|
|
Article: Protect and survive survey: Sick as a dog, but finances are healthy Critical illness cover can insulate you against the final sting in life 's tail
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- May 15, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1999 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
One in four life assurance pol- icies now includes critical
illness cover yet, just 15 years ago, the concept did not even exist
in the UK and many people remain confused about what it does and
whether they need it.
Critical illness insurance started in South Africa in the early
1980s, although the idea of insurance that paid out a cash lump sum
on diagnosis of cancer had been tried before.
What made this different was that the policy paid out on diagnosis
of the so-called "dread diseases" - heart attack, stroke and kidney
failure as well as cancer. The person who drew up the medical
definitions on those first policies was Dr Marius Barnard, brother of