More needs to be done to ensure that consumers understand critical illness cover, one expert says.
Dr Marius Barnard, who created critical illness insurance in 1983, said: “When a financial advisor sits down with the client about life insurance, he understands it.
“But with critical illness cover, this takes time and people switch off.”
He also said that he would like critical illness insurance to receive more positive publicity in the UK, adding that media coverage tended to focus on cases where a pay out was not made.
Dr Barnard said that the number of claims not being met was “diminishing all the time in the UK” and this was a “very positive step”.
He added that people who had “a clear cut diagnosis” would have their claims paid.
In a statement on best practice for critical illness cover, the Association of British Insurers called for plain English to be used wherever possible in order to aid consumer understanding.