There are various forms of Health / Life Insurance. Some you may already be familiar with and some may be new to you. Below is a glossary of insurance terms.
Health Insurance
This is a general term covering the various types of insurance that cover the costs of illness, injury or disability.
Income Protection Insurance (also known as Permanent Health Insurance)
Regular premiums are paid to the insurance company who will then provide an income for the policy holder should they contract a long term illness or injury. There is usually a waiting period before the insurance company will pay the income (known as a deferment period) during which the policy holder's employer pays their salary.
To encourage people to return to work should they fully or partially recover, the benefit paid is usually no greater than 75% of earnings in the year before the disability. But it could continue to retirement age.
Critical Illness Cover
This differs from Income Protection Insurance in that it covers the policy holder against specific illnesses such as cancer or heath attack. Should the policy holder contract one of the specific illnesses a lump sum payment would be made rather than a regular income.
Private Medical Insurance
This insurance policy provides the policy holder with the cost of necessary private medical treatment. This is a type of policy that can be taken out by individuals or taken out by an employer to provide company wide cover. The types of procedures / reasons for hospital visits differ depending on each individual policy. Things that are typically covered are Surgeon's bills, x-rays and the cost of nursing care. Things that are not typically covered by private medical insurance are, for example, pre-existing conditions, cosmetic surgery and routine childbirth.
Major Medical Expenses Insurance
This is a form of insurance that will cover the costs of specific surgical procedures should the policy holder need to undergo them.
Cash Plans
Health insurance that pays out cash sums if you need to go into hospital or visit dentists, opticians and other healthcare professionals according to the policy you take out.
Life Insurance
A general term used for insurance policies which pay benefit in the event of the policy holder's death. Beneficiaries of the policy are named by the policy holder and are typically family members.
As with health insurance, there are various types of life insurance policies. Some offer a lump some payment in the event of the policy holder's death and some include a saving element where benefits can be paid before death.
