How can I compare critical illness insurance from different companies and select the one most suited for myself?

If you have the budget, Early CI should be considered. If you do not, focus on getting Major CI. Do not expect to claim from your CI plan if you have a minor illness however, the claim criteria has high watermarks.

Choose your doctor first, hospital second.

Hi anon,

You have to first understand the differences between a multi pay plan and a whole life with early CI rider.

Let's talk about the whole life with early CI rider first.

• You coverage will usually be boosted by a multiplier till a certain age

• Payment duration will be limited

• Your coverage after the multiplier ends will increase in tandem with cash bonuses

For the multi pay plans in general

• You will have to pay for the entire duration of the plan

• If you claim, you may have your premiums waived, depending on whether you added a rider or if such a feature is build into the plan

• Payout is a fixed amount each time depending on your sum assured

Now, no one will ever say that they bought too much insurance if they claim, but before a claim happens, you have to pay premiums. Thus, you need to strike a balance between coverage and premiums. I personally would want a mixture of both early and late stage coverage to ensure a decent quantum of cover, while having manageable premiums.

To compare whole of life plans, you can consider these points

• Coverage in terms of covered conditions

• Premiums

• Payout structure

To compare multipay plans is alot harder, as they are all quite different from each other. However you may consider premiums and the payout structure to see which you prefer. To really extract maximum 'benefit' from a multipay plan is to claim multiple times, and is not something that anyone would want.

I'd suggest focusing on the whole life plan first, with probably a mix of early CI and late CI riders, and then adding on a separate amount on multi pay till age 70/75 as multipay plans will definitely payout for early CI. If budget doesn't permit, at least go for the whole life.