Critical Illness Cover Versus Income Protection

Choosing the cover which is right for you and your circumstances can be a long and winding road with many different options and paths you could choose.

One of the main chooses that people are confronted with is the decision of how to protect themselves if they were ill and couldn't work.

Two main options exist for this area of your personal protection, namely that of Critical Illness Cover or that of Income Protection Insurance.

Critical Illness Cover

Critical Illness Cover (CIC) is a policy which will pay you a lump sum of money if you suffer from one of a number of specified illnesses. Definitions between companies vary but generally speaking the insurance covers things like heart attacks, strokes and advanced cancers.

Income Protection Insurance

Income Protection (or Permanent Health Insurance) is a type of insurance that will pay you a monthly benefit if you cannot work because of injury or illness. It is a long term policy in that it can either pay until you are well enough to return to work or until your retirement age if you simply cannot work again.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Both Critical Illness Cover and Income Protection Insurance have advantages and disadvantages, a selection of which are shown below:

Which is better value for money?

Statistically speaking, you are more likely to be able to claim on an Income Protection Insurance policy simply because it will cover any illness and not just those on the specified list. On the other hand when you claim on your Critical illness cover you can be certain of the amount you will receive back but with Income Protection it is difficult to say how long you will be ill and therefore how much your policy will payout over time.

A young man claiming on his 25th birthday might be unable to return to work and would therefore claim possibly 40 years worth of Income Protection monthly benefits.

An older man claiming on his 60th birthday would only be able to claim for 5 years of Income Protection benefits.

If both men had a critical illness cover, the money they would receive would be identical no matter what age they were.

Can I take both covers?

Thankfully you are able to take out both policies which, for some people, may represent the best cover and the best of both worlds protection wise. The amount of cover you take will depend on various factors such as your income, mortgage commitments, priorities and affordability.

How do I find Critical Illness Insurance or Income Protection Cover?

Simply follow our quick, free and easy quotation form and we can provide you quotes for both policies in under 2 minutes!