Critical Illness Insurance

A diagnosis of illness is obviously difficult news to accept.  Fortunately, critical illness insurance will allow you to devote all your energies to healing.

It does not have to be as difficult to understand as most people make it out to be. Basically, you purchase a policy and if you are diagnosed with one of the covered conditions, the insurance company will send you a cheque tax-free which you can spend whichever way you wish. There are no limitations on the way you spend the money.  It is 100% yours and you can do what you wish with it.

Benefits of buying critical illness insurance

• The benefits you receive are not taxable.
• You do not need to justify how you spend the money—you can use it as you see fit.
• It helps you cover additional expenses caused by the illness (medications, adapted equipment, experimental treatments not covered by public health insurance, rehabilitation costs and other private medical expenses)
• It helps you cover your financial commitments if you experience a decrease or loss of income.
• You can use the money to provide some financial flexibility as you recover so that you can work part  ime or extend your sick leave to take some time for yourself.

When do you need critical illness insurance?

Critical illness is an insurance product that allows you to personally decide what level of coverage you need. Some of the cases when people choose critical illnesses insurance include:

• Having a family, especially with kids – should something happen to the main income earner, there should be some financial reserve for medical treatment and for the family’s expenses.
• Having some history of critical illnesses in the family. Note that in this case, your rates might be significantly higher.
• In some cases, such as when you have your own company or startup, you might have difficulties getting disability insurance. Although critical illness insurance covers different risks, it reduces your overall risk.

To know more differences between term life and whole life insurance, see Frequently asked questions.