Serious illness insurance pays out a tax-free lump sum if you
are diagnosed with one of the specific illnesses or disabilities
that your policy covers. You may want to consider serious illness
insurance if you have no other cover for ill health, or you are not
in paid employment, so cannot buy income protection insurance,
or if you have a mortgage, personal loans or other debts that you
would still have to pay even if you became seriously ill and
possibly unable to earn an income.
The list of illnesses covered
varies from company to company, but usually includes stroke and
heart attack, some types of cancer, coronary artery disease,
multiple sclerosis, kidney failure, motor neurone disease, blindness,
a benign brain tumour, severe burns. Not all policies will cover
all the illnesses listed above, or common illness such as angina,
back injury and treatable cancers, so check with the provider for
details of the illnesses covered before you take out a policy.
Your age, gender, health and family medical history also affect
how much you pay for your serious illness insurance. One of the
most common ways to buy serious illness cover is to include it as
an extra benefit on a life insurance policy or a mortgage protection
policy