Alan Lakey: 25 Years of Critical Illness

At the start of 1997, critical illness plans had been available for 14 years and had already stumbled from the embryonic plan designs into a more cohesive tableau of plan options. With hindsight, these were the relatively simple and heady days when early-stage prostate cancer was included within the cancer definition and coronary angioplasty was a 100% payment condition.  Also, some insurers such as Allied Dunbar and Aviva paid claims for benign brain tumour on diagnosis without any requirement for permanent deficit or surgery. Scottish Provident and Skandia Life were considered th...