Cancer has claimed many lives in Kenya and still claims many lives globally. Statistics show that this is one of the Top 10 causes of death globally. Sadly though, there is no cure of for this. Research has shown that there is no real cause of the disease and anyone is at risk of suffering from the same. With drastic changes in lifestyles, global warming and tendency of the population adopting urbanization, the risk is too high. Former Safaricom boss Bob Collymore, Former Bomet governor Joyce Laboso, Former Kibra MP Ken Okoth may their soul rest in peace are the recent prominent Kenyans and others who have succumbed to the disease. Critical illness insurance in Kenya is normally offered as a stand-alone policy, but some insurance companies can also incorporate it into a whole life, term or endowment policy. Basically this product has been packaged in different ways.
It normally provides a lump sum payment in the event of the insured being diagnosed with one or more of a defined range if serious illnesses. The illness covered are specified in the policy document, but typically include:
- heart attack
- stroke
- cancer
- surgery for coronary artery disease
- major organ transplant
- kidney failure
- multiple sclerosis
- paralysis
- blindness
There are two types of critical illness policy in Kenya:
- Fixed policies, where the premium paid is the same amount every month. Whilst this can be more expensive in the short-term, it allows the insured to know what they’ll be paying in future
- Reviewable policies where the monthly payments are reviewed after a period of time; typically every five years. For these types of policy initial premiums tend to be lower, but can rise over time taking in account the insured’s age and medical advances
Other features of critical illness insurance will include:
- Benefit payment is made regardless of whether the illness prevents the insured from working
- The policy document wording will specify how serious a condition ought to be for payment to be made
- Some insurers will make partial payments for less severe conditions depending on the doctor’s advice.
- Lump sum payments are normally tax free
Critical illness Policies only pay out once and then come to an end
