Critical illness cover

What options are available?Show all

Cover options

Level term cover Hide

A fixed lump sum cover for a fixed term between 5 and 40 years.

Mortgage protection term cover Hide

Covers the period outstanding on your repayment mortgage^‡.

Renewable term cover Hide

Flexible cover which you can renew every five or ten years.

Premium options

Guaranteed premiums Hide

Your premium stays the same for the term of your membership. Your premium may have to increase if there’s a change in the law or taxation rules.

Reviewable premiums Hide

We may increase or decrease your premium on the 5th anniversary of the start of your scheme and at the end of every following five-year period.

Renewable premiums Hide

Premiums may increase or decrease at each renewal date. Only available with a renewable term policy.

Optional features

Indexation Hide

Protects the value of your benefit and allows it to increase in line with the Retail Price Index, Average Earnings Index or by 5% or 3% on each anniversary of the start of your plan.

Premium waiver option Hide

Your premiums are waived after a three-month period where incapacity prevents you from returning to work or carrying out three of six key activities of daily living.

Fracture cover Hide

Offers cover of up to £2,100 should you suffer one of 18 specified fractures. (Only one claim per year.)

Reinstatement cover Hide

Allows you to take out new membership for the people named on the plan with cover limited to 17 conditions if a claim has been paid.

Replacement cover Hide

If your scheme covers two people, you can take out new membership (replacement cover) after a claim is paid or a person named on the plan dies.

Total permanent disability Hide

Benefit is paid if a person covered suffers a total permanent disability as specified under the plan.

What's covered?Show all

The scheme covers 36 specified illnesses and operations. Some types of cancer aren't covered so see the membership guide for full details. Hide

• Alzheimer’s disease – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Aorta graft surgery
• Aplastic anaemia – of specified severity
• Bacterial meningitis – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Benign brain tumour – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Blindness – permanent and irreversible
• Cancer – excluding less advanced cases
• Cardiomyopathy – of specified severity
• Chronic rheumatoid arthritis – of specified severity
• Coma – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Coronary angioplasty – of specified severity
• Coronary artery bypass grafts – with surgery to divide the breastbone
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Deafness – permanent and irreversible
• Dementia – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Heart attack – of specified severity
• Heart valve replacement or repair – with surgery to divide the breastbone
• HIV infection – caught from a blood transfusion, a physical assault or at work in an eligible occupation
• Kidney failure – requiring dialysis
• Liver failure
• Loss of hands or feet – permanent physical severance
• Loss of independence
• Loss of speech – permanent and irreversible
• Major organ transplant
• Motor neurone disease – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Multiple sclerosis – with persisting symptoms
• Open heart surgery
• Paralysis of limbs – total and irreversible
• Parkinson’s disease – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Progressive supra-nuclear palsy – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Respiratory failure – severe lung disease – of specified severity
• Stroke – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Systematic lupus erythematosus – of specified severity
• Third-degree burns – covering 20 per cent of the body’s surface area or 50 percent loss of surface area of the face
• Traumatic head injury – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Type 1 insulin dependent diabetes mellitus – of specified severity
   

Cover is also provided for death and terminal illness when added with life cover

• Partial benefit is payable for mastectomy in the presence of ductal carcinoma in situ. This will be the lower of 12.5 percent of benefit and £12,500. This is in addition to your main benefit and your cover will not end after the partial benefit is paid.
• Partial benefit is payable for low-grade prostate cancer. This will be the lower of 25 percent benefit and £25,000.This is in addition to your main benefit and your cover will not end after the partial benefit is paid.

 

What's not covered?Show all

The following conditions, treatments and exclusions aren't covered by the scheme. See the membership guide for more information. Hide

• If you don’t tell us about your claim as soon as you can.
• Where the claim results from or relates to self-inflicted injury.
• Operations that aren’t medically necessary
• Where benefit is restricted under the terms of critical illness cover.
• If the claim is for a child and the condition was present at birth or is present in close family members, or if it first arose before:
  • the start of your cover
  • the child reaching the age of 30 days
  • your legal adoption or legal guardianship of the child
• If you don’t provide the information we need to assess your claim we may ask for a medical examination. We’ll pay for the medical examination but not for other expenses incurred.
• Additional terms apply to fracture cover benefit, premium waiver benefit and child cover benefit.