Cancer should be top of mind when writing Critical Illness covers

As a financial planner you must ensure that your female clients are aware of the prevalence of cancer and the consequent financial needs. It is difficult for clients to get to grips with the high probability of begin diagnosed with this dread disease, let alone the financial costs associated with treatment and subsequent recovery. Critical Illness products are designed to meet the financial needs associated with this dread disease.

Cancer is the top cause of Critical Illness claims in South Africa. This follows a similar pattern to what is seen in claims worldwide. A chunky 45% of Critical Illness claims in South Africa are from Cancer - with females accounting for more Critical Illness claims than males.

My family became part of the cancer "statistic” when my sister, a 40-year old professional with her own legal consultancy, was diagnosed with cancer. She discovered a lump in her breast, which upon further investigation was diagnosed as cancer.

The doctor advised her that she would need to undergo a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. She was not able to work for six weeks immediately following the surgery and – due to the side-effects of the chemotherapy treatments – was only able to work part time thereafter. The financial consequences could have been catastrophic...

Fortunately – on the advice of her financial planner – my sister had a Critical Illness policy. The policy paid out a lump sum benefit, which was utilised for household assistance and child care for my nephew and niece for the duration of her treatment. In addition, the lump sum made up the short fall in her earnings for her three-month recovery period.

Cancer is highly treatable, but the road to recovery is often long and costly. Although your medical scheme should take care of most of your everyday medical expenses there are other financial implications that you must consider.

In my sister’s case being diagnosed with cancer resulted in her income being severely compromised. The same could happen to one of your clients. My sister’s "saving grace” was that she had purchased adequate Critical Illness cover prior to the cancer event. The financial impact of the subsequent cancer treatments were compensated for by a lump sum benefit.

My sister’s cancer was treated with surgery and chemotherapy, but there are instances where surviving cancer demands an extensive treatment plan. It often happens that the treatments recommended are in the so-called "experimental” phase and these costs are not always covered by medical schemes. If your client’s treatment plan includes experimental treatments, their Critical Illness lump sum benefit will go some way tobuffer the costs not paid by her medical scheme.

Critical Illness cover is often overlooked at financial planning stage despite its dual role of filling the "gap” in treatment and compensating for loss of income as a consequence of the illness. You, as a financial planner play an important role in alleviating the traumatic impact of cancer for your female clients.

There are a variety of product providers that offer Critical Illness covers… You should keep the following in mind when choosing your preferred product / provider combination:

• The product provider should ascribe to standardised critical illness definitions as set by ASISA;

• Cancer claims should be objectively assessed based on medical evidence;

• There should be certainty that the benefit will be paid out when your client is diagnosed with cancer; and

• The benefit payments should not be defined by severity levels.

The product you recommend to your clients should insulate them and their families against the financial impact of cancer. Because of this, choosing the right Critical Illness Cover is of critical importance.