AIBU to think about critical illness insurance

[StarlingMurmuration]

DP and I have just bought a new house together and we're setting up life insurance to cover the mortgage and living expenses in the event of one of us dying. When we went to chat about it with our insurance broker, he also suggested getting critical illness cover, which would also pay off the mortgage if one of us had a severe illness (ranging from going deaf, getting a benign brain tumour to stroke or terminal cancer).

We were considering it seriously, but it raises the premiums significantly - from £35 or so to about £170 pm. We're 40 and 37 - would we be unreasonable to put this off until our DS is out of nursery and we've finished paying off a small unsecured loan (another three years)? Or are we being silly? We could afford it, but it would make things a bit tighter for the next few years. Does anyone have this kind of insurance, is it worth it?

We're going to get income protection in case of sickness as well, but that's not too expensive, especially as we have quite generous sick pay packages from work.

We got critical illness for a smaller lump sum, rather than the full mortgage amount. Just enough to live on comfortably for a year. My logic was that this would buy us enough time to adjust to any change in circumstances, and downsize as required. It would just have been too expensive to get it for the full mortgage amount.

2 years ago my husband had a life changing illness. It came out of the blue. As a family we have had a huge amount to deal with and losing our home, which would have happened without the insurance, would have tipped us over the edge. We were both younger than you are now.

In the same time period, a friend of ours has sadly died and his wife had had time get herself back on her feet as the payout meant she didn't have to rush back to work. another friend has been diagnosed with a serious but not life threatening illness and the payment has meant that he can put all his energy into recovery.

All of us were fortunate to have full critical illness cover. I believe if you can afford it, even if it is a stretch you should. Life throws some nasty shit on occasion and it is good to be prepared.

Be very careful about the terms for these insurances - they often have many exclusions and get outs.

It really helped my mil after her stroke. She was in her 50s with her own business. She the had a stroke and won't ever work again. So the insurance was a lifesaver.

I would get it if you can stretch to it. I claimed on mine and we paid off our mortgage when I had cancer a few years ago (which came out of the blue).

It did take several months to get the money but making a claim was very straightforward - just took a letter from my consultant.

How much sick pay would you get via work? DH and I cancelled our critical illness cover because we're both entitled to 6 months sick pay, which made it seem less worthwhile.

We have it but have less CI than life to make it affordable.

We have a policy that also covers our DCs. DH and I have decent sick policies but we'd be in a mess if one of the DCs was seriously ill as one of us would obviously give up work to care for them. Might be worth looking for something similar if you have hound DCs.

We had it when I was a SAHM, as it would have been extremely expensive to have someone do what I was doing, looking after three children under the age of 4 and someone still go out to work. We've now let it lapse, as we feel more able to cope financially if one of us couldn't work due to illness.

I'm seriously thinking about this, as I'm WOTH FT and dh is a SAHD and if I couldn't work we would be way, way up Shit Creek.

I'm dithering between critical illness and income protection - apparently income protection might be cheaper. Presumably getting either woudl be better than neither! Articles I've read suggest, not quite in these words, that critical illness cover is not the egregious rip off it used to be and there are now fewer exclusions. But I'm keen on income protection as there would be fewer reasons why my income woudl stop and I think we could raise a lump sum if we had to.

Maybe take it for a smaller amount and take single policies because it one claims on the joint policy it's then gone and it works out about the same for two singles

We have it for dh (main wage earner). If he is ever incapacitated for more than 3 months it pays out a monthly sum equivalent to half his salary until he's retirement age. The policy was cheaper because it doesn't kick in for 3 months (we have saving to cover this) and we could survive on half his salary if we had to. I think you should definitely cover yourself if you can but shop around for a policy that suits you.

Sorry, that was garbage.

If dh is ever incapacitated for more than 3 months our policy pays out monthly until he's back at work or reaches retirement age.

Be very careful with the small print on these policies. I cannot get cover that's worth anything as I have a pre-existing condition and they exclude that but also anything that could be remotely connected to it or the treatment of it( which looking at the small print is pretty much anything). Our IFA looked into it for us but we really couldn't cover me and for DH we have a reduced policy that only kicks in after his work health benefits run out.

yes. As a lone parent giving up the security of social housing for the insecurity of a mortgage I made sure I was covered if I had to give up work for a major illness or if one of the kids had a major illness. I was working with disabled people at the time and saw what happened to the finances of parents whose kids suddenly required 24hr care.

I didn't bother about redundancy cover or income protection as I reckoned those were eventualities I could cope with.

Actually, critical illness cover might be more essential than life cover or income protection. If one of you dies then the other either earns more or moves house. If both of you die, then having the mortgage paid off is neither here nor there. But if one of you becomes permanently disabled and the other becomes a full time carer you're all homeless.

But its cheap as chips cos I took it out in my 20s.

You need to look into what you buy very carefully. What it covers, how long before it kicks in, how much for etc.

I re-mortgaged last year and discussed it.

As an example cardiac arrest and a heart attack are classed as 2 different things or something like that. The policy I looked at one was covered, one wasn't.

We took it out when we bought our first house together. Two years later I was diagnosed with cancer & we were able to pay off our mortgage - the lump sum enabled us to fast forward to our plans for later in our lives, move area and a job change for me that has significantly impacted our lifestyle for the better.

If you can afford it I'd recommend getting it.

We claimed for my cancer. It was really quick and easy.

Income protection is my preference.

CIC is very specific. You have to fit the box correctly and not all conditions do.

I wish we'd done it and not left it until the DC were older. I now have MS and it's not an option available now but we need my income just as much

Out of interest, if it's not too nosy a question, what is your monthly premium for individual cover? I've been considering cancelling my CI cover to save on outgoings, I had a smear test and detailed blood test in preparation (rule out a few things!), I've been perfectly healthy for the last 8 years that I've had the policy, so at £50 per month that's several thousand in outgoings, but of course if I'd been ill I'd be thinking differently. Stupidly I can't quite remember what I'm covered for, I think it's at least £100k of a lump sum, does that seem like a good deal? No pre-existing health probs, going on 40... I should probably review it in more detail.

DH and I are now working frantically to get ourselves debt free (including mortgage) as quickly as possible in case I can't work in the future. We hope to do it in five years but that means we can't do as much to make the most of life while I am still fully mobile - I may not be in future. It also means I worry disproportionately whenever I relapse. Not getting CI and income protection cover is my biggest regret. Sorry to preach. I'll stop now.

Sorry for disappearing, difficult day at work....

Thank you everyone for replying! Looks like it's a good idea to get the critical illness cover - this would pay off the mortgage completely if we got ill, though obviously we'll have to choose carefully. So sorry to those of you who have had critical illnesses

We haven't been quoted yet for individual cover, just joint, Not.

Another here who would say get it if you can afford it.

My DH had been paying for critical illness cover for around 10 years before we needed to claim on it when my DH became ill and unable to work. He was only 46 and had never been ill before that. He was entitled to six months full pay and then six months half pay, however, he was ill for over two years which meant that the critical illness payout really helped us when we needed it.

No-one knows what's round the corner. I didn't expect to be widowed at 47 with two teenagers to provide for. The critical illness cover that I thought was a waste of money every month turned out to be a lifeline for us.