Which Makes More Sense- Critical Illness Rider or Standalone Policy

People who survive life-threatening ailments face financial hardship due to exorbitant medical costs and loss of income, thus critical illness cover acts as a hedge against monetary crunch. It gives a tax-free lump sum if the insured is diagnosed with critical ailments, like kidney failure, heart attack, paralysis, etc.

However, to make a claim, the policyholder must survive at least 30 days (varies with the company to company) after diagnosis.

Critical Illness Rider Vs Standalone Policy

Critical illness cover is usually available in two variants- standalone critical illness plan and critical illness rider. Although both offer coverage against critical ailments there are some factors that differentiate these covers from each other.

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Let’s know how critical illness rider is different from standalone policy-

Parameters	Critical Illness Rider With Term Plan	Standalone Critical Illness Health Policy
Coverage	Rider sum assured is linked with base policy sum assured	It offers high flexibility in respect of sum insured
Renewal	No need to renew separately as it can be renewed along with term plan	It must be renewed annually or 5 years as per the policy you opt for
Premium	Premium remains the same for the entire duration of the base policy and therefore tends to be cheaper	Premium changes with age and health condition of the insured in case you bought it from a general insurer. In life, the same premium rate and conditions continue.
Ailments covered	8-10 ailments are covered, may vary with the insurer	It covers more than 20 ailments
Medical test	No medical test is required if it is bought from the same term insurance provider. It can be issued within the medical underwriting of term insurance	A medical test is required

Are you still trying to find out which one to opt for- a critical illness rider or standalone policy? The answer depends on your health background and specific needs.

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