Critical cover crisis?

Critical illness (CI) cover has been hitting a brick wall over the past couple of years, with advisers saying the definitions are getting more complex which in turn makes it difficult to write CI business. The Swiss Re Term & Health Watch Report 2006 found that CI sales fell 14% between 2004 and 2005, from 736,671 to 632,285. This is 54.1% lower than the peak figure registered in 2002. The report's author and Swiss Re's technical manager Ron Wheatcroft believes that new business volumes have been affected because of concerns around the viability of the product in its current form. In a...