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Home / Critical illness cover / - Paralysis or Paraplegia
Definition
Total irreversible loss of muscle function or sensation to the whole of any two limbs as a result of injury or disease. The disability must be permanent and supported by appropriate neurological evidence.
What does this mean?
Paralysis or paraplegia of two or more limbs is evidenced by permanent and irreversible loss of movement and sensation. It could be caused by an accident or by an illness. Even more severe types of paralysis; tetriplegia and quadriplegia would therefore be covered.
NEWS
Obese people unable to become donors
08 July 2008 18:18:17
Being obese may not only have an effect on life insurance policies, it could also prevent someone becoming a bone marrow donor.
PE teacher Carl Zaffino was a long term blood donor and had been on the Brtish Bone Marrow Register for three years, the Mail reported.
Mr Zaffino was contacted in the hope that he could become a donor yet when the hopsital realised that he had a Body Mass Index (BMI) score of 36.19, he was declared clinically obese and was told he would be unable to donate.
Responding to the situation, Mr Zaffino said: "I thought this is wrong, there is somebody out there whose life I might be able to save. But there is nothing I could do about it, I was told 'regulations are regulations' and that was that."
A spokeswoman from the National Blood Service said that anyone who has a BMI of over 35 Would be banned from donating.
The spokeswoman said: "Experts advise us that there would be greater health risks associated with being a donor. Our absolute priority has to be to safeguard donors' health."
UK life insurance policies may take into account the weight of policy holders.
Critical illness cover in the spotlight
27 September 2007 15:20:19
Critical illness
insurance provides a lump-sum benefit that helps when battling a major disease, according to a leading insurance lawyer.
Frank N. Darras highlighted that a payment can be used for any aspect of the sickness and does not have to be related to the diagnosed condition.
"Before buying critical illness insurance, be prepared," advised the California-based disability and long-term care insurance specialist.
"Understand what the insurance company considers to be a life-threatening cancer and how the diagnosis is defined in the policy. If there is a family history of a certain illness, the policy may exclude it," he continued.
Mr Darras recommended that people look at a number of factors before parting with their cash, for example the specific illnesses covered, any criteria that must be met before the benefit is paid and whether the policy continues for life or terminates between the ages of 75 and 80, as some do.
A survey this week reinforced the importance of life insurance and critical illness cover for UK adults, as a large majority of people interviewed were unaware of the link between passive smoking and illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, and critical illnesslife insurance policies online.
BMI campaign claims millions are overweight
13 May 2008 16:45:23
An alarming number of UK adults are unaware of the importance of their Body Mass Index (BMI) when it comes to keeping healthy.
Weight loss experts at management programme LighterLife claim that at least at least 1.7 million adults are overweight or obese without realising it - a factor which may cause their life insurance premiums to rise.
Undertaken for the organisation by research company BMRB the survey is being used to launch BMI 4 Life Fortnight - a campaign to highlight the "life-and-death importance" of the statistic.
The research, which calculated the BMI for more than 1,000 adults, found that a quarter of respondents did not know what BMI meant while half had no idea how it was measured.
Juliette du Plessis, programme director at LighterLife, remarked: "Many just don't realise the significance of BMI. The research showed that 36 per cent of all respondents thought blood pressure was the most important number when it came to health dangers, with BMI second at 30 per cent.
"But a high BMI is actually one of the main causes of high blood pressure - and losing weight can eliminate this."
BMI is used to establish if someone is a healthy weight for their height. The 18.5 - 24.9 band is seen as healthy, while 25 plus is overweight, and 30 is obese, increasing risks of stroke, heart disease and diabetes.
Meanwhile Kieran Platt, director of Life Direct, has recently claimed that BMI, along with smoking, "greatly affects" life insurance premiums.
08 July 2008 18:18:17
Being obese may not only have an effect on life insurance policies, it could also prevent someone becoming a bone marrow donor.
PE teacher Carl Zaffino was a long term blood donor and had been on the Brtish Bone Marrow Register for three years, the Mail reported.
Mr Zaffino was contacted in the hope that he could become a donor yet when the hopsital realised that he had a Body Mass Index (BMI) score of 36.19, he was declared clinically obese and was told he would be unable to donate.
Responding to the situation, Mr Zaffino said: "I thought this is wrong, there is somebody out there whose life I might be able to save. But there is nothing I could do about it, I was told 'regulations are regulations' and that was that."
A spokeswoman from the National Blood Service said that anyone who has a BMI of over 35 Would be banned from donating.
The spokeswoman said: "Experts advise us that there would be greater health risks associated with being a donor. Our absolute priority has to be to safeguard donors' health."
UK life insurance policies may take into account the weight of policy holders.
27 September 2007 15:20:19
Critical illness
insurance provides a lump-sum benefit that helps when battling a major disease, according to a leading insurance lawyer.
Frank N. Darras highlighted that a payment can be used for any aspect of the sickness and does not have to be related to the diagnosed condition.
"Before buying critical illness insurance, be prepared," advised the California-based disability and long-term care insurance specialist.
"Understand what the insurance company considers to be a life-threatening cancer and how the diagnosis is defined in the policy. If there is a family history of a certain illness, the policy may exclude it," he continued.
Mr Darras recommended that people look at a number of factors before parting with their cash, for example the specific illnesses covered, any criteria that must be met before the benefit is paid and whether the policy continues for life or terminates between the ages of 75 and 80, as some do.
A survey this week reinforced the importance of life insurance and critical illness cover for UK adults, as a large majority of people interviewed were unaware of the link between passive smoking and illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, and critical illnesslife insurance policies online.
13 May 2008 16:45:23
An alarming number of UK adults are unaware of the importance of their Body Mass Index (BMI) when it comes to keeping healthy.
Weight loss experts at management programme LighterLife claim that at least at least 1.7 million adults are overweight or obese without realising it - a factor which may cause their life insurance premiums to rise.
Undertaken for the organisation by research company BMRB the survey is being used to launch BMI 4 Life Fortnight - a campaign to highlight the "life-and-death importance" of the statistic.
The research, which calculated the BMI for more than 1,000 adults, found that a quarter of respondents did not know what BMI meant while half had no idea how it was measured.
Juliette du Plessis, programme director at LighterLife, remarked: "Many just don't realise the significance of BMI. The research showed that 36 per cent of all respondents thought blood pressure was the most important number when it came to health dangers, with BMI second at 30 per cent.
"But a high BMI is actually one of the main causes of high blood pressure - and losing weight can eliminate this."
BMI is used to establish if someone is a healthy weight for their height. The 18.5 - 24.9 band is seen as healthy, while 25 plus is overweight, and 30 is obese, increasing risks of stroke, heart disease and diabetes.
Meanwhile Kieran Platt, director of Life Direct, has recently claimed that BMI, along with smoking, "greatly affects" life insurance premiums.