Critical illness cover is a type of insurance policy designed to pay out a lump sum in the event of being diagnosed with a specified “critical illness”. The most common causes for claim on a critical illness policy are cancer, heart attack and stroke. However, there are so many more conditions that can be covered. Children’s critical illness is an add-on to a parent’s critical illness policy. As the name suggests, this provides cover for your children in the event of anything happening to them.
Why have children’s critical illness cover?
Life insurance is never a mandatory requirement; having life insurance is a choice to provide financial protection in the event of death, critical illness or loss of income. Children’s critical illness cover is about providing financial support in the event of anything happening to your children. A child suffering from a critical illness can put massive financial strain on the family. A critical illness policy can allow you to pay for necessary treatment, rehabilitation and equipment. It can help fund necessary changes to your home and living arrangements, as well as allowing you to take time off work to care for them if required.
A basic level of children’s critical illness is often included on an adult policy. If you’ve got a critical illness policy, it’s worth knowing the full extent of what it covers. Just as with an adult critical illness policy, each insurance provider has a slightly different offering on their children’s cover. Providers offer different levels of children’s cover with more advanced policies covering a greater number of conditions while less advanced policies cover just the most common conditions for a reduced premium.
Children’s critical illness cover is often capped at the lower of 50% of the sum assured on the parent’s policy or £25,000. Some policies do allow more cover than this, depending on the insurance provider. Cover can begin during pregnancy to cover complications pre-birth as well as post-birth, depending on the type of policy selected. Cover can also last until your children reach their early twenties, providing cover through the unfortunate “accident hump” – a period of excess mortality in young people. Many policies include the ability to claim in the event of death, for treatment required overseas and for terminal illness. Depending on the policy you have, multiple claims can be made on one policy meaning if you have more than one child, they are all covered under the same policy.
cr critical illness cover is one of the most sensitive topics to discuss. Nobody ever wants to consider needing a policy like this but ensuring people are aware the cover is available is the responsibility of insurance providers and brokers alike. If you want more information on children’s critical illness cover or any other type of life insurance policy, we’re here to help with free, professional advice.