Amaka Obiefuna

Concerned with the rate of mortality hinged on critical illness, experts at the Coronation Life Assurance Limited Webinar on Tuesday, have harped on the need for people to take up critical illness insurance policy to alleviate this challenge.

Themed “Safeguarding your Health: The Importance of Critical Illness Insurance,” expressed the necessity of Critical Illness Insurance, saying that it goes a long way to safeguard health of individuals and that of their loved ones.

The experts highlighted the benefits of the policy to  include peace of mind, self-reliance, flexible payment arrangement and financial protection, among others.

While defining critical illness insurance, the Key Note Speaker who is also the Assistant Director, Underwriting and Marketing (Life Operations) at Coronation Life Assurance, Abdul-Rasheed Akolade, said it is a vital part of an organised arrangement any adult or individual may use in safeguarding his or her health.

He explained that critical illness insurance is an insurance product that makes provision for the payment of a certain sum (known as the Sum Assured) in a lump sum if the Insured Person is diagnosed with any of the specified critical illnesses as stated in the policy usually during the term of the policy provided the other requirements under the policy are met.

Enumerating the benefit of critical illness insurance, Akolade said that it provides a lump sum payment for the insured person if he or she is diagnosed with any of the critical illness conditions covered in the insurance policy.

He listed the critical illness to include among others, cancer; stroke; heart attack; and coronary, adding that the benefit payable is chosen by the insured person (otherwise referred to as the enrollee).

For ease of administration, he said the benefit payable by the life office may have a minimum and maximum limit, say between N250,000 and N10,000,000.

“Critical illness insurance offers adequate financial protection for the insured person. It gives perfect peace of mind to the insured person.

“There is no need to depend on the employer and/or one’s children for funds once critical illness was already in place before being diagnosed for the critical illness conditions. There is complete flexibility in terms of the benefits and premium payment frequency,” he added.

Also speaking, the Head, Partnership, Coronation Life Assurance Limited, Kehinde Grillo, said the firm has a different range of insurance covers for critical illness with premium as low N10,000 per annum with a sum assured of N10 million or from a minimum of N500,000.00 to maximum of N20 million cover.

He emphasised the need for people to know how critical it is for them to take care of their health through proper planning and called on them to take advantage of the product in their best interest.

A Professional Banker and Financial Advisor, Adekanla Desalu (Deza the Great), in his submission emphasised the need for more awareness of health insurance.

Many people do not understand how critical they need to take their health; how critical they need to plan for their health or for the health of their family members or relatives.

So when sickness occurs, it becomes a problem and they now scamper to see how they can raise money. So, there is no plan for the future.  There is no plan for the eventuality that can happen

Founder/Managing Director, Tillit MSME Microservices, Dr. Yomi Sule, advocated for the democratisation of health insurance in the country to make it more accessible and affordable to the people.

“We need to democratise this health insurance by making it available in small packages for people. For example for those in the entertainment industry or entrepreneurs that they can just buy off the shelves.

He said it is now easy for people to buy insurance on their phones even as he appealed for acceptance of payment of premium in bits to encourage more people to embrace the product.

He called on Nigerians to see taking critical illness insurance for their aged parents and loved ones as one of the best things they can do for them, adding that this can only be done through proper planning.

“You don’t need to wait until when sickness occurs before you begin to run around for money, which is why we should embrace Critical health insurance as offered by Coronation insurance,” he said.

The Coronation Life Assurance Limited Webinar Series is part of the company’s thought leadership initiatives, designed to provide relevant insights for both corporate and individual clients.

This year’s edition of the series focused on the Importance of Critical illness Insurance, it provided a comprehensive overview of critical illness insurance, the importance of early detection and prevention of critical illnesses through regular health check-ups and a healthy lifestyle.

The webinar educated and informed participants on the importance of Critical illness insurance as well as empowered participants with the knowledge and understanding required to make informed decisions about their health and financial security.

It also provided guidance on how to choose the right critical illness insurance policy, emphasising factors like coverage, affordability and personal circumstances.