Critical illness insurance will pay out if you are diagnosed as having a pre-determined critical illness, there are a range of around serious illnesses which are now included in a policy such as this, but of course this will vary from company to company and the policy which is on offer, so you should always ensure you understand what your particular policy covers.

However the majority of policies do cover certain conditions which are classed as core or foundation conditions and these include cancer, heart attack, kidney failure, a major organ transplant, coronary heart by pass, multiple sclerosis and a stroke. However not all illnesses are covered and in fact recently, new rulings have been set out by the Association of British Insurers regarding which conditions can be claimed on.

Due to this it is imperative that you understand conditions which are excluded from critical insurance policies. For example, conditions such as non-evasive skin cancer and prostrate cancer which isn't considered to be advanced is excluded from within a policy. Of course these are just a few examples and there are many more.

Even conditions such as heart attack has to be clearly outlined, for example there has to be evidence that there are pains in the area of the chest, along with changes to an E.C.G scan for example. If the heart problem is thought to be caused by angina then in some cases this is also excluded from the policy.

Critical illness insurance benefits everyone, those who are married and have dependant children as well as those who are single. Critical illness cover can be used to pay off the mortgage or for private medical treatment which can be more beneficial than having life cover which will only pay out if you die.

Critical insurance cover can be taken out from between the ages of 17 and 70 and can be taken out for a pre-determined amount of time, such as to go alongside the term of your mortgage. From taking out the cover there will normally be a period of time in which you cannot make a claim, for the majority of policies this is usually a period of 3 months.

Choosing the right type of critical insurance can be a problem as currently there are over 200 different versions of critical insurance cover, so understanding the type of cover you need is essential. Understanding the level of cover is also essential as some policies seem to cover just about anything, when in fact there are a lot of hidden exclusions, while a high price is charged for the product.