The majority of people with critical illness (CI) are not fully aware of the conditions they would be covered for if they needed to claim.
This is according to a survey of 2,000 people from Vitality Life Insurance which found 51% of those with CI cover said this.
Vitality found that Crohn’s was a key condition sitting within this “critical illness gap”, with nearly one in six (16%) CIC policyholders believing their policy would pay out in the event of a diagnosis of the disease.
Vitality also found CI policyholders believed they would be covered for conditions such as loss of sight in one eye (22%), a craniotomy (for any reason) (17%), pulmonary embolism (17%) necrotising fasciitis (16%) and the surgical removal of a kidney (15%).
However, these conditions do not tend to typically be covered by CI plans, with some unique to serious illness cover.
Serious illness cover, Vitality’s alternative to critical illness, protects clients from illnesses deemed less “critical” but still have serious impact on a person’s quality of life.
Justin Taurog, managing director at VitalityLife, (pictured) said: “We’ve long understood that our clients want to be covered for a wide range of conditions, and while something might not be life-threatening, it can significantly threaten their way and quality of life.
“We designed our serious illness cover to provide extensive protection that provides comprehensive protection that covers illnesses earlier and pays out for conditions not covered anywhere else.
“In fact, in 2022 one in 8 claims paid by serious illness cover weren’t covered by a typical enhanced CIC plan highlighting that serious illness cover is more than a name difference, rather it is responding to the modern trends in illnesses, aligning it to the needs of the modern consumer.”