Critical Illness Insurance (A Living Benefit*)

• This insurance provides a lump sum of money payable to the insured upon the medical diagnosis of any one of 25 standardized critical illnesses such as heart attack, stroke, cancer, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. 

• The benefit is tax free and payable after the insured survives 30 days or longer from the diagnosis of the covered condition.

• This type of insurance can be purchased with a return of premium option which means that at a pre-determined time in the life of the policy, the total amount of premiums paid can be returned to the policy holder if he or she wishes to cancel the coverage. This is like having a forced savings plan without the accumulated interest over that time period. 

• This type of insurance is hard to qualify for and the cost increases quite significantly as one gets older.
  

*Insurance benefits which are paid out to the claimant while they are alive and suffering from either a disability, critical illness or long-term care need.

“You need this insurance not because you’re going to die, but because you’re going to live.”
- Dr. Marius Barnard, Surgeon in South Africa