Illness is a fact of life. Some illnesses only keep us off work for a few days but others can be serious. Rehabilitation can mean a lengthy time not earning, plus you might need costly care. And that’s on top of your usual outgoings – mortgage or rent, food and bills.
That’s why Critical Illness Protection is worth considering. It pays out if you’re diagnosed with a critical illness, giving you valuable cash to help cope during a very traumatic and uncertain time.
Many people prioritise Life Protection over Critical Illness Protection, but your chance of being diagnosed with a critical illness before the age of 65 is much higher than dying. That’s why, in an ideal world, you need both.
Guardian’s Critical Illness Cover – A Market-Leading Policy
Guardian’s CIC policy is the most comprehensive CI policy currently available. We are able to provide you with comparison reports which confirm this. However, just because it is the most comprehensive policy it may not be the most suitable policy for you – suitability depends on many different factors including your medical history and current health status.
Crystal Clear Definitions – Faster Payouts
Critical illness definitions have been written by Guardian to make sure people who claim are treated fairly and payouts are received with the minimum of questions asked.
2 examples of this are:
STROKE – a stroke can only be diagnosed once symptoms have lasted for longer than 24 hours. If they resolve before this time, it is considered a TIA, which is not covered by critical illness policies. Some insurers will provide coverage for all strokes as they only specify symptoms needing to last for 24 hours. An example here is Guardian’s wording which is as follows: “A definite diagnosis by a UK Neurologist of a stroke with clinical symptoms that have lasted at least 24 hours”. Many other insurers do not specify a time period, and only stipulate “permanent neurological deficit and persisting clinical symptoms”. There is less clarity here as to what constitutes “permanent” or “persisting”. Importantly, Guardian do not require you to have permanent neurological deficit and persisting clinical symptoms – they simply require confirmation that symptoms have lasted more than 24 hours.
Additionally, most insurers stipulate that there must be evidence of the stroke confirmed on a brain scan. As with any diagnostic test, there is no guarantee that it will always accurately demonstrate the problem it is looking for. This is known as the “sensitivity” of the test. It is well known that certain types of ischaemic stroke do not appear on brain scans (CT or MRI). This is particularly the case for minor strokes, those in the back part of the brain (posterior circulation and brain stem), and in those individuals that leave a long time before they seek medical attention from the start of their symptoms. Therefore, if an insurer includes this stipulation (confirmation via brain scan), there is an associated reduction in the likelihood of a successful claim for a stroke.” Importantly, Guardian DO NOT require confirmation via a brain scan.
HEART ATTACK – Most providers’ definitions say they’ll only pay out for a heart attack of specified severity where there is evidence of a rise in enzymes or troponin levels. Importantly, Guardian only require confirmation of a definite diagnosis from a UK Consultant is required to pay out, regardless of severity. If a UK Consultant confirms that there is any death of heart due to inadequate blood supply, that has resulted in a heart attack, Guardian will pay out.
Cover Upgrade Promise
When providers make improvements to the quality of their critical illness cover, the benefits are only available to new customers. Importantly, if Guardian critical illness definitions improve, in most cases* they will apply the improvements to existing customers’ policies completely free. If a claim has already been started Guardian will check it against both the definitions they bought and the definitions for new customers. And they will pay out if the claim is valid under either.
*Occasionally, Guardian may introduce improvements to their critical illness definitions that they won’t automatically upgrade. If this happens, they’ll offer existing customers the opportunity to pay to add these definition improvements to their cover.
Additional Payments
With every critical illness diagnosis, comes an expectation that a critical illness policy will pay out. However, in some cases, the diagnosis may not be severe enough to meet a full definition. Many insurers include ‘additional payouts’ which pay out a percentage of the cover amount if a diagnosis doesn’t meet the full definition. A big benefit of partial payments is that most insurers will still keep your full cover in place with no deduction for the amount paid to you for a partial payment. Importantly, Guardian include a wide range of additional definitions (22 in total) that pay out 50% of the sum assured up to maximum £50,000 – The exception is low-risk melanoma skin cancer where they pay 10% of the full cover. No matter how many additional payouts they make, the full cover amount remains in place. So, if in the future you were subsequently diagnosed with a condition that meets one of the full payout definitions, you would also receive the full cover amount on top.
Terminal Illness Cover
Most life insurers won’t pay out until the customer can prove they have less than 12 months to live. But making this prediction is hard, so many doctors are reluctant to do so. This means many people can spend much of their remaining life worrying about when they’ll get their payout rather than making the most of the time they have left. Importantly, Guardian don’t need to see evidence that the policyholder has less than 12 months to live before they pay out. Their Life Protection not only pays out if a policyholder is expected to survive for less than 12 months. Uniquely, they also guarantee to pay out if they’re diagnosed with incurable stage 4 cancer, regardless of their life expectancy. And they do the same if they’re diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease (MND), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) or Parkinson-plus syndromes.
Premium Waiver
With Guardian, Premium Waiver included as standard, on an own occupation basis.
Guaranteed increase Option (GIO)
Guardian offer most policyholders the chance to add to their cover with no underwriting, no medical evidence, no application form and no age limit. Terms and conditions apply.
As with all insurance policies, conditions and exclusions will apply