Some Statistics About Critical Illness Cover Claims

Taking out an insurance policy is a wise idea. Whether it is a life insurance, critical illness insurance or income protection insurance, you are required to pay premiums. Premium payments tend to vary according to the type of insurance and policy you buy. For example, if you take a combined critical illness cover with life insurance, the premium payment may be higher than usual. Whatever the cover you take, there are a few things to consider.

It can be embarrassing situation if you find your claim rejected after years of contribution. On the other hand, many critical illness claims are also accepted. This can be achieved by carefully reading all the policy details as well as seeking the help of insurance agents to explain the full policy in detail. Let’s see some critical illness claim statistics.

According to Standard Life 2005, a sum of GBP19.8 million was probably paid on about 342 claims. More precisely, an amount of GBP 58,000 may have been paid on an average basis per claim. Also, in the year 2005, 82 percent of critical illness claims were more likely paid as compared to 80 percent of the previous year. These figures can be encouraging as nearly all claims were paid. Moreover, 18 percent of claims could have been rejected. Out of these, 10 percent may have been turned down as they did not meet policy definitions. The other 8 percent could have been declined due to non disclosure.

When taking out a critical illness policy, you should disclose everything about your existing health and your medical history. If members of your family all suffer from a hereditary disease, you should tell your critical illness insurers. They may therefore ask you to undergo some medical tests. After having a close look at the results, they will then decide whether they can give you cover. You may even be entitled not to receive any critical illness cover at all. Otherwise they could raise the premium payment rates.

Furthermore, more surveys reveal that approximately 63 percent of critical illness claimants were more likely to be aged between 40 to 49. Also, 32 percent of people could be aged between 0 to 39 years. Additionally around 52 percent of critical illness claims may have been for cancer and 13 percent for heart attack. Around two thirds of people who made their claims had their policies for around 4 years.

Skandia, one of the leaders in the critical illness market has unveiled its report about claims as from February 2007. They affirm having paid around 1920 claims summing up to an amount of may be GBP182 million. They also revealed that the average age of claimants were more likely to be 46. The most common critical illness claims were cancer, around 58 percent, heart attack, around 15 percent, heart surgery around 8 percent and stroke around 7 percent. More statistics show that the most common forms of cancer more likely claimed for were: breast cancer, GBP23million, lower intestine GBP11 million, malignant melanoma GBP9 million and prostate GBP7 million. In addition, they have paid around 88 percent of claims while the remaining 12 percent could have been rejected as they did not match policy criteria or non disclosure.

Critical illness insurance regards disclosure of your medical history strictly. Before you buy a critical illness insurance, you should make sure to choose one of the most competitive over the market. Do not always get attracted by critical illness policies with low costs. They may not give you all the benefits you expected.