Welcome to another installment of ?Tell that to your Claims Adjuster,? a weekly column that offers insurance advice from a man with more insurance war stories than he cares to admit. Yes, friends, hopefully my tales of woe will help you avoid the many insurance pitfalls I encountered as a swashbuckling yet ill-advised youth.
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In this week's column, I will share a story from an email I received from someone who had great things to say about a type of insurance that has become quite popular in recent years: critical illness insurance.
Critical Illness Strikes at a Bad Time
Henry* is a CPA with one heck of a story. He emailed me recently because he wanted me to write about a type of insurance that really helped him out when times were rough. Here is his story:
Henry has a wife and three children. Two of them were of college age at the time when he had a heart attack about two years ago. He nearly died, but a coronary artery bypass surgery enabled his heart to work again.
Unfortunately, the attack damaged parts of his heart, and he was told that he was still seriously ill, and would need to be monitored closely. The timing of the attack could not have been worse for Henry. It was right before tax season, the time period where he made much of his yearly income. That income was critical to his family. They had high mortgage payments, and college tuition payments were really stretching the entire family thin.
Critical illness Coverage Saves the Day
While doing one of his client's taxes a few years before his attack, Henry discovered that his client had purchased critical illness coverage. Critical illness coverage is an insurance policy that covers people who develop a critical illness.
The policy either pays out a lump sum of money to be used for any purpose, or can pay out a set amount in installments. The idea behind critical illness coverage is that the money lost during an inability to work, or any other event associated with illness isn't covered by most health care policies; they generally only cover health-related expenses.
After speaking with his client about this type of insurance, Henry was convinced that it was a good idea and took out a policy that covered his own health. It was that same policy that saved his family as Henry recovered during the tax season a few years later.
Henry was able to collect the money he lost while not working, and used it to continue making tuition payments, mortgage payments, and even hire a person to help him around the house while his wife was at work. Although the doctors were quite worried for a few months, Henry eventually recovered and is back at work again.
Critical Illness Cover is a Good Back-up Plan
After reading Henry's story, you can see that critical illness cover is a very useful type of insurance. In most cases, critical illness includes those afflicted with heart disease, cancer, or those who have had a stroke. These severe illnesses can strike anyone at anytime.
Taking out a critical illness cover policy is a good idea because it will give you and your family the peace of mind to know that you will be financially secure regardless of what happens to your health.
About the Author
Kirk Bangstad is an artist, manager, and singer working in Chicago, IL. His previous experience includes consulting for technology companies in the Silicon Valley and serving as a field director and publicist for a statewide political campaign. Kirk holds a B.A. in government from Harvard University.
