Most people are familiar with life insurance and disability insurance policies.
But a relatively new insurance package aimed at contending with critical illness has been introduced on the Canadian insurance market. Critical illness insurance attempts to bridge the gap between life and disability insurance. Where life insurance policies pay out upon death or diagnosis of a terminal illness and disability insurance policies cover lost wages due to an accident or sickness, critical illness policies cover the insured upon diagnosis of an illness such as cancer, heart disease and stroke, to name a few. Originally developed in South Africa, critical illness insurance arrived in Canada during the 1990s, offering a financial security blanket against the possibility of expensive treatment and care. The alteration generally suggests a need for cash in large amounts so that people can put their lives back together or work around their problem.