When a group of people were questioned in a recent survey about how important they thought it was to have critical illness insurance, a significant proportion said they thought it was unnecessary.

When pushed further they explained that they thought it was unlikely that they would become seriously ill and therefore they did not want to waste money on premiums. Unfortunately this attitude is not supported by the facts.

In the UK around one in five people become critically ill before reaching retirement age. This means that for many, serious illness will prevent them from working and earning the money needed to support themselves.

On top of this, people who become incapacitated by serious illness and are unable to work may also not be able to afford the medical care that they need.

Critical illness insurance provides a financial buffer for people who become seriously ill and unable to work. It does this by giving policy holders a tax free lump sum that they can spend at their discretion.

In other words, policy holders can spend their critical illness insurance money on medical care, everyday living expenses or even paying off their mortgage. There is not restriction on how they can spend their money.

This not only provides policy holders with the financial support that they need. Critical illness insurance also gives them peace of mind that they will still be able to take care of their dependents if they become too ill to work.

As the majority of critical illness insurance products cover common illnesses and given the statistical probability that you will critically ill at some point, it is a good thing to have. Of course when it comes to choosing a critical illness insurance policy it is important to shop around.

It is also important to get good, independent advice about what type of policy would suit you best. Furthermore, when applying for critical illness insurance, do ensure that you provide all the necessary information. Failing to do so might actually mean that you would not be properly covered.

Critical illness insurance is not something that most people want to think about because they do not want to consider the possibility of becoming seriously ill. However it could happen and setting up an insurance policy means you would be prepared for that worst case scenario.