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What is Critical Illness Insurance?
Critical illness insurance pays a lump sum to provide financial relief during treatment and recovery from a serious illness. The stress of unpaid bills is the last thing you need when recuperating, so this support provides independent professionals with the reassurance they need to financially support themselves and their families during challenging times.
The three most common claims for critical illness insurance are for cancer, heart attacks, and strokes.
In addition to these "big three" conditions, critical illness insurance typically covers anywhere from about 10 to over 100 serious or critical illnesses, depending on your insurer.
Other commonly covered conditions include multiple sclerosis, permanent loss of vision or hearing, loss of limbs, motor neurone disease, and organ failure or transplant. Each insurer defines these illnesses differently, setting a "threshold" for the severity required to make a successful claim.
Feeling inspired?
Looking for comprehensive critical illness cover to protect your family?
Whether you’re looking to get the ball rolling on an application or you’re just after some friendly advice, don’t hesitate to give us a call on 02394 212912 or complete the form below.
How Much Does Critical Illness Insurance Cost?
The most appropriate Critical Illness Insurance policy is highly bespoke to individuals' needs, which is why we recommend speaking to specialist Protection policy advisers to tailor cover to your circumstances.
The cost of Critical Illness Cover is influenced by a range of considerations, including:
Personal status
- Age: The risk of critical illness increases with age.
- Health Status: Your current health, including height, weight, and smoking status, affects the cost.
- Medical History: Insurers review your medical history for past illnesses, which may lead to higher premiums or exclusions.
Policy Options
Decreasing or Level Cover
- Level Term: The benefit remains constant, ideal for interest-only mortgages, ensuring full payout regardless of when illness occurs.
- Decreasing Term: The benefit reduces over time, suitable for repayment mortgages, and is cheaper as the risk increases with age.
Guaranteed or Reviewable Premiums
- Guaranteed Premiums: Fixed for the policy's duration, unless index-linked for inflation.
- Reviewable Premiums: Subject to regular increases, potentially leading to significant annual hikes.
Single or Joint Cover
- Joint Cover: Covers two people under one policy, usually cheaper than two separate policies but only pays out once.
- Individual Policies: Consider separate policies for comprehensive coverage, especially when young and healthy.
Number of Critical Illnesses Covered
- Check the number and definitions of covered illnesses, which can range from 10 to over 120, to ensure clarity and claim eligibility.
Critical illness insurance FAQs
It's highly unlikely that you'll be covered for pre-existing health issues when you take out insurance. You must disclose all past medical conditions and doctor visits, even if they seem unrelated. Failing to accurately share your medical history could lead the insurer to claim they wouldn't have offered coverage if they had known, often resulting in a rejection due to "non-disclosure."
If a policy does cover pre-existing conditions, it may be more expensive and come with additional conditions. Your insurer should clearly communicate this before you purchase the policy.
Yes, there is a "cooling-off period", typically lasting between 14 and 30 days, during which you can cancel your policy and receive a full refund of any payments made.
Purchasing a critical illness policy isn't mandatory when you take out a mortgage. However, a Critical Illness Plan can offer a lump sum payment to help cover mortgage repayments if you're diagnosed with a covered critical illness during the policy term.
Our other protection products
There are a myriad of different options available so your policy can be tailored to your family’s needs.