Critical Illness cover

[lindylou1422]

Hi , my name is Lindy and I have joined this forum (which has been so useful) because my son-in-law was diagnosed last March with MND. He has thus far managed to keep doing the long journey to work and pushes himself to get through the week as he dreads the day he will be at home whilst my daughter is working and their two teenagers are at school. However, he is now struggling and cannot see how he will manage it for much longer. At this stage he decided to claim (the Royal National will give the necessary documentation) his critical illness cover as they have a mortgage which is a great worry as to how it will be paid when he stops work. He took this out about 30 years ago when he bought his first home - so its a useful but not large amount around £30,000. He took this out with Aviva , and they have told him when he phoned - that MND is not specifically listed on the policy and therefore they will have to forward this to their underwriters to see if he is eligible to make a claim!! This is very worrying, as this is clearly a terminal illness, They also said this could take up to six months to have an answer - has anyone any helpful information regarding this situation? Thx

[Ellie]

Hi Lindy,

Sorry you've had to join us but a warm welcome to you.

If you look at Aviva's current list of illnesses covered on their Critical Illness Cover, Motor Neurone Disease is clearly listed, so I don't know if your son-in-law's policy is different/old but I'd definitely follow it up with a manager. (I guess he cannot find his policy documents at this stage??) The illnesses that are covered tend to be industry standard.

Scroll down on this Aviva link andyou'll see a clickable ' policy summary,' which has the list of illnesses covered and also info on Complaints: https://www.aviva.co.uk/insurance/li...illness-cover/

I was fortunate enough to have Critical Illness Cover and the money did make a difference.

Good luck!

Love Ellie.

[lindylou1422]

thank you Ellie, this is such a welcoming forum

He took out the policy 30 years ago as a 20 something when he bought his first home, so the 30,000 was roughly what he paid for that home, but didnt update it since. So its an old policy, but on the documents themselves, what he signed for, it does not staste MND on the list of conditions (or terminal illnesses) so that is what might be the problem. So they are saying they will forward this to their underwriters to make a decision . I wonder if this can make the policy innefectual on this technicality?

[Ellie]

Oh, I see - technically yes, but one would hope that a company of Aviva's standing will do the honourable thing, especially as MND is now on the list....

The 6 month decision timeframe is unfortunate and I hope they rule in his favour, if it goes against him there is always social media to highlight the injustice !!

No harm in chasing Aviva every 4 weeks or so in the meantime.

Does he have life insurance? If he has, check if it has terminal illness cover (sorry, I know it is not easy seeing those words in black & white)

I know you can do without this added stress right now, I know how stressful coping with the diagnosis alone is

Love Ellie.

[AndyB]

Hi Lindy,

I had critical illness insurance that I originally took out in 1995 with AXA insurance which has since been taken over by Aviva. I claimed in 2016 when I was diagnosed with MND. My diagnosis was originally ‘probable MND’ and it was only when it was definite MND that they paid out. They phoned me at regular intervals to keep me updated on the progress. Unfortunately for me the value of cover had reduced over the years due to my age (I didn’t want to pay the increased premiums) but if was still enough to pay for most of the cost of my garage conversion to a bedroom and wet room.

Andy

[KRiB]

I started with slurred speech, now have none at all. Somewhere along the line I got low mood, particularly due to loss of bulbar function that has stopped me playing the French Horn.Stupidly, in response to questions raised for my Critical Illness cover, I owned up to another dip in mood, whereupon Aviva declined the policy. Now they had wind of my probable MND condition, and the mortgage broker tried unsuccessfully to get their underwriter to change their mind. I have life cover, but nothing that will help in the event I cannot work any more. Is there anywhere that I can go to get cover? Sometimes honesty would appear NOT to be the right policy!

[lindylou1422]

thank you all for your helpful responses. The situation that has emerged is that on the original policy taken out about 30 years ago MND is not specifically listed and therefore they will not pay out. However, listed is 'permanent paralysis of two or more limbs that renders you to ever take up any employment. My son in law has loss of muscle power in both his arms so we are hoping that eventually (when he gives up work) that he will be able to claim. This is dependent on his loss of use of his arms is considered paralysis (in medical terms). Therefore as he is still able to work and wants to for as long as possible he will not be able to put in a claim yet. Also he has to be unable to work for six months under this claim - so we must wait and hope for that outcome. For others here who might be interested - if a critical illness claim is part of a life policy (and his is a stand alone policy for CI only) then you would get the amount together with the life cover if you die, but if stand alone and it cannot be claimed under the policy terms, then you will not. thanks all

[nunhead_man]

Hi Lindy,

Interesting update – thank you

I'm in fact in the opposite position because my critical illness cover lapsed a while ago but I still have a life insurance.

My neurologist said he will say whatever my life expectancy is to meet the needs of the policy and I'm still thinking about whether I want to take him up on that

[Terry]

Hi Andy,

What havv you got to lose, mind you, if you end up paying for care then that money would be be put in the pot. Probably if you don't cash it, it would go to your partner.

Love Terry

[Shaun]

Hello Andy
Regarding money, only because, just been through this with my in-laws (alzheimers, all go in our family) make sure it goes into your partner's account , social services cant touch it. We had to spilt the in-laws money up to bring them under the limits, and hide some of it.

Talking of social services they will try guilt tripping your nearest and dearest. It is not up other family members to pay for your care, they put a lot of pressure on my wife to pay for her mums care.
We told them politely, to do one and eventually got NHS funding for her mum.

Shaun

[lindylou1422]

Here I am again with an update. The company (now Aviva) do not pay out on my son in laws policy for MND which is not listed (the policy goes
back a long way from his first home before he met and married my daughter) probably MND had not been put on the map as it was pre-Stephen Hawkins time.
However the policy does have as a pay-out option 'paralysis of two or more limbs' and since my son in law now finds his efforts to do his surveying work and has little use of his arms he is struggling to continue at his workplace, even tho they have been very supportive. So....just to add to all this, in the first furlough scheme my daughter was made redundant and has found it impossible to get another job full time or part time. She is now having to do all sorts of caring activities for him, including helping him with a shower and dressing etc - he is exhausted.

My question now is, and I just cannot get a definitive answer from all the phone calls I have made - if he claims his critical illness cover when he stops work by the end of the year - will he be able to place that directly into the mortgage (as he has no other cover for it) and/or will he be able to pay his mortgage for the next two years by from this, or will in either case will the payment be classed as savings/income - ie means tested for the Universal Credit benefit which the family with two teenage children would need?

The mortgage company will take this as an overpayment without penalty if it comes from this payment, but will universal credit take this a mis-using savings in order to claim? It is such a worry - as they have no actual savings, both having worked hard always to get to this point of having a home (albeit on mortgage) and neither of them have ever claimed a bean - but whichever way they turn it feels like they may be penalised? And none of the agencies I have asked have an answer - they say you have to claim your benefits first and then you will find out - which means you cant plan how to lower the mortgage until the inevitable day arrives when he can no longer do anything for himself etc . Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Ellie]

lindylou1422 There is so much at stake, personally I think he should get independent financial advice on the matter.

In my case, my Critical Illness policy was linked to my mortgage, which was paid off after diagnosis.

Just to be Devil's Advocate - is he 100% sure he fits the insurer's definition of paralysis of two or more limbs?

Best of luck to you all and hope something goes your way!!

Love Ellie.

[lindylou1422]

Not 'absolutely' sure - but he has received info from them which is encouraging - that once he cannot work due to his two arms having lost most of their muscle and his legs getting less reliable too - that he should qualify. The cover is not linked to their mortgage. The financial adviser that I have and said to pay the sum into the mortgage - does not know how Universal Credit works and advised to call them. I have called several numbers but they all say once they have applied for a claim they will get an Adviser for their application and they will answer any specific questions - nobody seems to have an answer. The only thing they will tell you is that help is available via SMI (support Mortgage Interest) in these type of circumstances - which is a total rip-off - it seems to me a very last resort - and that would be the last option. The govt 'loans' you /pays the interest part of your mortgage up to £200,000 and it is charged against your property until such times you can pay it back (if ever) so in the end you owe the mortgage that hasnt been paid plus the SMI @ currently 2.9% which is twice their interest rate and this will be charged accumitively against your house. It means that if you ever want to move you have to pay back the lump sum and wont be able to find anywhere else to live (in this case as its just a normal family home) and you will have nothing left to give your children, which I think is what most people would aim for - If I find out anything useful, I will certainly share here for others who find themselves in such a difficult financial scenario. Its what they worry about - apart from all the things MND they have to worry about........thx Ellie

[matthew55]

Er this is probably a silly question but do you has the DS1500?

[lindylou1422]

It isnt a silly question Matthew - I havnt heard of it, will be looking it up - thanks very much - another avenue to explore )