Sat through a free virtual insurance info session last week because my husband’s claim paperwork turned into a whole thing, and one slide actually stuck with me.
The guy running it used to work in claims, not an agent trying to sell anything, and he kept circling back to one point — most critical illness policies have a waiting period built in, and it’s not the same as when the policy ‘starts.’ His example was 90 days. Anything related to the diagnosis that shows up before that window closes, the insurer can deny it, even if you’ve been paying premiums the whole time.
We just assumed coverage kicked in the day we signed, which, in hindsight, was a pretty big assumption to make!
Two things I’m doing differently now —
– pulling our policy docs and finding that exact date, not just the start date
– asking for the waiting period in writing before we sign anything else
Small thing, but it would’ve saved us a stressful phone call if I’d known it going in.