Finding the best Critical Illness Cover can be a tricky decision to navigate. ‘Best’ can mean different things to different people. There are lots of elements to consider, and several different providers to choose from, each with their own approach.
So, how do you choose? In this guide, we’ll help you figure out the best Critical Illness Insurance policy for your needs.
Critical Illness Cover pays out a tax-free lump sum if you become critically ill. Each insurer has a list of serious illnesses that the Critical Illness policy covers. To be able to claim, you need to meet the severity of the condition in your provider’s terms and conditions.
A severe illness or injury can result in a lot of financial expense. From being unable to work again to needing to make home or lifestyle changes, the costs can add up. Taking out Critical Illness cover is there to protect you in case the worst happens.
Want a rough idea of the cost? Use our handy online quote tool to compare instant quotes from all the top UK providers.
The best Critical Illness policies will cover the widest range of conditions, with the option to add more. And some providers aren’t as strict when it comes to their definitions of each illness, meaning your claims are more likely to be successful.
So what conditions are generally covered? Well, most insurance providers have a ‘core’ policy and a ‘comprehensive’ policy. Each one will offer a different extent of cover.
A core policy will tend to cost less and cover fewer conditions. The average number is typically around 35 or so critical illnesses. A core policy will cover conditions such as:
Cancer, heart attacks and strokes are known in the insurance industry as the ‘big three’, as they make up around 80% of all Critical Illness claims.
It’s important to note, that not all forms of cancer are insured under a core policy. If you want helping understanding what is and isn’t covered, give us a call on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.
Alex Weir
Independent Protection Expert
Comprehensive policies can cover as many as 80 or 90 conditions in total. This might include 50 full conditions, which would pay out your total benefit. Insurers also tend to offer Critical Illness Cover for 30 or more less severe illnesses, which pay out a smaller, extra lump sum.
If you claim for one of these additional conditions, your full amount remains available for a claim in the future, should you need it. Comprehensive Critical Illness Cover often includes:
We only ever recommend policies offering full cover to our clients. In our experience, the extra protection you get (for just a few pounds more per month) makes it more than worthwhile.
We’ve had people enquire with us about Critical Illness Cover and then apply on their own without taking advice. In one such case, a gentleman was sadly unable to claim for testicular cancer because he’d taken out a core policy for a lower premium. At the time, he wasn’t aware that less advanced forms of cancer weren’t normally covered by Critical Illness standard policies.
It can be risky to take out a policy on your own when you’re not familiar with the market. On top of that, comprehensive policies are often only available through intermediaries.
We always recommend chatting to an expert to make sure you get a policy that fits. Pop our team a call on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.
Ben Brooks
Independent Protection Expert
By now, you have a good idea of what a Critical Illness Cover policy is, how it works, and what kind of cover you can get. But how can you make sure you end up with the best policy for you?
Here’s the aspects you need to consider:
Each provider has their own Critical Illness policy offering. Factors vary between insurers, such as number of conditions covered or the types of definition they use.
Alongside the policy itself, it’s a good idea to research the provider in more detail. Ask yourself the following:
It’s not just the number of conditions that you’ll need to consider, but how each Critical Illness Cover provider defines those conditions. Some insurers have better definitions than others. For example, most insurers need you to meet a certain severity or treatment in order to claim. But there are one or two that will pay out on any cancer diagnosis.
To help clarify what definitions are suitable, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) set out model definitions of conditions. This means all insurers have to meet the ABI’s standard as a minimum.
Many insurers go above and beyond for some conditions, offering what’s known as an ABI+ definition. All this means is that they offer a definition that’s better than the ABI’s minimum standard.
EXPERT TIP 🤓
The best Critical Illness Insurance providers will tend to offer the most ABI+ definitions.
Critical Illness policies often include Total Permanent Disability cover as well. This condition pays out if you become completely and permanently disabled. In other words, if you become too unwell to perform your job ever again.
But, not all insurers include it in their conditions as standard. With some providers, you need to add it on for an extra premium. For other insurance companies, it’s only available when you take out a policy through a financial adviser.
A question we get a lot is: “Are my children covered for Critical Illness?” All providers offer cover for your children, which will pay out if they develop a critical condition. But the type of cover they provide can vary. Here’s what to look out for:
If you’re confident that you don’t need children’s Critical Illness Cover on your policy, you might look for a provider that doesn’t include it as standard. That way, you’re not paying towards something you don’t need.
Sophie Guiver
Independent Protection Expert
Most insurers have a maximum benefit they’ll cover you for. The limit is often around £3 million, but there are some providers who offer unlimited Critical Illness Cover.
For the vast majority of people, a limit of up to £3 million is more than enough. The cost you’ll pay for cover of this amount would also be much higher.
Some providers pay out on a sliding scale if you don’t quite meet the definition for a claim. Some illnesses need to be of a certain severity outlined in your policy documents before they’ll pay out.
For example, if you develop a low-grade cancer and catch it early, the insurer may not pay the full benefit. This would be because you don’t meet the full definition of cancer in the policy documents.
Other insurers offer a proportionate benefit, often the lower of £25,000 or 25% of your benefit, if you develop a less serious illness. In some cases, these are ‘additional’ illnesses that aren’t as severe as the main conditions the policy covers.
This is the amount of time you will need to survive for after making a Critical Illness claim before it pays out. It’s normally 10 or 14 days. It’s always best to check this before taking out a policy as you’ll want it to pay out as quickly as possible after making a claim.
Finally, you might want to take up the option of adding extra paid features onto your policy. Features like Total Permanent Disability or Children’s Cover can sometimes come at an extra cost. But there are few more options for you to enhance your Critical Illness Cover.
To find the best policy, you need to look beyond the core offering. Where the best Critical Illness Insurance providers stand out is in the extra benefits they offer.
These benefits often include:
If you can find good core cover with a number of providers, then it’s merely a case of choosing between the most attractive extra benefits. Think about what you’d get the most use out of to help you decide.
When doing your research (even while reading this page) we recommend making a list of all the features you want your policy to cover.
If it helps, you can sort them into categories like, ‘Must Have’, ‘Would Prefer to Have’ and ‘Not Important’.
Ben Brooks
Independent Health & Protection Expert
This is not an easy question to answer because your cover will be based on your own personal circumstances and the policy options you choose. To help give you a rough idea of cost though, we look at the different factors affecting it below.
We have opted for a combined Life and Critical Illness policy because, as a rule of thumb, we don’t tend to recommend standalone Critical Illness Cover unless you have ample Life Insurance elsewhere.The quotes are based on an individual who:
Here, we’ll look at the specific decisions you’ll make to your policy that affects the price of your insurance.
Each provider will view risk differently. Because of this they will each charge different premiums. So when comparing quotes it’s important to look at the providers and what they offer in detail.
| Different Providers | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| £24.65 | £28.27 |
With Level Cover, the benefit stays the same for the policy term. But Decreasing Cover falls over the policy term, reaching zero by the end. As the risk to the insurer is fixed with Level Cover, it’s more expensive.
| Type of Cover | |
|---|---|
| Level | Decreasing |
| £24.65 | £17.89 |
This is the total tax-free lump sum you’ll be entitled to claim if you become critically ill. The higher the amount, the higher your premiums
This is how long you want the policy to last. The longer you need your policy for, the higher your premiums will be. This is due to the increased risk of illness we face as we grow older
There are also some personal factors which affect the cost of Critical Illness Cover, which are usually outside of your control.
The older you are when you take out the policy, the more it will cost. Again, this is down to the higher risk of illness as we get older.
| Age | ||
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 35 | 40 |
| £24.65 | £34.70 | £50.37 |
Your current health is a big factor for insurers, and they’ll look at things like your height, weight, and your medical history. If you have pre-existing conditions, the insurer may either exclude them from the insurance, or charge higher premiums to cover the extra risk.
Smokers are more likely to become seriously ill during their lifetime. As such, providers charge smokers more than non-smokers, because they’re seen as a higher risk to insure.
| Smoker Status | |
|---|---|
| 🚭 | 🚬 |
| £24.65 | £33.67 |
If you work in a high-risk environment (such as on a construction site or hazardous facility), you’re at a greater risk of serious injury than a typical desk worker. These jobs generally mean higher premiums.
The cheapest policy isn’t always the best one. Your protection adviser can work with you to balance out the right policy features with a price that fits your budget.
It can be daunting and stressful to try and arrange cover by yourself, so don’t be afraid to pop us a call on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.
Samantha Haffenden-Angear
Independent Protection Expert
As an independent insurance broker, we compare all of the UK’s top insurers for our clients. The one that’s right for you will all depend on your situation, but it can be helpful to get an overview of the different providers.
So let’s compare the UK’s top 10 Critical Illness Cover providers in 2023.
| Policy Overview |
|---|---|
Maximum Benefit | £1 million |
Conditions Covered | Core Cover (Critical Illness)
Upgraded Cover (Critical Illness+)
|
ABI+ Definitions | 19 |
Survival Period | 10 days |
Children’s Cover | Standard Children’s Critical Illness Included as standard for children from 30 days old until their 18th birthday (21st birthday if in full-time education), paying:
Upgraded Children’s Critical Illness
|
Claims Paid | 93.5% paid in 2022, totalling more than £334 million | Additional Benefits |
Aviva DigiCare+ Free as standard, Aviva DigiCare+ is a health and wellbeing service offering:
You can also opt to pay an extra £36 annually for three Digital GP appointments per year. | The Drewberry Verdict |
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| Aviva DigiCare+ is a great suite of additional benefits available for free |
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| Great selection of additional benefits to add for an extra cost, such as a Digital GP service, Fracture Cover, Global Treatment and Extra Care Cover |
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| Uses 19 ABI+ definitions, one of the highest in the market |
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|
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| While Aviva offers a digital GP service via Aviva DigiCare+, which not every insurer does, it’s at extra cost and limited to three appointments per year. |
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| Waiver of Premium and Total Permanent Disability come at an extra cost |
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| Children’s cover starts when children are 30 days old, but many other providers commence cover from birth | 
| Policy Overview |
Maximum Benefit | £3 million |
Conditions Covered |
|
ABI+ Definitions | 18 |
Survival Period | 14 days |
Children’s Cover | An optional add-on for an extra premium covering children from birth to age 23 for:
|
Claims Paid | £4.9 million paid out in Critical Illness claims in 2022 | Additional Benefits |
| The Drewberry Verdict |
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| TPD is included as standard — for many insurers, this is an optional add-on for an extra premium |
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| All cancer diagnoses are guaranteed to receive a payout, regardless of type or severity |
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| Claims for cancer, heart attacks, or strokes are paid out after a clinical diagnosis, with no need to meet a specific definition, and less medical evidence is required |
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| When Guardian improves their critical illness definitions, all existing customers benefit from the increased coverage |
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| If you pay for child cover, you choose a payout of £10,000-£100,000 (up to 100% of your benefit), meaning a children’s claim could pay out more than with other insurers |
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| The optional paid-for child cover covers children from birth up to age 23, regardless of education status. This is the longest term in the market. It also provides a high child death benefit of £10,000. |
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|
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| Claims statistics don’t include the percentage of claims paid, so there’s a lack of transparency here | 
| Policy Overview |
Maximum Benefit |
|
Conditions Covered | Core Critical Illness
Critical Illness Extra
|
ABI+ Definitions | 17 |
Survival Period | 14 days |
Children’s Cover | Standard Children’s Critical Illness Included as standard, covering children between 30 days and 18 years old (21 if in full-time education) for:
Children’s Critical Illness Extra
|
Claims Paid | 93.4% of all Critical Illness claims in 2022, totalling £224 million | Additional Benefits |
Legal & General provides policyholders with umbrella benefits under Wellbeing Support. This includes:
| The Drewberry Verdict |
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| Standard children’s cover includes some unique features, such as a £5,000 hospitalisation benefit, £1,000 childcare support and a family accommodation benefit if your child is hospitalised overnight |
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| Good selection of optional add-ons available when you buy through an adviser, such as Private Diagnostics, Fracture Cover, and Waiver of Premium |
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| Advanced claim payment for certain surgeries once you’re on the NHS waitlist |
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|
|
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| Minimal free benefits included when you take out a policy | 
| Policy Overview |
Maximum Benefit | Unlimited |
Conditions Covered | Enhanced Critical Illness Cover
|
ABI+ Definitions | 18 |
Survival Period | 14 days |
Children’s Cover | Standard Children’s Cover Included as standard, covering children from birth to age 23 without a survival period. It pays:
Your child can convert their cover into an adult policy without medical underwriting if they do it within 6 months of their 23rd birthday. The maximum cover available if they convert the cover is the lower of £25,000 or 50% of your benefit. Enhanced Children’s Cover
The maximum cover available if your child converts their cover to an adult policy increases to £35,000, or 50% of your benefit, whichever is lower. |
Claims Paid | 88% of Critical Illness claims paid in 2022, totalling £28.3 million | Additional Benefits |
LV’s main additional benefits offering is LV Doctor Services. This offers:
| The Drewberry Verdict |
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| Standard child cover protects children from birth to age 23, regardless of education status. This is the longest coverage for children in the market. |
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| Enhanced payments of up to £200,000 for critical conditions that will have a significant financial effect on your life |
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| £1,000 paid on top of your claim if you’re diagnosed with cancer |
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| Good range of additional benefits, including a remote GP service |
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|
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| 88% payout rate in 2022 is on the low side |
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| Waiver of Premium and Total Permanent Disability cover are only available as add-ons and cost extra | 
| Policy Overview |
Maximum Benefit | £3 million (£1.2 million with increasing cover) |
Conditions Covered |
|
ABI+ Definitions | 14 |
Survival Period | 10 days |
Children’s Cover | Standard Children’s Cover
Enhanced Children’s Cover
|
Claims Paid | 93.6% of Critical Illness claims paid in 2022, totalling £132 million | Additional Benefits |
Royal London’s main additional benefits offering is Helping Hand. This offers:
| The Drewberry Verdict |
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| Children’s cover includes pregnancy complications and Total Permanent Disability, which most other providers exclude |
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| Free rehabilitation after a critical illness, with access to cardiac, oncology and stroke nurses to support your recovery |
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| Advanced surgery payments once you’re on the waiting list for 1 of 14 approved surgeries |
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|
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| Waiver of Premium and Total Permanent Disability cover are only available as add-ons, which cost extra | 
| Policy Overview |
Maximum Benefit | £3 million (capped at £1.5 million for TPD claims) |
Conditions Covered |
|
ABI+ Definitions | 14 |
Survival Period | 10 days |
Children’s Cover | Included as standard, covering children from birth to age 22. It pays:
|
Claims Paid | 93.3% of Critical Illness claims paid in 2022, totalling £86.2 million | Additional Benefits |
Scottish Widows Care is Scottish Widows’ main additional benefits offering. It centres around a team of dedicated nurses available on a telephone helpline, offering support with:
| The Drewberry Verdict |
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| Booster payments of up to £200,000 if you’re diagnosed with a degenerative neurological condition before age 45 |
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| Advanced claim payments once you’re on a UK waiting list for certain surgeries |
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| £10,000 child death benefit as standard, one of the highest available in the market |
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|
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| Scottish Widows covers one of the lowest overall number of conditions in the market |
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| While TPD cover is standard (many insurers require you to add it for an extra premium), Scottish Widows caps it at £1.5 million. |
| Policy Overview |
Maximum Benefit | £5 million (£2 million with TPD cover) |
Conditions Covered | Standard Critical Illness
Critical Illness Select
|
ABI+ Definitions | 18 |
Survival Period | 10 days |
Children’s Cover | Standard Children’s Benefit
Enhanced Children’s Benefit
|
Claims Paid | 90% of claims in 2019, totalling £76.4 million | Additional Benefits |
Included free as standard, Zurich’s main additional benefits offering is Zurich Support Services. This offers support in four key areas:
| The Drewberry Verdict |
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| Additional payment of up to £100,000 if you suffer from a life-altering condition |
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| Advanced claim payment if you’re on an NHS waitlist for one of Zurich’s approved surgeries |
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| Optional multi-fracture cover, which also covers certain dislocations, ruptured tendons, and cruciate ligament tears |
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|
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| Children’s cover is an optional add-on for an extra premium. While this does mean you don’t pay for a benefit you won’t use if you don’t have children, with many providers it’s free as standard. |
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| Waiver of Premium and Total Permanent Disability aren’t included as standard and will cost extra |
In addition to this expert guide, we’ve also written individual reviews of each of the top UK Critical Illness Insurers, which you can check out below.
One more area it’s important to consider is making sure the provider you choose is likely to pay out a claim when you need it the most. It’s actually quite hard to distinguish one provider from another in this area. Payout rates across the industry are not only higher than many people assume, but are also fairly uniform.
As you can see in the table below, in 2020 almost all insurers paid out on more than 90% of the claims they received.
Insurer | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
Aviva | 92.7% | 92.4% | 93.5% |
Guardian | £1.4 million | £2.8 million | £4.9 million |
Legal & General | 92% | 93% | 93.4% |
Liverpool Victoria | 92% | 93% | 88% |
Royal London | 92.4% | 91.7% | 93.6% |
Scottish Widows | 94% | 93% | 93.3% |
Zurich | 87% | 87% | N/A |
EXPERT TIP 🤓
You shouldn’t use payout statistics alone to decide which insurer offers the best critical illness cover. Instead, use them as a rough guide to compare successful claims across the industry as a whole.
You have two options when it comes to getting the best Critical Illness Cover policy. You can either go directly to an insurer, or buy cover through an adviser, such as Drewberry™. Bear in mind that one provides you with far more protection than the other.
With this method, you’ll need to approach every UK insurer and compare quotes/policy details from all of them to get the best deal.
Once you have some figures, you’ll also need to compare critical illness policies by the number of conditions covered and the definitions used. This involves a lot of fine print, and needing to know medical and insurance jargon.
EXPERT TIP 🤓
Buying Critical Illness Cover directly from an insurer is classed as a ‘non-advised sale’ by the FCA. This means there’s no financial protection if it’s unsuitable later on. The responsibility is on your shoulders.
This is the smart choice. An independent adviser (like our Drewberry experts) will consider your circumstances fully to make sure you get the best Critical Illness Cover for your needs.
We do all the hard work for you, comparing every insurer on your behalf so you can be sure you’ve got the best deal. And because it’s an ‘advised sale’, we’re responsible for any policy we arrange for you, giving you more protection and peace of mind. Plus, you won’t pay us a penny.
We take all the heavy lifting off your desk, looking through insurers, their policies and their definitions to find you the best terms.
We’re ready to help you find the best Critical Illness Insurance. Get started by comparing quotes, calling 02084327333, or emailing us on help@drewberry.co.uk.
Samantha Haffenden-Angear
Independent Protection Expert
Total Permanent Disability Cover (TPD) pays out if you are left totally and permanently disabled and unable to work due to illness or injury.
To make a TPD claim, you must suffer a severe life-changing disability that has no medical prospect of improvement. There are fairly strict criteria to make a total permanent disability claim.
Yes, you can add Life Insurance to your Critical Illness policy, we always recommend getting a policy that covers both.
The most popular option is to take out a Combined Life And Critical Illness policy. This means your policy will pay out in either event: death, or serious illness. Once your policy pays out, your cover will end unless you add life cover buyback. So if you claim for a critical condition, you’ll lose your life protection. But, it’s a cost-effective way of getting full Critical Illness Cover.
Another option is to take out two separate policies – one for serious illness cover only, the other for Life Insurance. In terms of cover, this option gives you the best of both worlds, paying out in either event. It also means that if you claim for a Critical Illness, you’ll keep your Life protection. But, this will cost a fair amount more than your other options.
Your other option is to take out Critical Illness Insurance only, with no Life Protection attached. Not all providers offer this option, as it’s less common. As a rule of thumb, we don’t tend to recommend standalone Critical Illness Cover unless you have ample Life Insurance elsewhere. Taking out a combined policy might cost a touch more, but it gives you more protection.
Terminal Illness Insurance is usually included free with Life Insurance. It pays the policy benefit early if the policyholder becomes terminally ill (where a doctor has said they have less than 12 months to live).
Critical Illness Insurance, on the other hand, pays out if you develop a critical illness of a specified severity, such as cancer, heart attack or stroke.
The two options sound similar but are in fact very different and not interchangeable. It’s possible to recover from a critical illness, for example, whereas that’s not the case after a terminal prognosis.
No, you don’t typically pay tax on a Critical Illness Insurance payout. This is because you usually pay premiums from income you’ve already paid tax on, i.e. your wages. That means HMRC has already effectively taxed you once and therefore allows you to receive a Critical Illness Insurance claim tax-free.
Critical Illness Insurance and Income Protection both pay a benefit if you become ill. It can therefore be hard to tell them apart or know which one would work best for you.
Critical Illness Insurance pays a lump sum of your choosing, while Income Protection Insurance pays a monthly benefit of a proportion of your earnings.
With Critical Illness Cover, to claim you must develop a critical condition in the policy at a severity your insurer dictates. On the other hand, Income Protection pays out simply if you can’t do your job after any accident or sickness.
Find out the difference between Critical Illness Cover and Income Protection here →
Critical Illness is a complicated product. And insurance providers do just that – they provide the cover. It’s very rare that insurance companies will also give financial advice to consumers.
Instead, they withhold certain complicated aspects of cover from consumers. It’s part of their due diligence, to try and prevent their financial products from being mis-sold.
Financial advisers undertake a lot of education and training in order to perform their jobs. And the advice they give is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This also means that when you take out a policy through an insurance adviser, you have financial protection. In other words, if your policy turns out to be unfit for purpose later on, the FCA can investigate the company in question and work towards a positive resolution on your behalf.
With around ten major UK Critical Illness Insurance providers to compare, this involves sifting through a lot of information.
Finding the right Critical Illness Cover – at the best price – can be overwhelming. Luckily, we live and breathe insurance, and are ready to chat about what’s best for you.
No fees, just independent advice and access to the most competitive rates. Give us a call on help@drewberry.co.uk
We started Drewberry™ because we were tired of being treated like a number.
We all deserve a first class service when it comes to issues as important as protecting our health and our finances. Below are just a few reasons why it makes sense to talk to us.
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