The amount of money you pay as annual or monthly premium in the case of a critical illness insurance depends on many factors. For example: the higher the benefit is, the higher the premium; since older people are most likely to get a critical illness, they pay more; your health situation is also an important factor, because if you have a health problem when you buy the policy, it is more expensive or you might be refused; if there is some critical illness in the family history you have to pay more; your habits (if you are smoker) and your lifestyle also determine the cost of your premium, and the number of illnesses covered - to name a few.

There are two main types of critical illness cover:

• Life and critical illness cover - it pays out if you die or get diagnosed with a critical illness;
• Stand alone critical illness cover - pays out a sum in case you are diagnosed with a critical illness and you survive for at least 28 days.

You should decide how long you want the cover for. You can have it for a fixed number of years, called the policy term, for example until you pay your mortgage, or you can choose one for undetermined period. If you have a family you might want to consider a policy that covers your children, too. If your child is covered and he or she gets a critical illness that is covered, then you obtain a tax-free lump payment. Even if your child gets better you will still get the payment from your insurance company. Some of these policies include specific child diseases like Bacterial Meningitis for example. The child cover has fewer illnesses included than the cover for adults.

The most common diseases covered by critical illness insurances asre: cancer, stroke, heart attack, Alzheimer's, blindness, organ transplants, multiple sclerosis, paralysis, kidney failure, coma, serious burns, invasive cancer. There are some illnesses that are not covered by any insurance: drug abuse, HIV/Aids, self-inflicted injury and some others.

Keep in mind that you cannot purchase insurance for a pre-existing condition. It could happen that someone dies in an illness which is not covered by the policy; in that case the premiums are repaid to the person who had been named beneficiary.

Critical illness insurance is seen by the insurance sellers as filling in the gap between disability insurance and life insurance, because life insurance only pays out when you die, and disability insurance pays out over time when you get a disabling illness or injury that makes you unable to work, but it only offers a certain percentage of your wage. What makes critical illness cover more advantageous than these two is the fact that you don't have to be disabled to receive the payout. Even if you are fully recovered after a critical illness or surgery, you can use the lump-sum for whatever you want - to pay the mortgage or your bills, to pay for medical expenses, to take a vacation or anything.

Still, you have to pass the 30 days waiting period and still be affected by the illness, to get the money. If you do not survive or you do not show any sign of illness in 30 days, the benefit will not be paid. This is a clause which is included in most of the insurance policies. What is extremely important is to choose the right kind of policy for your personal needs, and for this you should turn to a critical insurance adviser - a specialist. A good idea if you want to buy critical illness insurance to include a life cover insurance; it is not just safer but also cheaper than to buy these two separately. Most insurance companies can offer you a combined critical illness-and-life insurance package.

We should be aware of the fact that critical illness cover is vital if we want to protect our loved ones in case something bad happens. This is precisely why the request for this type of policy is increasing so fast all over the world.