Life Insurance Advice RE Multiple Sclerosis??

S

simonlpearce

Senior member
Apologies if this is a bit specific, but hoping someone here can offer advice or has similar experience?

So i setup a critical illness life insurance policy around 4 years ago. At the time i paid a premium for it to include MS, primarily because my father has suffered from MS since he was in his mid 20's.

Since then they have changed the policies so that anyone that has family history and has been diagnosed before the age of 50 cannot have MS covered on a new policy. So essentially if i want to keep MS on my policy i am stuck with an outdated 4 year old policy.

The issue i have is that other such more likely illnesses like stroke, cancer & heart attack, now have much better coverage on the newer policies.

Now i know MS isn't genetic, but there is always that niggling thought in the back of my mind of what if...

I guess the other option, and one i have not looked into, is a separate policy specifically for MS and a new updated policy to cover all the other critical illnesses. Is that even possible?

Just after peoples thought's/opinions really. :)
 
I wouldnt think there's anything to stop you running parallel policies, One old & one new to cover both angles, especially if you declare your reasons for having two policies.
 
Usually only one policy will pay out if you have multiple, but can not see a reason for not having two.

But check with someone who really knows though as it is a bit of a minefield.
 
I know you can have many "Life" Policies. (but obviously not take them all out the week before you top yourself and expect to get paid out!). You can insure someone else's life too, as long as you can prove you had a financial interest at the time of inception.

i.e. If PVR owed me £20k, I could insure him for £20k . And I could even keep the policy running once he's paid me back. ( not that thats likely!),

But, Yes - check with an expert :thumbsup:
 
Life is different though, this is critical illness. I have a policy on that, and it states that it will not pay out if I am covered elsewhere (guess it depends on which policy was taken out first). Even my credit card has a small policy on this now (something like £50k).

I have multiple life policies - from the time I had a mortgage I had various to cover the increased mortgage levels.
 
Who is your policy with? Critical illness cover isn't something you would normally be looking to "replace" if it still meets your needs regarding sum assured/term etc. When it was developed it was not a list of specified illnesses, more "if you suffer a critical illness". Most of the older policies are actually more comprehensive even though they may list 15 illnesses rather than 50 (older policy covers cancer - new policy covers 10 different specific cancers - some with reduced pay outs).

Regarding multiple policies it really shouldn't be an issue with lump sum cover - you pay the premium and own the policy. If you are looking at replacement income policies (income protection etc.) you can't over insure and be better off by not going back to work (usually 65% - 70% GAU max).

Hope that helps!
 
Thanks for the advice guys, although im still not 100%. My cover is currently with Friends life and the explanation i have is that the newer policies seem more geared towards paying out sooner. For example heart attacks are only covered up to a certain severity on my current policy, where a new policy would cover all types. Or for a stroke my current policy only pays out if you are long term, 6 month + impaired, where the new policy would pay out after just 24 hours impairment.

I guess i will look into the cost of running 2 policies side by side. Reduce the old policy down on cost as much as possible but to keep the MS cover. Then start another separate policy with all the shiny new bits and pieces. Suppose it can't hurt to be over covered in these scenarios. Can't go leaving the wife with a whole host of financial ruin.
 
Who is the explanation from? Somebody with an interest in selling you a new policy?

MS is covered by pretty much all current policies however the policy may be "rated" if you have an increased risk which is possibly what happened last time - it would not be excluded from a current friends life policy. As far as I am aware heart attacks on current policies have to be a certain severity (they measure the treponin in your blood to check the level of muscle damage to the heart). Which policy have you looked into?

Without reading the full policy details on your existing policy it would be impossible to advise one way or the other but it is worth getting an opinion of somebody with nothing to gain from you cancelling it. (If you like pm me and I'll send you my email address to send a copy over).

Another thing to consider if it is a decreasing term / mortgage protection policy is that the older policies usually assume a higher interest rate of around 10% whereas the newer ones can be 6/8% meaning the sum assured decreases faster.

Wish all people were as switched on to our mortality and as responsible as you! I spent 4 years advising on these types of policy and have heard everything from people telling me that they weren't planning on getting cancer to a chap earning a LOT of money doing genetic research telling me that he was going to live to beyond 200! When I asked him what the point of talking to me was he didn't seem as confident!
 
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