What benefits will Critical Illness cover add to my Life policy?

If you have Life Insurance with Terminal Illness cover then there are two ways to receive a payout - if you die, or if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness from which you are expected to die within 12 months.

But what happens if you have a serious accident and a leg is amputated, develop Alzheimer’s or become deaf or blind? In any of these situations, you could live for many years but you will still need to give up work. Therefore you won't have any money coming in. If you get critical illness cover in addition to life and terminal illness cover then you can be assured of a tax free lump sum if you are diagnosed with any of these unfortunate illnesses. There is always a long list of critical illnesses insured under the policy and we show a typical list below. Please note that qualifying illnesses do vary between insurance companies:

Don't forget - 1 in 5 men and 1 in 6 women will suffer a critical illness at some point before they reach normal retirement age.

The following is a list of illnesses that are typically included within a Critical Illness insurance policy.

Alzheimer’s disease
Aorta graft surgery
Aplastic anaemia
Bacterial Meningitis
Benign brain tumour
Blindness
Cancer
Cardiomyopathy
Chronic lung disease
Coma
Coronary artery by-pass surgery
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Deafness
Dementia
Heart attack
Heart valve replacement or repair
HIV or AIDs from an assault, blood transfusion, occupational duties or accident
Keyhole heart surgery
Kidney failure
Loss of independent existence
Loss of limbs
Loss of speech
Major organ transplant
Motor Neurone disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Paralysis/Paraplegia
Parkinson’s disease
Progressive Supranulcear Palsy
Stroke
Third degree burns
Total Permanent Disability
Cover for children