SSIC
Specified serious illness cover / SSIC / Critical illness… it goes by many names!
You have made sure that your family will be provided for financially if you die by putting a life assurance policy in place. You have even taken the sensible step of organising a tax efficient income protection policy so you will continue to have an income coming into your household if you find yourself unable to earn your usual income due to an illness, disability or injury. But consider the following scenario…
You suffer from a serious illness that not only leaves you unable to work, but also leaves you with life altering circumstances of being in a wheelchair or needing considerable additional care on an ongoing basis. Do you have the funds available to alter the layout of your house? Would it be useful to have a large chunk, or all, of your mortgage paid off?
Balanced approach.
We believe in taking a balanced approach to your protection cover. Just enough cover to make sure that the show will stay on the road, financially speaking, but not so much that too large a portion of your income is spent on insurance premiums every month. This makes us sometimes feel that taking out some specified serious illness cover is a bit of a luxury. But there’s nothing wrong with luxuries, if you can afford it. A specified serious illness policy will pay you a lump sum of money if you suffer from a serious or critical illness as defined in your policy conditions. The policy conditions for an insurance policy are the fully detailed rules for that policy – well past the marketing highlights and down to the nitty gritty of what will be paid out under what circumstances. This lump sum of money can be used by you in whatever way you need to use it – pay down your mortgage, install a wheelchair ramp out the front of the house or just hold it in an account to pay for ongoing expenses.
We believe in taking a balanced approach to your protection cover. Just enough cover to make sure that the show will stay on the road, financially speaking, but not so much that too large a portion of your income is spent on insurance premiums every month.
If you’d like to have a chat with a professional who can guide you through which of the many specified serious illness policies (SSIC) there are in the Irish market, get in touch with us.
Claims history says alot.
Whatever type of insurance you are taking out, you are doing it because you want peace of mind. Peace of mind comes from knowing that all will be ok if something happens. But how do you know that your policy will pay out if when you need it?
Every Spring time, the life assurance companies share their claims experiences from the previous year with us. How much in total, what type of illnesses, youngest claim, quickest claim (since starting their policy), breakdown of genders etc. This is always a reassuring read as it shows real examples of the impact that having a policy can have on someone’s life. None of the people that claimed planned on having their illness. None of them had any of these illnesses when they took out their policy. None of them were thrilled when they had to pay the premiums, but they were all delighted that they had their policy in place when they needed it!
Talk to us.
- There is a balance to be found – Between premium & usefulness of cover.
- The correct advice makes a huge difference.
- Some insurance policies are NOT just about price.
- This is rarely a cool conversation… Insurance will NEVER be sexy!
Summary: Life assurance companies pay out claims on Specified Serious Illness policies every single day of the week. All claims will be to people who started an SSIC policy when they were in full health. They paid their premiums monthly and then one day, they were diagnosed with a medical condition that they never expected to get. This medical condition would have been covered by the Specified Serious Illness policy, so a one off financial lump sum was paid out by a life assurance company and the policy owners were able to continue paying bills, clear a lump sum off their mortgage o do whatever they wanted with the money. If this is something that you think you would like to explore, get in touch with a QFA qualified Family Cover adviser today.