Iress : The need for critical illness cover

People always say it'll never happen to them. However, in reality, illness can come at any time.

• In the UK, 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. The UK cancer population is set to grow from 2.5 million to 4 million by 2030.
• A stroke occurs every five minutes and affects 100,000 people each year.
• 7.6 million are currently living with heart and circulatory disease.
• Multiple Sclerosis is nearly three times more common in women than men. In addition, Multiple Sclerosis is most often diagnosed in people in their 20s and 30s.

Critical Illness Cover supports your clients' recuperation with financial breathing space. It means they can focus on what's important. That could include spending time recovering, having treatment or being around family. The financial support provided can take away money worries from an already difficult situation.

That's why it's important clients have the right level of protection should they suffer a critical illness.

A changing financial landscape

Financial commitments are encroaching further into our later lives. With people living and working longer, periods of ill health could interrupt the reliable income needed for later life financial commitments.

The average age of first-time buyers has also increased by 21% since 2007 to age 34¹. As well as the increased age of first-time buyers, longer mortgage terms of over 35 years are becoming more popular within the UK. Recent research found a 70% increase in mortgage terms of more than 35 years during 2021, with 25,112 sold compared to 14,765 in 2019².

This is likely to have a knock-on effect on retirement planning, with some needing to work more years to accommodate longer mortgage terms on properties that, on average, have increased in value by £100,000 in the last 13 years¹.

Dave's critical illness story

Dave Jones had his critical illness policy for 19 years before he needed to claim on it. He'd been aware of a few health issues that he felt wasn't right, so he decided to speak with a nurse who quickly escalated his case to a doctor for tests. He was given a prostate cancer diagnosis. When he had to make a claim, Dave said it changed his life.