If I start smoking, can I still make a claim on my critical illness insurance?
The rating provided to smokers is usually based on your situation and lifestyle at the time you applied for the critical illness insurance policy. When the insurance policy evaluates your application, they will check whether you have been smoking within the last 12 months. If you were a smoker and stopped by more than a year already, you may not be rated as a smoker.
During your application, it is important to make full disclosure. Otherwise, the insurance company may opt to cancel your policy for the false statements that you make. But once the policy has been issued, getting into the smoking habit will usually not affect your policy and your claims.
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Smoking After a Critical Illness Application
Does critical illness cover smoking-related diseases? Yes, but smoking may affect your claims if they can show that you did not fully disclose your smoking habit in your application. There may also be other factors that may cause a denial of your claim.
Waiting period. There is a waiting period (usually of two years) where claims can still be disputed. And if you need to make a claim within that waiting period, this issue of smoking after the policy has been issued may come up. The insurance company may even use this as a reason for denying your claim!
Terms and conditions of a critical illness policy. The terms and conditions of some policies may add smoking as an exclusion. Though this is not the case at all times, there are policies that may exclude cancers caused by smoking.
The Negative Effects of Smoking on the Body
Smoking is actually not just linked to lung cancer, but to other cancers as well. This includes cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, mouth, tongue, lips, nasal sinus, liver, kidney, pancreas, bladder and stomach. Also, smoking is believed to cause heart disease and also diminishes the circulation of the blood throughout the body.
Critical illness insurance is put in place to prepare you for life’s unwanted events (such as getting critically ill). However, the best way to go about life is still to live healthy. You can still get your premiums (and then some), if you were not able to claim against your policy, if you had a return of premium rider in your policy. So, you can still benefit from your policy even if you don’t have a claim.
Stop Smoking and Recover Your Premiums Paid
Since you bought a critical illness insurance policy, you are concerned with the possible financial fallout of a critical illness. If this is so, why put yourself in more risk of getting a serious illness? Living a healthy lifestyle will help you enjoy a better quality of life later on, where you can enjoy more of your family, your passions and hobbies and the joy that life can bring.
Return of Premiums Benefit. There are policies that include a Return of Premiums Rider. If you stay healthy within a specified number of years or at the end of the policy term, you can expect to recover your premiums paid.
Last updated on: 18.1.2013
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Recommended useful information to read:
- Dos and Don’ts when making critical illness insurance claims
- What you should know about your critical illness cover: the exclusions to your policy
- Things to consider before getting a critical illness insurance policy
- Are you at risk? Critical illnesses you may be susceptible to
- Save up on premiums: factors that affect your critical illness insurance premiums