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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask for your views on critical illness cover

93 replies

Bearbehind · 21/03/2015 19:20

I'm naturally quite a risk adverse person so if I can insure against something I generally will however critical illness cover is such a lot of money (particularly if you smoke) that it seems the chances of it actually paying out in the event of illness are so slim they outweigh the cost of the cover.

I mean, if you've ever been to the doctor for an ache or pain, is ist going to bite you on the arse in the event of a claim in that it would be classed as an existing condition, even if it wasn't?

OP posts:

Foffyouwanker · 21/03/2015 20:03

I would say its essential. A friend of mine was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour, that has now left her unable to work. She could live another 20 years, but at least her critical illness policy has paid her mortgage.

Dontunderstand01 · 21/03/2015 20:03

I used to sell this insurance through a very reputable insurer. If you are totally honest on the app form then you are ok. Yes, you will have exclusions due to previous history but IMO very worthwhile. I was very touched when a customer got in touch with me to say thank you. He got prostate cancer, his ins paid out, he recovered and was mortgage free.

shoofly · 21/03/2015 20:04

I have one friend whose husband had a stroke - it paid off their mortgage. We have joint cover and I think it costs about £50 a month. Took it out about 8-9 years ago. Dh is sole wage earner and we took it on the grounds that if anything happened to him we'd be stuffed and if anything happened to me it'd pay for help to enable him to keep going to work iyswim

chipsandpeas · 21/03/2015 20:04

i dont have it however i have a lowish mortgage and if anything happened to me id sell up and move in with my mum
however a friend recently had her mortgage all but paid off after her husband had throat cancer and the criitcal illness paid out

chipsandpeas · 21/03/2015 20:05

i should add i dont have life insurance (apart from what i get from work) or income protection due to being single, childless and have a low mortgage but i would deffo get if my circumstances were to change

bananayellow · 21/03/2015 20:05

Mine was with Scottish Provident. I believe I can no longer claim on the critical illness but I can still claim on death, or rather my DH can, if I die.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 21/03/2015 20:07

Did you get a quote for joint too? It's the smoking that will push the price up most, but age and weight are the next biggest factors.

Purplehonesty · 21/03/2015 20:07

I wouldn't be without it. We did some training on it at work and some of the stats were incredible.
Average age of claimants was 42 (I thought it would be much older) and biggest no of claims were for strokes and heart attacks.
No 1 killer in the UK is stroke. Didn't know that either.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 21/03/2015 20:07

Also check you're not paying a big commission to a broker on that quote.

Original poster

Bearbehind · 21/03/2015 20:09

banana don't answer if you don't want to be you said you got 'quite a few thousand' and now you can't claim again- was it a significant pay out versus premium?

Given it would cost us £2,400 a year just to pay the premium I'm still erring on the side of not bothering.

OP posts:

Jackieharris · 21/03/2015 20:15

£200 pcm wow that's an awful lot of money!

Work out what it would cost you if one of you couldn't work (or provide childcare/unpaid work) for a year. Save up that amount and keep it in a separate account.

Work out what you'd be entitled to from your employer and benefits. Disability payments are difficult to claim but can be higher than people think.

Applecross · 21/03/2015 20:15

Bear is there no chance your dh could quit and you could apply in a year when you can say no smoking in the last year?

Original poster

Bearbehind · 21/03/2015 20:19

If I was ill I have fab work sick pay so that's not a problem, plus I earn more than DH. No childcare costs so the more I think about it the more I think it's not worth it as the biggest risk is DH but I could cover our outgoings anyway.

OP posts:

Original poster

Bearbehind · 21/03/2015 20:21

apple he very rarely smokes anyway so giving up wouldn't be a massive hardship but another year down he line he'd be older and the way I see it one would virtually outweigh the other.

OP posts:

jigsawlady · 21/03/2015 20:25

dont go for critical illness cover go for income protection. it does a very similar thjng buy pays iut a log more reliably in a lot more circumstances

MoreBeta · 21/03/2015 20:31

Me and DW took out £12 pcm policies many years ago that paid out a significant sum when DW was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

We were very young when we took out the policies. There was no quibbling on pay out.

However, I have read that critical illness cover has become much tougher to claim on as insurance companies lost money on early policies like ours. Stories of firms wriggling out on spurious reasons and losing when the customer complains to the Ombudsman are common.

Not sure they are very good value now.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 21/03/2015 20:33

Smoking can bump up a premium by between 40-200% which is a lot more than being a year older will.

SASASI · 21/03/2015 20:41

I got a 3 figure sum when diagnosed with malignant melanoma. Luckily I didn't need chemo etc, underwent plastic surgery. NED (no evidence of disease) for a year & half now.

A life changing sum for us. No one will insure me now but I am fortunate that my employer has a life insurance policy attached - albeit it means I will probably never change jobs unless I find someone with a similar benefit.

IMO if you are going to go for critical illness cover go for the very best that covers the most conditions. We do all our insurances through an independent financial advisor.

SASASI · 21/03/2015 20:44

We are non smokers early 30's. Paid £55 a month for critical illness & life insurance. Had actually only changed providers the month I discovered the dodgy mole. No problem re payout & backdated out payments so we actually only ever paid that provider one months worth.

DH still insured with them the same as before & I still have a sickness policy with them.

bananayellow · 21/03/2015 20:47

Wow that is really expensive. No wonder you are baulking.

We took out our policy about 17 years ago when we took out our mortgage. It paid off the remaining 10 years of mortgage. It was only about £20 a month but then houses were a lot cheaper 17 years ago. We only had it for me as DH has it through work. We took it out so that if I was ill we could afford a nanny/carer for me, to enable DH to carry on working.

I think your biggest decision is how you would cope if one was ill and the other couldn't work because they were looking after the ill one. Or if you intend to have kids. Other than that I think the cost sounds like it probably isn't viable. I'd probably try to save that money instead, to build up a safety net.

I'm horrified at the prices you've been quoted. I did have a clean bill of health, was young and didn't smoke, when i took it out.

bananayellow · 21/03/2015 20:52

How old are you op?

Original poster

Bearbehind · 21/03/2015 20:53

Dh is is 55 so a year older really does make a big difference.

OP posts:

vez123 · 21/03/2015 20:53

We got a quote last year and it was something like 120 or 140 pounds per month. A lot of money and we do not even smoke.
I think if it was fifty pounds we would have done it.
We do have quite a bit in savings to fall back onto on rainy days.
Maybe prices have gone up in the meantime? Or maybe our mortgage is just quite a bit higher than of others on this thread.

Original poster

Bearbehind · 21/03/2015 20:54

I'm 39

OP posts:

Doyouthinktheysaurus · 21/03/2015 20:56

£200

Ours cost about £25 per month and paid out over £80 grand. We certainly couldn't have afforded £200, that seems a ludicrous cost.

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