Critical Illness Insurance: Buy Best Critical Illness Cover Policy

Modern-day lifestyle, food habits, and stress are some of the major contributing factors to the increasing number of lifestyle disorders in today’s era.

In case of an illness, one would need immediate medical assistance without worrying about the financial element associated with seeking the treatment. This is where critical illness coverage comes into the picture.

In the Article Understanding Critical Illness Features of Critical Illness Policy Why do you need Critical Illness Insurance? Best Critical Illness Plans in UAE Benefits of Critical Illness Coverage Life insurance and Critical Illness Coverage Cover How to choose Best Critical Illness Insurance in the UAE? Who should Buy Critical Illness Insurance Policy? Eligibility Criteria and Documents required for Critical Illness Insurance Critical Illness vs Health Insurance

Critical Illness Insurance

Critical illness insurance policy provides financial coverage against critical, and long-term illnesses that require expensive amounts of money for treatment

Best Critical illness insurance policies are designed and developed to provide a lump sum in case the policyholder or any of the insured family member is diagnosed with a critical illness. With the right critical illness insurance policy, you can ensure that you and loved ones are safe against critical illnesses on the trail of life.

Understanding Critical Illness

Critical illness may be defined as an ailment/sickness/disease such as tumour, cancer, organ failure, heart attack, etc. that require immediate and intensive medical assistance. The health care system in the UAE is quite efficient, but at the same time is very expensive. Therefore, to make sure that you and your family members are safe against critical illness it is vital to get best critical illness coverage. 

The list of 36 major critical illness that is usually covered by Best Critical Insurance Companies under health insurance plans are as follows-

1. Major Cancers
2. Heart Attack of Specified Severity
3. Stroke
4. Coronary Artery By-pass Surgery
5. Kidney Failure
6. Aplastic Anemia
7. End-Stage Lung Disease
8. End-Stage Liver Failure
9. Coma
10. Deafness (Loss of Hearing)
11. Heart Valve Surgery
12. Loss of Speech
13. Major Burns
14. Major Organ / Bone Marrow Transplantation
15. Multiple Sclerosis
16. Muscular Dystrophy
17. Parkinson’s Disease
18. Surgery to Aorta
19. Alzheimer’s Disease / Severe Dementia
20. Fulminant Hepatitis
21. Motor Neuron Disease
22. Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
23. HIV Due to Blood Transfusion and Occupationally Acquired HIV
24. Benign Brain Tumor
25. Viral Encephalitis
26. Bacterial Meningitis
27. Angioplasty & Other Invasive Treatment for Coronary Artery
28. Blindness (Loss of Sight)
29. Major Head Trauma
30. Paralysis (Loss of Use of Limbs)
31. Terminal Illness
32. Progressive Scleroderma
33. Apallic Syndrome
34. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus with Lupus Nephritis
35. Poliomyelitis
36. Loss of Independent Existence

Critical Illness Policy

Critical illness policy acts as your perfect companion and provides required financial support in the form of a lump sum when any of the insured members are diagnosed with a critical illness. Furthermore, the right Critical Illness plan would not burn a hole in your savings, instead you will be able to easily afford the premium for the policy.

Purchasing Best critical illness policy is a wise-move that makes it easier for the policyholder to tackle life-threatening diseases and situations. Lower premiums and high lump-sum help you to focus on your goals and health without worrying about the future. The average range of premium for critical illness insurance plans in the UAE is AED 200 to 2500 depending upon the provider and the average range of cover varies from AED 200,000 to AED 500,000. The premium and covers are provider and plan specific.

Features of Critical Illness Policy

Here’s a quick rundown on the various major features of critical illness policies in UAE-

• Financial Protection: Provides coverage in the form of lump-sum ranging when any of the insured members are diagnosed with a critical illness. 
• Grace Period: Most of the critical illness policies provide a minimum grace period of 30 days. 
• Early Diagnosis: Medical screening is often required by the provider if the applicant or any of the member is over the age of 40 or has a medical history. 
• Coverage: The critical illness cover is provided in the form of a lump sum.
• Procedures: Some of the critical illness insurance cover day care-procedures that require the time of 24 hours to 72 hours. The coverage and clauses are subject to vary from provider to provider.
• Exclusions: Pre-existing ailments and conditions are not covered by the policy. 
• Mode of Cover: Policyholders can either avail coverage in the form of a lump sum or opt for cashless hospitalization based on their convenience.

Why do you need Critical Illness Insurance?

As mentioned earlier the modern-day lifestyle is strenuous and does not provide enough time to properly look after our health and lifestyle. As a result, we are highly-prone to life-threatening critical illnesses that can have a debilitating effect on the overall life of the patient and family members. Typically, the treatment of these diseases requires huge amounts of money which leaves the family members of the affected shattered physically, financially, and emotionally. To safeguard your family members against critical illness, opting for the Best critical illness policy is important. Critical illness coverage ensures that your loved ones get the right treatment without worrying about finances.  

Best Critical Illness Plans in UAE

Some of the best critical illness plans in the UAE are as follows-

Zurich Critical Illness

Zurich is a Switzerland based insurance provider that renders services all across the globe. The Zurich critical illness coverage provides financial coverage in case the policyholder or any of the insured is diagnosed with the ailment.

MetLife Critical Illness

MetLife is a global market-player in the insurance industry that offers a wide array of insurance products and services not just in the UAE but all across the globe. With the MetLife critical illness insurance coverage, you can get protection against various critical illnesses. 

Mashreq Critical Illness Insurance

Mashreq bank is one of the most popular shariah-compliant financial institution that offers a plethora of services from credit cards to insurance. The Mashreq medical insurance is there to take care of your financial needs during phases of turmoil. The policy offers coverage against nine critical illnesses and provides coverage in the form of lump sum.

Benefits of Critical Illness Coverage Cover

The major benefits of critical illness insurance cover are as follows-

• Financial Protection: The majority of plans with critical illness cover provide sum assured against 36 different ailments. 
• Easy Application: The overall application, approval, and claim settlement are smooth and hassle-free which makes it the right choice.
• Coverage in the form of Lump Sum: One of the major benefits of Best critical illness cover is that the sum assured is paid in the form of a lump sum which can easily be used as income replacement to make ends meet when the primary breadwinner of the family is suffering from critical illness.
• Guaranteed Payout: In case any of the insured members of the policyholder is diagnosed with critical illness there is a guaranteed pay-out in the form of the lump sum for the treatment of the sick and for the needs of the family members.
• Enhanced Protection: The accidental death benefit is also included in critical illness coverage. The coverage and clauses are subject to vary from provider to provider, therefore read the fine print of the plan carefully.

Life insurance and Critical Illness Coverage Cover

Critical illness insurance coverage plans are usually available as add-on riders along with health insurance and life insurance plans. When you are opting for life insurance/health insurance, most of the providers offer add-on riders that can be purchased by paying an additional premium over the price of health/life insurance.

The basic idea of getting a life insurance policy with critical illness coverage is to enhance the protection quotient offered by the health/life insurance policies

How to choose Best Critical Illness Insurance in the UAE?

Based on the factors mentioned below one can choose the best critical illness insurance in UAE-

1. Sum Assured

The first factor that is crucial in choosing the best critical illness insurance in the UAE is the sum assured or the coverage offered by the plan Furthermore, it is also important to look out for a plan that offers coverage against the maximum number of critical illnesses, a minimum of 37.

2. In-built Sum Assured

While critical illness cover is usually available as a rider with health/life insurance policy in the UAE, some of the providers offer in-built coverage. While choosing a plan that offers built-in coverage make sure you compare different plans online and offline to get the best plan.

3. Pre-existing ailments

As mentioned earlier, under critical illness insurance providers do not cover pre-existing illnesses, however, some of the plans do cover them but after a period of 48 months. The coverage and clauses are subject to vary from provider to provider, therefore, read the fine print of the policy before purchasing the plan.

4. 15 Day Free-period

Most of the critical illness insurance companies offer a 15-day free- period to decide and make up your mind whether you would like to go for the plan or not. During this period if you find the plan unsuitable or not up to your needs you can apply for a refund and get your money back.

5. Claim-settlement Ratio

Try and opt for a provider that has a high claim settlement ratio in comparison to other providers as the probability of receiving the sum assured is higher when you choose a provider with a high CSR. 

Who should Buy Critical Illness Insurance Policy?

Considering the rising costs of health-care services and inflation, it is vital to purchase comprehensive health insurance that protects your loved ones against lifestyle-disorder and other illnesses. It has been observed and seen that critical illnesses are genetic and there is a high probability of contracting them in case any of your family members has been diagnosed with it in the past. People with a family history of critical illnesses and primary breadwinners should definitely opt for Best critical illness insurance.   

Eligibility Criteria and Documents required for Critical Illness Insurance

The eligibility criteria and documents required for critical illness insurance is as follows-

Eligibility Criteria

• The age bracket is 18-65 years.
• Valid Emirati residence visa

Documents Required

• Valid Passport
• Emirati Identity proof
• Proof of Address
• Proof of employment/salary certificate
• Duly filled application form (online/offline) 

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Steps to file Claim under Critical Illness Insurance policy

Policyholders can opt for the following steps to file a claim under a critical illness insurance policy-

• Inform your policy provider telephonically or by writing an email.
• Attach the duly claim form along with the required documents
• Wait for the approval of the claim 
• Confirm the approval 
• Choose for lump sum/ cashless hospitalization 

Critical Illness vs Health Insurance 

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Here is a quick comparison between critical illness cover and health insurance plans in the UAE-

Critical Illness Insurance	Health Insurance Policy
Covers life-threatening critical illness	Provides comprehensive health coverage
Hospitalization is not mandatory to apply for the claim	Policyholder can get reimbursement of bills by submitting to the insurance provider
It provides Illness coverage against 37 critical illnesses.	Providers extensive coverage against a variety of medical conditions
Usually comes with a waiting period based on the type of pre-existing illness	Offers extensive coverage, that includes pre-and post-hospitalization expenses.
Typically comes as an add-on rider	Usually comes as comprehensive health insurance