Traditional Critical Illness vs. Severity-Based cover: What are the pros and cons?

Severity-based cover may actually be considered a hybrid of the traditional critical illness cover.

Where critical illness cover may seem to be an all-or-nothing affair (you get diagnosed with the critical illness, you get 100% of the sum assured), severity-based critical illness insurance will pay a certain percentage based on how severe the illness is. This means that you can expect lower payouts in case you are diagnosed with a less serious case.

The Advantages of Severity-Based Cover

More illnesses included. With severity-based cover, the list of covered illnesses is longer. This can cover less severe forms of cancer, which are usually excluded in a standard critical illness policy. Another example would be that you can claim for partial blindness on a severity-based cover but can only claim on your traditional critical illness cover only if you become totally blind.
The disadvantage of a traditional critical illness policy is that a person may be severely ill but can’t get the benefits due to the fact that the illness is not a covered illness.
Payments can be paid at an early stage of the illness. This allows you to have money to prevent the illness from becoming worse. With a severity based cover, you can already get a sum that you can use to treat your illness. For instance, if a lump is detected in your breast and is identified as an early stage cancer, you can already claim and have your breast operated on.
Allows for multiple claims. With a traditional critical illness policy, you can only claim once, and the cover ceases to be effective. With a severity based policy, you can claim for more than one illness. These can be totally unrelated conditions. You can also claim for the same illness if this illness takes a turn for the worse.

The Criticisms of a Critical Illness Cover

In some cases, you only get a portion of the sum assured.
A severity-based cover may be too complex and hard to understand. You are not really sure what instances are paid out and how much you stand to receive. The definitions for severity-based products may be subjective and open to more claims disputes.
If your illness gets worse after you have made a claim on it, you will need to wait for some 24 to 36 months before you can make another claim on the illness. Also, multiple claims on the same illness is limited to a few critical conditions.

Cover Details
Type of Insurance
Type of cover
Over what period?
Amount of cover
Type of premium
Personal Details
Title
First Name
Last Name
Date of birth
Do you smoke?	No Yes
Email address
Home phone
Work phone
Mobile Phone
Is this a joint application?	No Yes
App. 2: Title
App. 2: First Name
App. 2: Last Name
App. 2: Date of birth
App. 2: Do you smoke?	No Yes
House Number
House/Flat name
Street
Area
Town
County
Postcode