Here we can see that 17 % of women paid off a mortgage versus 21 % of men. 21 % of women paid off other debts versus 19 % of men, and 18 % of women used the funds to pay for private medical treatment, whereas 24 % of men did the same.
Children’ s cover in critical illness
We ' ve seen that when women receive a critical illness payout the focus is often practical protection, not just for themselves, but for the people who depend on them.
Can you imagine a situation more terrifying than being told that your child has a critical illness? Understanding around children ' s critical illness protection is very low, both among customers and advisers.
Here we can see that only 28 % of respondents to the Critical Thinking Report thought that funds for children ' s critical illness would be able to provide financial support for them if their child was unwell. Whereas 38 % thought that the purpose of the cover was solely to fund a child ' s treatment.
So, not only do advisers have a compliance responsibility to have this conversation with customers and a moral responsibility to make sure that they’ re aware of what ' s available, it’ s also a massive driver for protection sales.
According to CIExpert, 85 % of scenarios put to them include children, or customers that plan to have children. So, children’ s cover is a really hot topic for customers looking for critical illness protection.
It isn’ t just this issue though: the Critical Thinking Report showed there is a significant lack of understanding of critical illness overall.
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