Evolution of critical illness insurance product design according to the international experience

Abstract

The first critical illness insurance was sold in South Africa in 1983. Since that time, it has become a standard insurance cover offered in many markets around the world. Over the years the critical illness insurance product has been developed and redesigned. The scientific literature which deals with critical illness insurance focuses mainly on its actuarial and underwriting aspects. Other issues like the product design and market development are discussed primarily in the industry reports that are usually prepared by the employees of international reinsurance companies. This paper presents the evolution of the critical illness cover from the product design point of view. The territorial scope of the analysis applies primarily to those international markets which have affected the development of critical illness insurance product significantly. An attempt is made to generalise the dimensions of the product development which have been identified as dominant. It means that the analysis of the evolution of the critical illness insurance conducted for each separate foreign market could result in differences in detailed findings.