Critical Illness Cover

Why do I need Critical Illness Cover?

Being diagnosed with a serious illness is a life-changing event. You may have to give up work, go through lengthy and difficult treatment, or radically change your lifestyle.

The last thing you want to be doing at this stressful time is worrying about money. So, give yourself and your family financial security by making sure that a tax-free lump sum will be paid if you become seriously ill.

Critical Illness cover provides this vital financial cushion. 

“Being diagnosed with a serious illness is, sadly, all too common. In the UK, strokes cause around 100 deaths every day while, on average, someone is admitted to hospital after a heart attack every five minutes. And, someone is diagnosed with cancer every two minutes. You might think ‘it won’t happen to me’, but do you have the protection in place if it does?” – Gwilym Pugh, I’m Insured

Peace of mind when you need it most

Insurance isn’t just about financial losses. It’s also about peace of mind. 

What would you do if you have to give up work due to a serious illness? Could your family afford to remain in your home if you lost your income? And could you continue to pay your mortgage, rent or other monthly commitments?

Critical Illness cover pays a tax-free lump sum if you have a serious heart attack or stroke, or you’re diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or a life-threatening cancer. 

It also covers a wide range of other medical conditions, ensuring you don’t have to worry about your finances when you should be concentrating on making a full recovery.

Protection against a wide range of conditions

Critical Illness covers a specified list of illnesses and conditions. The conditions covered varies from insurer to insurer, so it’s important that you compare policies carefully to make sure you know what illnesses each of them covers.

You can typically expect a Critical Illness policy to cover:

• Permanent and irreversible blindness or deafness
• Many types of cancer
• Cardiac arrest with insertion of a defibrillator
• Coma with associated permanent symptoms
• Dementia including Alzheimer’s disease
• Heart attack 
• Kidney failure that requires permanent dialysis
• Major organ transplant from another donor
• Motor neurone disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson's disease 
• Stroke 

Note that each insurer has different definitions of these illnesses. For example, some providers will only pay a claim if you have permanent and lasting symptoms, while some minor and less serious conditions (for example, some less serious cancers or a very minor heart attack) may not be covered. Check your policy documents carefully.

In 2018, insurer Royal London reported that the most common reasons for a Critical Illness claim were cancer (64%), heart attack (11%), stroke (8%) and multiple sclerosis (4%). 

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