Will Critical Illness insurance polices allow the use of alternative medicines?

Basically, once you have been diagnosed with a qualifying Critical Illness and you have received your payout, then you are free to spend the money in any way you choose. If you want to spend money on alternative medicines then that’s your choice entirely.

However, be aware that there are a few issues in the small print that could affect your claim if you decide on alternative medicine before making the claim. There is a condition within most critical illness policies that is called ‘Failure to follow medical advice’. The policy documents will often state that the insurance company will not pay out if a claim is caused directly or indirectly from an unreasonable failure to either seek, or follow, medical advice. Therefore if your GP tells you to follow one course of medical action and instead you choose to take alternative medicines, or your GP tells you to avoid alternative medicines and you did not take that advice, then your claim could be refused because you have failed to follow medical advice.