Forty years after critical illness insurance was first provided in South Africa (October 6, 1983) as Dreaded Illness Disease covering initial four critical illnesses: cancer, stroke, heart attack and coronary bypass surgery, the cover is making it loud in Nigeria through Coronation Life Assurance with penetrating awareness and undressing all dread associated with critical illness and the cover insurance provides.
Just as the name has changed from dreaded illness disease insurance not just in South Africa but all over the globe to a contemporary name that does not illicit fear of cover, Coronation Life Assurance Limited through a webinar is spilling the benefits of the cover and assuaging the fear of high premium by assembling a team of high resource persons from the company, the next layer in insurance operation: reinsurance and, the wider players in the economy to x-ray the cover, scope of cover and premium associated with the limit of cover.
The theme, “Safeguarding Your Health: The Importance of Critical Illness Insurance”, was taken by Abdul-Rasheed Akolade, Assistant Director, Underwriting and Marketing (Life Operations) Africa Re. He opened the curtain to how to buy critical illness insurance for diagnosed illness usually with a second opinion for any of the specified critical illness with a limit of cover ranging from minimum of N500,000.00 to maximum N20 million and as low as N10,000.00 for a limit of N10 million cover.
Akolade said it was advisable to further endorse limits cover upwards because insurance company will not pay more than the prevailing minimum or maximum benefit which is determined by the premium paid.
He said it was not absurd to have more than one critical illness insurance covers provided by different life insurance companies provided the policyholder discloses that there is a subsisting cover by another company. Besides, he said policyholders source different levels of cover from different life insurers.
Cover he stated, could run for one year as well as extending to ten years as a stand alone covering life threatening conditions. He also said the cover is highly recommended because it offers adequate financial protection, rest of mind and erases dependency from others at the period of illness because the cover have already taken care of that.
