Is the rising stress level at work giving you sleepless nights? Are you worried that your lack of exercise is making you unhealthy? Is your blood pressure steadily rising because of work pressure? If you are constantly weighed down by such concerns, then you are not alone. In the present day, more and more people are being affected by life-threatening illnesses such as strokes and heart attacks and a large percentage of these are caused by lifestyle choices and work pressure. So if you feel you are vulnerable too, it's time for you to consider getting a critical illness plan. A critical illness plan exclusively protects you from a list of life-threatening illnesses that can cause death, loss of income or increase your expenses due to costly treatment patterns.

What exactly is a standalone critical illness plan?

Critical illness coverage can be bought in the form of a rider along with a life insurance plan or a health plan or it can be bought individually from a general insurance provider. In the case of the former, the coverage is limited and gets terminated when the parent plan gets terminated. In a standalone plan, you get more flexibility and you can choose your coverage amount, tenure of coverage, etc. A standalone plan will cost a little bit more than a rider, but if you are really focused on getting the coverage, it is advisable to opt for such a plan.

What are the advantages of a standalone critical illness plan?

Like mentioned above, a standalone plan provides a lot of flexibility. In a critical illness rider, your sum assured cannot exceed the sum average of your base plan. So if your base plan has a sum assured of Rs. 6 lacs, you will only be eligible to get coverage of Rs. 6 lacs on your critical illness rider. In a standalone plan, you can choose a higher coverage. Then, when you buy such a plan, you do not have to renew it every year. A standalone critical illness plan usually needs to be renewed every five years. Lastly, and most importantly, a standalone plan covers a larger number of illnesses as compared to a critical illness rider. This proves to be very useful as you can never predict which illness will strike you at what time and so if you are opting for this coverage, it is always better to have the maximum possible and most well-rounded coverage.

How does a standalone critical illness plan work?

The concept of a critical illness insurance plan is simple – if you are diagnosed with one of the listed critical illnesses, then the insurer will provide you the sum assured as a lump sum amount. You will then be free to use it in any way you please. If you want to travel abroad with the money for further treatment, you can do so. If you want to use it as an income substitute for a few days, you can do so and even if you want to use it to stay in hospital and recuperate, you are free to do so. You only need to meet the requirements such as completing the waiting period, paying the premiums on time, etc.

Go for it!

So as we can see from the points mentioned above, it is very useful to have a standalone critical illness plan. Just be careful and read the offer documents carefully so that you know what illnesses are covered, what the exclusions are and so on. Once you are fully aware of how the plan works, you can get the maximum out of it and stay protected against a number of life-threatening illnesses. So go for it!