘life-threatening illness’ and medical science makes great improvements in the supervision and control of particular conditions.
The ABI has inspected cover for heart issues and stomach cancer, for example. If these health conditions are uncovered early on they are no longer deemed to be ‘life-threatening’, at least for some people. Another example is diabetes. Currently LV is the only insurance company which still allows this condition on its list of critical ailments covered.
A CIC policy usually lasts for an fixed period, for example equal with the length of time on a mortgage, and there is no movement in the premiums. The charges are pricey for this cover. Providers are now looking to offer reviewable plans where both the health conditions covered and the premiums paid are reviewed every four years, which should cost a good bit less.
Ray Milkins, group director of the independent financial adviser division of Direct Line, believes that more people will select the reviewable cover options as they become better value than the guaranteed cover.
Aviva continues to offer a guaranteed CIC but has put its regular payments up for that. It has introduced a reviewable scheme as another choice. Aviva and John Lewis no longer offer guaranteed CICs.
Rob Morton, protection director at Sainsbury’s, states, “The reviewable cost will be in general [around] 15 per cent lower than the guaranteed cover.”
An existing guaranteed CIC policy cannot be updated to redefine any medical issues which are ususally defined as ‘life-threatening’ but which may not be in that category in the future. So if you have this already and are content to pay the fees you do not have to stress.
If you are aiming to take out a CIC or life insurance policy get ready to get better value for a reviewable cover option. But if you want the extra security a guaranteed scheme supplies, get it quickly while there are still some available, and keep in mind you will have to pay a little more.












