For the love of anything Holy, PLEASE get yourself some good critical illness insurance

[CornbreadCooking]

A few years ago we signed up for really good critical illness cover, it’s been a bit of a drag paying for it some months but we kept it going because ‘who knows what the future holds’ DH and I have both been diagnosed with cancer this month and because we have critical illness cover for us both we are eligible for ; lump sum to pay off the mortgage, 2 lump sums (1 each for our respective cancers) and in 6 months when the sick pay runs out our cover will continue to pay the equivalent of our salaries up until retirement age if one or both of us cannot return to work. So 20 years of full salary paid up until pension eligibility. It also covered diagnosis and will pay for potential medical treatment in America if dh’s cancer requires proton beam and we can’t get into the nhs quick enough. It will pay for me to go with him and stay in a hotel whilst he recovers.

I am SO glad we kept the illness cover and I urge you please to look into it. I stumbled on a woman on TikTok who was talking about how important insurance is so I decided to be an adult and get some, and I am so glad I did.

I am so so sorry you’re going through this. I wish you strength. It’s weird because I was just saying to my husband yesterday (after watching something on the news), that when we go back to the UK (as you might have guessed we don’t live in the uk atm) we need to make sure we have both private health insurance and critical care - and think it’s the only way forward.

I'm really sorry that both of you have been diagnosed with cancer and in the same month too! I hope the treatment goes well for both of you.

Critical illness insurance is great if you can afford it or if it is an adult that gets ill. It was my son who had cancer last year and I lost my job due to it.

I am really sorry you lost your job because of it. That’s appalling. I know it doesn’t change what happened for you but you can add it on for children so that you can remain able to pay bills etc.

treatment will be hard but quick so we’ll get through it xx

So sorry you are going through this x.

I have tried to get health insurance including critical care cover but it's extortionate! I have ME CFS and think that may be the reason why.

Mine was for cancer that excluded a previous cancer I had, cost £60 a month for me which felt a lot at the time !! It is worth it though if you can

I had no idea that it could cover children too, I always assumed it was just adults for whatever reason. I definitely wish I had it but then it can be so expensive, it's a shame not everyone can afford it.

I'm glad to hear that it will be quick.

I didnt know that this was a thing, OP. Thank you for influencing me.

I am sorry about your health diagnoses, I wish you and your husband well ❤️

£60 a month has given you enough coverage to clear your mortgage, pay 20 years of salary & potential treatment. Who are you with @CornbreadCooking?

And that was with a previous diagnosis of cancer?

Same question - my quotes have been way higher! I pay £50 a month just to cover the mortgage if DH or I died.

I used the protection parent as a broker and she used a special insurance policy for previous cancer patients. It excluded my original diagnosis obviously :)

Best of luck for your treatment. I went for income protection instead of critical illness. It’s nothing like as generous but is also a bit cheaper, and it means I will have an income if I can’t work for a time. Might be worth looking at if CI not an option.

Wishing you all the best with your respective treatments.

Totally agree OP, my husband works in the industry and is always saying that he wishes people were better informed young to get the best cover & start paying. The younger you are, less likely to have any pre-existing conditions, the better you can get for cheaper- it does get more limited & expensive as you get older and issues crop up but always worth a chat with a protection consultant/adviser to see if there is a good policy for you.

It’s one of those things that for a lot of people you just can’t afford not to have.

One of my cousins had cancer in her 20s & a friend had a stroke & they can't even get life insurance, well they can for hundreds of pounds a month.

sorry to hear about your and your husbands cancer diagnosis.

I agree wholeheartedly. We have not had to use ours but it’s costs us £140 a month and we have a family policy at £60 per month. Expensive but I couldn’t cope with the worry of not having it.

we have prioritised it over everything else except the mortgage and house insurance and continued to pay it through 4 maternity leaves which has been tough

I'm really sorry for both your diagnoses, wishing you all the best. We have critical illness cover as part of our Life Insurance. We took it out after discovering we needed IVF , as it made it us realise you never really know what is going to happen in life.

I second your statement OP. We took out critical illness and life insurance policies with our mortgage. DH was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 aged 54. We claimed on the critical illness policy and got a £50k payout. When he died last year, aged just 59, the life policy paid off the remaining £220k of our mortgage (we had extended it when we built a large extension). It can be hard making those monthly payments, but we never know what's round the corner health wise. I wish you and your DH well with your cancer treatments.

Great for those eligible for it. Until they stop excluding people with my diagnosis however it is useless to me. Also the quotes for healthy adults that DH and other friends got in the past couple of years were closer to £140 a month than £60 a month so I’m a bit 🧐 about the numbers you’ve posted OP. Also what a terribly unfortunate coincidence that you both got dx with cancer in the same month and how lucky that your very cheap insurance paid out so quickly. Also glad you’re so optimistic of your future prognosis. Incredible really.

I just ran a quote and as a 45 year old healthy non-smoker cheapest I can find is £123 a month just for me for £200k pay out on death or diagnosis.

@Kuretake that's what I don't get, plus policies often don't cover certain illnesses. And 200k wouldn't clear my mortgage or pay my salary for 20 yrs.

No, that's half my mortgage and two ish years of my net salary.

Exactly. I have had a serious op, everything fine now, but can't get critical illness cover. It gave me a bit of anxiety tbh as the medical consultants say everything is fixed but the insurance co think I'm too likely to die / get seriously ill to take my money.

Sorry to hear your news, OP, and hope your path is a positive one.

Single, no kids and no partner.

I pay £8 a month to pay off my 175k mortgage plus another 75k cash if I died. I took it out aged 24 with my first mortgage. Employer pays death in service x4 my salary which I think is fairly standard. No one will be screwed on my account if I went.

That's only death though, I don't have any critical illness or income protection. Critical illness I would move finances about to free up a lump sum (sell house, downsize, access inheritances early by parents freeing up assets etc)

and income protection - I'm 30 years off retirement age and to have my salary paid every year between now and then would amount to almost £2m over the term!! No one will insure for that. I'm not a massively high earner, I'm just a long way off retirement.

My mum pointed out that they'd wriggle out paying salary thing anyway - they'd put it in T&Cs to get ANY job at any pay, and probably anyWHERE, not necessarily the same as I currently have.

I bought my first house at age 22 and due to previous health issues was unable to get affordable critical health insurance
Good luck with both your treatments though