What illnesses does critical illness insurance cover?

Some critical illness policies will cover your children as standard, while others may cover your children for an additional cost.

Typically, children are covered under their parent's policy until the age of 18/21 and the pay out amount is usually up to 50% of the parent's sum assured, or up to £25,000 following a valid claim.

The money paid out can be used to help pay for any private medical treatment or used to replace lost income if you need to take time off work.

Please note, the amount of cover offered to children and the types of illnesses you’ll be able to claim for vary between insurers.

Yes, critical illness cover includes some forms of cancer.

If you’re diagnosed with cancer after taking out a policy, you could be eligible to receive a pay out.

You’ll need to check your policy to see which types of cancer are specified as this will differ between insurers.

Typically, critical illness cover will cover cancer that has been diagnosed as being malignant, (this often includes Leukaemia and lymphoma, as well as some tumours).

Most cancers that are in the early stages (or are less advanced) tend to not be covered within critical illness.

If you’ve previously been diagnosed with cancer, it’s likely an exclusion for cancer will be written into your policy.

This means if you’re diagnosed with cancer again during the term, you won’t be able to make a claim for this reason.

Sadly, 1 in 2 people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime^[2].

Statistics show that almost 50% of cancer patients survive the disease for 10 or more years^[3].

The most common types of cancer are:

• Breast cancer
• Lung cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Bowel cancer

Yes, a heart attack is one of the most common medical conditions covered by critical illness cover.

In order for a claim to be accepted, and a pay out to be made, the heart attack must be of a certain severity and there must be evidence of acute myocardial infarction.

Unfortunately, someone is admitted to hospital due to a heart attack every 5 minutes in the UK^[4].

Yes, critical illness cover includes stroke as one of the conditions covered. 

To make a claim, the stroke would need to having lasting symptoms and meet the insurers specific definition outlined in the policy. 

A stroke is when the blood supply to the brain or spinal cord is cut off, causing serious neurological damage.

There are more than 100,000 strokes each year in the UK, (roughly one stroke every 5 minutes)^[5].

In some cases, a mini stroke may be covered critical illness cover.

Although, as symptoms of this condition usually improve over time, it’s not usually classified as a critical condition.

This means a mini stroke may be covered in more comprehensive policies and qualify for a smaller pay out if you make a claim, which could relieve some financial worry during a short period of illness.

Yes, Multiple Sclerosis (or MS) is one of the common illnesses covered under critical illness cover.

If you’re diagnosed with MS during the term of your policy and your condition meets the specific definition outlined by the insurer, you can make a claim.

If you’ve been diagnosed with MS before taking out a policy, then this condition may be excluded from your policy as a pre-existing condition.

No, epilepsy isn’t considered a critical illness in terms of critical illness insurance.

Therefore, you won’t be able to make a claim for this if you’re diagnosed during your policy.

We have written a dedicated epilepsy life insurance article if you require additional information »

Yes, cardiomyopathy is often on the list of illnesses covered by critical illness cover.

This means if you’re diagnosed with the condition during the term of your policy, and it meets the specified severity, you’ll be able to make a claim.

However, if you’ve declared any previous heart problems on your application, there may be an exclusion for this (and other heart conditions) written into your policy.

Yes, some providers include Crohn’s disease in their critical illness cover.

Your condition will need to meet their definition and, often, will need to be of a certain severity for you to be able to make a claim.

If you’re living with Crohn’s disease at the time of application, you won’t be able to make a claim for it on your critical illness cover due to it being a pre-existing condition.

No, diabetes isn’t considered a critical illness. Therefore, you won’t be able to make a claim for this condition.

In the case of type 1 diabetes, this is often a condition that you’re born with and would be considered a pre-existing condition at the point of application.

In the case of type 2 diabetes, the condition is often linked to obesity and poor health/diet. With good management of the condition, it can have minimal impact on your day-to-day life.

With medical advancements, both types of diabetes can be easily regulated with medication and therefore, the condition isn’t considered to be a critical illness.

It’s unlikely that critical illness cover will include appendicitis.

While appendicitis can often result in hospitalisation and surgery to remove the inflamed appendix, the condition isn’t seen as life-changing.

The definition of critical illness is a life-changing illness, hence why this condition won’t be covered.