Don’t pay for care costs before seeing if you can claim on an existing insurance policy. If you’ve taken out health insurance before, it might be helpful now.
What’s in this guide
Check for insurance policies
Think carefully. Check whether you, or someone you’re caring for, has any of the following:
- Life insurance that has a cash-in value, or will pay out on diagnosis of a terminal illness – as long as your partner or other dependents won’t need the pay-out later.
- Life insurance with critical illness cover, or a standalone critical illness policy, that might cover the condition or disability you now have. This might be a policy you took out with a mortgage or a separate policy.
- A long-term care insurance policy. Although very few are available nowadays and they are costly, they were more popular – so you might still have a policy or a long-term care option or benefit within an existing life insurance policy.
- Benefits available through your employer (if you’re working). This might include, for example, an income or early pension for ill health or a lump sum for terminal illness.
- An income protection policy you arranged for yourself that will pay out an income if you can’t work because of ill health. Usually, the income stops when you reach retirement.
How do I claim?
Find as much of the original paperwork relating to the insurance policy as you can.
If the policy was bought through a broker, contact them first. They might be able to support you or manage the claim on your behalf.
Find out more in our guide What to do if your insurance claim is rejected
What if I’m not covered?
If you don’t have any insurance policies that cover you, and you need to pay for some or all of your own care costs, there are other options for you to consider.
