Critical illness cover question

[AnyaMarx]

Hi

This is slightly complicated. My estranged husband and I still have a joint property and it's a joint mortgage.

When we bought it in 2006 we took out very comprehensive critical illness insurance.

I have it appears an illness which appears in the critical list and as such we could claim .

This would save my estranged husband £65000 if successful. He wanted to keep the house so I moved out and I rent but we never financially separated or divorced.

I've said I'll hold off doing anything until my diagnosis is confirmed and to see if there is a claim .

Now I'm a very nice person- too nice - and it occurred to me this will benefit him - and I'll still have to pay rent . A big chunk of my income is on my rent .

He doesn't want to sell the house and as it would render him homeless I can't see a judge ordering that as settlement anyway .

I'm 51 and dh is 57.

If a claim is successful, and we then separate officially and divorce , the s there a way to claim my share of the equity? Without forcing a sale ?

He's avoiding my calls at minute. He's an ostrich at best of times .

Thoughts dear mumsnetters? (And please don't pick apart the fact we didn't divorce - we just didn't - I'm alone now and he has a girlfriend but he does t live with her )

Is it just one joint policy Anya or two individual ones?

I’ve never had critical illness cover but looked into taking it out a few years back. If I remember correctly the idea was that it would pay off the mortgage, should I become ill, but wasn’t directly linked to the mortgage. Check with the insurer - your policy might be difference of course but if it was like mine there would have been no obligation to use it to pay off the mortgage and you would be able to claim it personally. I’m not sure how it works if it’s a joint one - presumably you would be entitled to half of it.

If it’s somehow directly linked to the mortgage then morally he should at least give you at least half of it by releasing some equity. The idea of critical illness cover is to help with your costs should you be unable to work through I’ll health - it would be very unfair if you didn’t benefit personally. Please do check with the insurer.

Wishing you the best of luck - I hope your diagnosis isn’t as serious as you fear.

You really need to talk to a divorce solicitor urgently now and get proper legal advice.

The point above re insurance is correct. It's usually a lump sum, you don't have to spend it on the house but that is often what people choose to do.

In the nicest possible way, he isn't the only ostrich here. It's time to go to a solicitor and understand the situation so you can make the best decision for you.

If you know who the insurer is, give them a call and ask the question?

It's one joint policy . With standard life which covered a very comprehensive range of debilitating health conditions of which I now have one - and it is debilitating.

I also have critical illness cover with work but not sure my condition is covered but will find out .

He's ignoring me . Reminds me why we split . I carried 100% of everything then and seems I'll still have to sort this out while he sits on his arse .

I'm trying to get an appointment with a solicitor- but my health has been so bad lately it took a back seat .

I will muster the necessary to continue and ring my solicitor tomorrow.

Told dh to send details on policy .

I'd recommend taking a trusted friend with you to the solicitors too, I've been through the CI claiming situation and coping with that, ill health and divorce discussions is a lot to cope with on your own. OP

We took out critical illness insurance and life insurance with our mortgage. DH has a life limiting illness so we claimed on the critical illness this year. The insurance company pay into the same account that the premiums come out of, so if that's a joint account in your situation I'd get in quick and withdraw your payout ASAP if it's successful. We can still claim on our life insurance if DH is given less than 12 months to live and that will pay off the mortgage.

If your ex is staying in the house then he should be buying you out of your share or selling up to give you your share. Why not just formalise things and get the divorce done? You can do a no-fault quick divorce now and that will sort out the financials between you.

No idea on the divorce and equity question but as for the CI policy, if it’s a joint policy then presumably he doesn’t have to wait for you to claim, as you’re still married with a joint policy he could claim himself I would have thought? I’d be wary of that happening, though presumably he’d need your cooperation in terms of confirming the diagnosis.

If the home is jointly named you are entities to half. If he can’t afford to buy you out then you need to sell it and split it.

As others have said get legal help asap or he could end up keeping the whole house!

With the critical illness cover we were given a lump sum cash. If it goes into his bank account he could just spend it so on any forms make sure you put you account or a joint account and be ready to move the money.

Please get in touch with solicitor before you sign any forms.

Check with the policy as if you’re no longer living there you may not be entitled to the critical cover?

I know you’re in poor health but it is time to stop being so nice. If your condition deteriorates you may end up homeless! It suits him to do nothing at the moment so don’t expect anything active from him.

Good luck with it. Xx

The ex could claim but they wouldn't be able to progress any claim without the OP's consent to release medical information. If she refuses to do that, the ex wouldn't be able to get a payment - no one can force you to release medical information so that someone else can benefit from an insurance payment.

Also, if the critical illness policy is in joint names, as the OP says, then payment doesn't automatically go back to the account you pay the premiums from, this is incorrect. Legally, both parties are entitled to the money so the insurer will want to pay the funds into a joint account. If you're separated and don't have a joint account, both parties will have to confirm in writing where the money should be paid. Because you're both entitled to all of the money, rather than each of you entitled to half, it's not sufficient for the ex to say "pay my half into XXX" if you don't also agree (hope that makes sense!)

Whether you're still with your partner or not, whether you live in the house or not - none of that makes any difference to your entitlement to claim. It's all about the legal ownership of the policy, which you say is in joint names. The only difference is if the policy was assigned to the mortgage company. If so, the funds will be paid directly to them, and not to you/ex.

For transparency, I was the manager working for a household name for Underwriting/Claims dealing with life insurance, critical illness, IPB etc for 15 years or so.

Thank you for the help - my go
Came through and has desire the wait times here being longest in country got me an urgent referral so seeing consultant next month . I'm absolutely delighted as I'm currently debilitated with this disease.

My ex sent me the claim info and I believe our claim would be successful.