Can anyone recommend a critical illness plan?

Hi anon,

Critical illness plans provide a lump sum payout in the event of CI so as to ensure that one's finances are not destroyed by a life changing event. No one would have known when they will be diagnosed with a CI, so having that coverage is important for that peace of mind that they will have the financial resources to meet their daily expenses as well as ancillary treatment costs.

Generally there are a few ways you can get a CI plan

• Whole of Life CI: Payable only during your working years, such plans have a multiplier to boost your coverage during those years. They will give you a one time payout, but coverage is for life.

• Term plans: They can be stand alone death/TPD term plans with a CI rider, a one time payout CI plan, or a multipay plan. Coverage is only for as long as the plan's duration, and premiums are payable throughout.

I would say that both are viable options, and your coverage needs could be met with either one or a combination of both. This really depends on your needs.

What you will want to look out for are which type of plan (or plans) would meet your needs first. Then, within the plans of that type, consider the following (provided certain parameters are equal, e.g payment duration, multiplier amount, base sum assured, etc)

Whole Life

• Premiums - Lower is better, generally. But the cheapest may not always be the best plan once you consider the rest of the factors:

• Scope of coverage - Where possible, you'll want to be covered for more conditions

• Fringe benefits - Some policies have extra coverage such as a payout if you are admitted to ICU, or payouts that stack over and above the multiplier amount

Multipay

• In addition to what's listed above: Payout structure - a plan that pays out 100% regardless of the severity of the CI, is very different from one that pays out 100% on early/intermediate but 300% if it is a late stage CI.

Ultimately, you'll want to have a conversation with an independent advisor so that you can get more tailored advice as well as a comparison across the board for the various plans from the insurers. Due to the constrains of an online platform, I can only say so much, and I'm not able to specifically recommend any plan.

One thing for sure, I definitely won't regret getting my CI cover done up. I have already seen a friend pass from brain cancer.

I would suggest you use an independent advisory firm who can compare policies from multiple insurance companies. One such firm is MoneyOwl and they have an online tools to search for policies suitable for your particulars:

MoneyOwl Online Insurance Tool

If you want to engage MoneyOwl for your needs, let me know and I can provide my MoneyOwl referral code for you to open a free MoneyOwl account. Both referrer and referee will receive GrabFood vouchers when you purchase insurance policies from them:

MoneyOwl Referral Program