What is cheap critical illness insurance?

Cheap critical illness insurance is a form of insurance which will provide a customer with a tax free lump sum payment should they be diagnosed with a critical illness, and survive the survival period.

The survival period is a period after first diagnosis that the customer must live for cheap critical illness insurance payments to be paid out. It varies in length from one insurer to the next, but is generally around 28 days.

The number of critical illnesses on a cheap critical illness insurance policy will also vary by insurer, but generally speaking around 30 are covered. One insurer currently has over 160 illness on their policy, a huge increase on the original four on the first policy in 1983.

Where does cheap critical illness insurance come from?

Cheap critical illness insurance was created by the first doctor to perform a heart transplant in the world. Dr Barnard, a world renowned heart surgeon, grew frustrated that the majority of his patients were worrying about their financial situations as a result of being unable to work, rather than concentrating on getting back to full health.

He created the first ever cheap critical illness insurance policy in South Africa in 1983, with just four illness covered. These were heart attack, a stroke, cancer and a coronary artery by-pass surgery. The insurance policy is now available worldwide, and one company have over 160 illnesses included in their policy.

Why do I need cheap critical illness insurance?

Anyone with financial responsibilities, like a young family, or a mortgage to pay should look at cheap critical illness insurance as a serious option. They should ask themselves what would happen to their family financially if they were unable to provide for them, because they had been off work for longer than their sick pay ran for, and were still too ill to work.

Many people realise that cheap critical illness insurance is a perfect product to make up for the loss in earnings people often experience when they are unable to work, and people who rely on commission and bonuses will be particularly interested in the insurance product.

Where can I buy cheap critical illness insurance?

You can take advantage of critical illness cover on this website, and we have a full range of information on the various products available, and options to buy the many different forms of critical illness insurance cover.