Conditions Covered by the Top Critical Illness Policies
Most policies cover around 40 conditions, including:
- Cancer
- Strokes
- Heart attacks
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s
- Blindness
- Deafness
- Traumatic brain injury.
However, some may stretch to over 100 conditions. Others will cover fewer than 10 conditions, so you need to do your research to ensure that you’re getting the best coverage.
It is not just about how many conditions are covered…
While a high number of conditions covered can be a decent indication of the quality of a product, perhaps even more important is to understand how comprehensive the definition of the illness is, including whether ‘minor’ instances of things like heart attacks and strokes will prompt a payout.
For example, some policies include breast cancer but may exclude ‘non-invasive’ forms; this may be the definition even when a lumpectomy or mastectomy is required.
Critical Illness ABI-Approved Definitions
The ABI provides model definitions of critical illness conditions, intended to give clients clear understanding of policies and to help them compare products from different insurers.
Following this ABI best practice is optional for insurers so, when you look for a policy, don’t just look at the number of conditions listed – consider how many ABI definitions are used.
You’ll see such enhanced definitions referred to as ‘ABI+’, so a policy with a large number of ABI+ definitions is suggestive of a high-quality product.