The best time to get life insurance is when you don't think about it at all. Consider an average young man. He just got his first job and may still be living at home, but he's thinking about looking for a flat. He has a car, and the insurance he got for it was probably his first step on the insurance ladder.
If he decided to get life insurance, he'd get the best rates while he's still young, fit, and healthy. Critical Illness (CI) cover is likely the best insurance you can get at this point.
Life insurance is meant to pay out to your loved ones if you die, but critical illness insurance will help you if you get very sick. For our young man, who is just starting out in his career, this kind of illness could be a disaster for his money. One in three people will get cancer at some point in their lives, but treatment and cure rates are getting better all the time, which is good news.
Thanks to improvements in medicine, more and more people will live through many of the most serious illnesses. Unfortunately, getting better from this can take many months or even years, and you may have to miss a lot of work. It might not be possible to keep doing the same job, which would mean changing careers. Sometimes, you may need to move and get a new car or house.
If he didn't have CI coverage, his company would probably pay his salary for about three months, after which he would have to depend on incapacity benefit. Even worse is the situation for contract workers and self-employed people. CI insurance will pay you a lump sum to cover all of your costs so you can focus on getting better and getting your bills paid.
There are a very large number of CI policies to choose from. All of them will cover what are called "Core Conditions," which are Cancer, Stroke, Heart Attack, Coronary Bypass Surgery, Kidney Failure, Major Organ Transplant, and Multiple Sclerosis. Some will cover up to 30 more problems.
When you buy the policy, the full list of medical conditions for which you will be covered should be given to you. Read this carefully and make sure you understand any parts of the cover that don't apply to you.
It's important to be very careful when filling out the application form. If you don't tell the insurance company about a past illness or condition, they may refuse to pay out. The average young man should be fine as long as he tells them about all of his illnesses, even if they seemed minor at the time. The older you get, the more illnesses and conditions you have to remember, and the more likely it is that you will forget something you thought was unimportant.
Now that our young man has taken care of his CI insurance, he should get some simple life insurance. Simple life insurance isn't too expensive and gives you important protection. A term insurance policy lasts for a certain amount of time. If the policyholder died during this time, his family would get a lump sum payment. Even if the young man doesn't have any dependents when he first gets this insurance, he may have loans and other debts, so "light" coverage for a short time might be a good idea. It can be added to when things change. His insurance will never be cheaper, because the younger you are, the better, when it comes to insurance.
Our smart young man doesn't even have to waste his time looking for insurance. A quick trip to an online broker will give him all the information he needs, as well as the best quotes and online discounts.
