Mid-life critical illness cover is always expensive? Find a low-cost starter option

As people reach middle age, they may have to face many challenges: feeling uncertain about their role in the family, encountering a bottleneck in their career, or even developing health issues, all of which can trigger a midlife crisis. Some people only consider buying critical illness insurance after entering middle age and realising that their health is no longer as good as before, in order to guard against the high medical and living expenses that may arise if they fall ill. However, they then find that the premiums for middle-aged applicants are not cheap, and underwriting issues relating to their health conditions can also be a hurdle, leaving them hesitant during the application process. So does that mean it is really too late to apply for critical illness insurance in middle age? Undoubtedly, the whole-of-life critical illness insurance popular in the market is very expensive for middle-aged people. However, term critical illness insurance, which insurance agents recommend less often, is relatively cheaper, and the underwriting process for some products is unexpectedly simple, giving middle-aged people an opportunity to obtain critical illness cover.

Term critical illness insurance provides the insured with critical illness protection for a specified period, generally around 20 years. It is appealing to people with limited budgets, middle-aged customers, or those who already have critical illness insurance but want to increase their sum insured at a specific stage, such as while supporting their children. In this comparison, 10Life has selected four term critical illness insurance plans that have relatively high protection scores, comparatively lower premiums, and can be applied for online. As many consumers are concerned that term critical illness insurance premiums may increase every year, we have chosen to display premiums based on a 10-year renewal arrangement, meaning the insured can lock in the same premium for up to 10 years and obtain medium-term critical illness protection.

Term critical illness insurance can be categorised by the illnesses it covers, including cover for the three major critical illnesses (cancer, heart disease and stroke), and cover for a wide range of critical illnesses; the latter naturally offers broader protection. The products above only accept one major illness claim.

As shown in Table 1, the cheapest term critical illness insurance is FWD’s Ecoplan Standard Plan, with an average annual premium over 10 years of only around HK$3,276, providing cover for the three major critical illnesses.

In terms of cover, the highest-rated product is FWD Ecoplan Upgrade, with a cover rating of 8.8. It is also the only product in the comparison that covers a wide range of critical illnesses, including 62 major critical illnesses. This plan also has the highest maximum entry age among the products compared, accepting applications from people aged 69. If the policyholder already has a whole-of-life critical illness policy and believes that the existing cover may not be sufficient as they grow older, they can also purchase a term critical illness plan to broaden their protection.

Middle-aged people’s health conditions are not as good as those of younger people, and they may not be a “blank slate”. Faced with more than ten underwriting questions for whole-of-life critical illness insurance, they may inevitably feel confused and may not know how to answer. Whole-of-life critical illness insurance generally also requires the applicant to apply in person.

However, many term critical illness insurance products on the market can be applied for online. Applicants generally only need to answer a few simple questions to take out cover, and the underwriting process is relatively straightforward. Taking FWD as an example, applicants only need to answer two simple questions about their health condition, and the application process can take as little as 5 minutes¹.

Examples of online application for term critical illness insurance:

FWD 富衛
Blue

In summary, term critical illness insurance premiums are generally cheaper and underwriting is relatively simple, but the scope of cover varies from product to product. Consumers should choose a plan that suits their budget and needs. If you have any questions when applying, you may seek advice from 10Life licensed insurance consultants.

Note: 
Last updated on 26 September 2023. 
1. Insurance companies reserve the right to update their underwriting questions without prior notice. The underwriting questions are subject to the insurance company’s final version.

This English version of this article has been generated by machine translation powered by AI. It is provided solely for reference purposes. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between this translation and the original Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.