Suddenly being diagnosed with an illness like cancer can be life changing. Not only does it mean juggling medical costs, but also adjusting your home and your life to help you recover if it is still in the early stages.
Being prepared by having a policy such as life cover or critical illness cover can help you and your loved ones shoulder the costs. However, understanding what you are covered for can make the recovery process less frustrating. Here is what you need to know.
What does it cover?
When taking out a policy to protect you from some of life's unforeseen circumstances such as being diagnosed with cancer, can ease the financial pressure. Life insurance policies have a feature that helps people diagnosed with a terminal illness to cover expenses. It is called Terminal Illness Cover. You will be able to claim 50% - 100% of your policy amount to cover an array of expenses such as daily living expenses, transport, medical expenses, adjustments to your home and more. However, keep in mind that should you decide to use 100% of what you are covered for, you will need to open a new policy once you have recovered.
When will you not be covered?
Whether you can get life insurance if you are a cancer patient or survivor depends on a few variables – where the cancer is located, what stage of cancer, whether you’ve had any complications (if you are in remission), your age, and other health and lifestyle factors. Again, these individual factors will be weighted differently at each insurer and Company A may take into consideration something that Company B doesn’t.
That means that many life insurers may still offer you a policy. However, you are likely to have ‘loading’ applied to your cover. This means that your premiums are higher than an equivalent cancer-free individual as the risk to the insurer is higher. If you have been cancer-free for a significant time period though (10 years or more, for example) some insurers may drop the loading and provide you with better rates.
How will the underwriting process affect you?
To make sure that you have a cover that will be tailored for your needs, insurers will take you through an underwriting process. What this means is that you will be asked a range of questions regarding your health, lifestyle choices, gender, age and occupation to give you a policy that will adequately cover your needs. You may be asked questions such as:
These factors will play a part in whether an insurer will be able to cover you. It is important to note that while one insurer may offer you cover, another may consider another factor which results in the application being denied.
