Do you have Critical illness cover?

[Brooksey5]

Me and DH are buying out first home. Need to sort out life insurance etc. I’m put off by the minimum £20 monthly premium for critical illness cover. Is this something that most home owners pay?

We paid it. It's only £20 a month.

We havent bothered. As we get older we may re consider but currently in a position where we have family could help in a worst case scenario and our work gives us good cover in the event of death and a year full pay for long term sick

It will be down to your own circumstance and if you can afford the mortgage should one of you get cancer etc.

It's a hard thing to think about.. bit like wills but worth discussing.

You also dont need to start it when you take the mortgage out and can take some time to consider and shop around

We do. You never know what's going to happen really.

DH wasn't that bothered but a friend of ours (late 20s picture of health) was diagnosed with a brain tumour and can't work. Having critical illness cover despite not really needing it in their view saved their house pretty much. DH is joe glad I insisted

We pay but ours is more expensive as I have an existing condition , it’s about £48 a month

No. Do check the terms of the policy if you go ahead, Several of my colleagues have been unable to claim on these policies because they had the “wrong” sort of cancer or weren’t in hospital long enough in a single stretch etc. No doubt there are some useful policies out there, but many are not that good when it comes down to it.

We both have it as a work benefit. If we didn't I would pay for it, you never know what's going to happen and a very dear friend lost her home when her husband was terminally ill.

We pay it.

I have it, and and have an existing condition so mine’s £95 a month for £100k of cover. Even so, I’m glad I’ve got it - I’m single, no spouse, no kids, no parents. There is so much cancer in my family I take the view that it’s when I get it, rather than if. I need to make sure that if I have to take six months off for chemo etc, that the mortgage and bills willl be paid and I can concentrate on getting better and have peace of mind. And if I don’t get ill, then yeah, I’ve forked out £24k over 20 years for nothing, but I’ll be alive and healthy at 65 which is an age neither of my parents got to.

My husband has it but I don’t.
I have job specific income protection as well as a good sickness policy. They don’t cover a lot of things unless paying higher premiums but a lot is hidden in the terms and conditions. Income protection will pay out if I can’t work my specific job even if I’m otherwise healthy so seemed better for me.

My husband does have it however- he doesn’t have income protection though and less benefits at work than I do

No but wish I did when dx with MS.

I did have but had to cancel it as £50 a month was more than I could afford. I had payment protection, critical Illness cover and income protection, 3 separate direct debits.

Be very careful with your mortgage advisor, mine put the fear of god into me and convinced me to take them out. Only later I learned he was partnered with Aviva and made a kickback

I'm a lot older so all insurance is incredibly expensive and if I took it out I wouldn't be able to afford to eat.
I worked out if I had life insurance, critical illness and all the other insurances I'd be coughing up about £200 a month so I don't bother.
My mortgage is almost paid off so if I die my son will get nearly all of the house. He can afford a mortgage on the missing bit.
The bills and council tax are big enough that I can't do it all.
To be honest I'm sure they will find a way nopt to pay out anyway, I worked long enough in insurance to know that.

I took it out as a single parent 10 years ago. I was renting at the time so no mortgage issues. It cost 20 a month and some months I really struggled financially but I always paid it.
Thank God I did as I was diagnosed with MS last year out of the blue.
It really is worth it and if you get the correct cover it can help you when you are terrified of losing your job/home.

BUT....it's a calculated risk on my part. You might not be able to afford that kind of risk if you have a big mortgage and so on.

Wish I had- I too got diagnosed with MS a few years back and would have been paid out huge amount if I'd added it on. £20 a month is absolutely worth it, you never know what's around the corner

Think through the "what if"s, and also check what cover you have elsewhere, eg your pension scheme.

I do but mine is much cheaper as part of my life insurance. I'm a SAHM so any illness of mine won't affect our earnings but CIC would be a help. See if you can get a cheaper quote if you're concerned but after seeing a family member struggle, trying to get back to work while going through chemo makes me not want to be without it.

I don't have critical illness or life cover but I don't have a mortgage either so if naythng happened to me, DH would have enough money to live and coud keep the house or sell and buy something smaller. DS is 17 so nearly adult.

I had life cover through work for many years and DH still does.

We've never had critical illness cover, because both our jobs would have paid full pay for 6 months and 12 months at half pay - beyond that we would have had to fall back on savings and move to a smaller house.

I have it, alongside my redundancy insurance although I’m always dubious whether either would actually pay out in the event I needed them, I’m sure they’d turn themselves inside out to find a reason I wasn’t eligible for a payout.

That said, at £20 a month it’s pocket money, you won’t miss it and it’s best to have it for peace of mind.

Whether or not most homeowners pay it is irrelevant. You need to decide whether you need it. Could you continue to afford the mortgage if one of you was seriously ill for an extended period? Eg if you haven't stretched your finances, have savings or a good sick pay policy at work, you might not need it.

If none of those apply you probably do, but watch out for qualifying periods, make sure you accurately complete the health questionnaire and check exactly what the policy covers because, like others have said, there might be significant limitations on what they pay out for.

Also don't forget that if you have seen a broker, they are recommending these products because they earn commission on them, that's their first priority.

As a former mortgage broker I would always recommend income protection - if not part of your salary package - and Family Income Benefit ahead of CIC. Insurance companies are notorious for trying to wriggle out of paying CIC claims and the small print is (was?) ridiculous. Income protection will pay out a monthly benefit if you are unable to work for any medical reason; FIB is a decreasing life cover which is very cheap for a large sum assured as it's designed to end once your children are no longer dependent.

Yes. We live overseas with no family support and so much of our lives, including visas, health insurance, schooling etc, hinges on our jobs.

Most life insurance policies pay out early if you are diagnosed with a terminal condition - so no point in paying for two policies.

Income protection is better to have

Yes; to me it’s actually more important than life insurance as I see the likelihood of us dying while we’re young as less likely and I’d also just sell our house and move somewhere smaller if that happened whereas I are serious illness as more likely and we’d need to be able to pay our mortgage in our current house yet the well person may need to care for the unwell one. DHs sick pay is also very poor.

Thankfully we had it when my husband was critical ill we also had income protection.
Most of my friend have it and some have also needed it. We're 30's and all reasonably fit and healthy so don't think things won't happen as unfortunately they do.