Is critical illness insurance worth it?
It typically pays out for cancer, heart attacks, and strokes.
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Critical illness cover is a form of life insurance designed to provide financial security if you become seriously ill or injured. If you're diagnosed with an illness covered by your policy, you typically receive a tax-free lump sum payment.
This money can be used however you see fit, whether it's to pay off your mortgage, compensate for lost income, make home modifications, or provide financial support for your dependents. This can alleviate some of the stress of being diagnosed with a serious illness, and give you peace of mind that you’re protected.
When you take out critical illness cover, you’ll agree to pay a monthly or annual premium for a policy that will pay out if you’re diagnosed with a critical illness. What counts as a critical illness will vary, depending on the insurer, but will include things like strokes, heart attacks, and certain types of cancer.
If you're diagnosed with a one of these illnesses and need to make a claim, you'll have to provide evidence such as medical test results. Once your insurance provider has assessed and approved your claim, they will pay out a lump sum payment. Your cover will end as soon as your claim has been made.
🚩 The exact conditions and severity of illness you're covered for can change depending on your provider or level of cover.
Alzheimer's
Cancer*
Heart attacks*
Loss of limbs
Multiple sclerosis
Organ failures
Parkinson’s disease
Permanent disability
Strokes*
Traumatic head injuries
Alcohol or drug abuse
Broken bones
Chronic conditions
Hereditary illnesses
High blood pressure
Injuries as a result of hazardous sports or similar pastimes
Pre-existing medical conditions
Temporary illnesses
If you take out a level-term life insurance policy, the payout amount remains the same for the whole policy term.
Level-term life insurance is sometimes referred to as family life insurance, because it’s commonly used by people looking to protect their family’s interests and make sure loved ones are covered financially in the event of their death.
Fixed premiums: How much you pay never changes
Fixed payout: You know exactly how much money your beneficiaries will receive
Cost: Rarely the cheapest policy option
Not linked to inflation: Your payout will be worth less if the cost of living goes up
These are decreasing term life insurance policies. The amount they pay out decreases over time.
Price: these policies are usually the cheapest type of life insurance
Specific: for when you only want protection while you hold a lot of debt
Shorter-term protection
Not suitable for all mortgage types, including interest-only
The younger you are, the less you should pay, so it can be worth it to purchase insurance sooner.
Some jobs are seen as higher risk and will increase your premiums. For example, a fire fighter would likely have higher premiums than an office worker.
Certain habits that insurers consider detrimental to health, such as excessive alcohol consumption or smoking, will push your premiums up.
Having a clean bill of health with no serious health scares will reduce your premiums. A history of illness or pre-existing condition will likely make your insurance pricier.
Choosing individual or joint cover will affect the cost of your policy. Usually a joint policy will be cheaper than two separate policies, but keep in mind that joint policies only pay out once.
The level of cover you choose will have an effect on cost, with greater cover being more expensive. If you want a higher cash payout, you should expect to pay higher premiums.
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Current earnings: Evaluate your current income and think about how much of it you'd need to maintain your lifestyle if you were unable to work.
Outgoings: Assess your monthly bills and essential expenses to see how much you spend
Mortgage and debts: Take into account the money you'd need to cover or pay off these bills
Budget: The amount of cover you can afford will influence the size of the payout you get
The three core conditions covered by all critical illness policies are cancer, stroke, and heart attack. Critical illness cover will allow you to claim your life insurance payout early if you are diagnosed with any of the serious conditions outlined in your policy. This allows you to put your life insurance towards covering your care and treatment as well as supporting your loved ones if they rely on your income.
Kara Gammell Personal finance expert at MoneySuperMarket
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🚩 Critical illness cover is an add-on to life insurance. It cannot be bought as a separate policy.
Fill in the type of cover you're looking for, your age, height and occupation, whether you smoke or drink, your family's medical history, and any pre-existing conditions.
Select critical illness as an add-on to your life insurance policy. We'll then show you the policies that offer it, and their prices.
Once you've found the policy that's right for you, all it takes is a click through to your chosen provider to buy your policy today for the price you see.
We’ve partnered with LifeSearch to give people even more guidance when buying life insurance. If you’d like some help deciding what kind of cover you need, talk to LifeSearch free of charge.
Give them a call on 0800 197 3178.
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Monday to Friday 8 am to 8 pm
Saturday 9 am to 2 pm
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The cost of critical illness insurance varies, depending on factors such as your health and lifestyle and the level of cover you require.
On average, MoneySuperMarket customers pay £28.40* for life insurance with critical illness cover, but this varies across different policies. For example, level-term insurance policies tend to be more expensive, whilst decreasing-term is usually cheaper.
Yes, you and your partner can take out a joint critical illness cover policy.
With most joint policies you will only be allowed a single claim. So, for example, if you were to be diagnosed with a critical illness and then claimed on the plan the policy would end and your partner would no longer have the cover. In some cases, however, you can buy joint policies that continue to cover the second person – even after a partner has claimed.
Some insurers offer automatic cover for your children under their critical illness policy, while others may add family cover at a lower cost – either way, you should check beforehand if you think children’s critical illness cover is something you might need.
What you should keep an eye out for is the amount of cover your child will get – it could be a range, a set amount or even a specific percentage of the amount of cover you have for yourself.
Some providers may offer standalone critical illness life cover. However, most people take it out alongside life insurance because it’s generally cheaper to buy the two types of cover together.
If you have combined critical illness cover as part of your life insurance policy you’ll only get one payout, which means if you claim for a critical illness your life insurance policy will end.
However, critical illness cover can also be added to a life insurance-only policy for an extra cost.
If you have the additional critical illness cover with your life insurance policy, it will pay out both when you’re diagnosed with the illness and when you pass away.
No. Once you have claimed and a lump sum is paid out your cover under the policy automatically ends.
Terminal illness cover is different to critical illness cover and is usually included as a standard in life insurance policies. It means your insurer pays out if your doctor has confirmed you have a terminal condition and you’re likely to pass away within 12 months.
No. While both critical illness insurance and income protection insurance support you financially if you are unable to work, they do so in different ways.
Critical illness cover will typically provide you with a one-off lump sum payment if you are unable to work because of a health condition. Income protection insurance works differently by covering your loss of earnings for a fixed period or until you can return to work.
Different types of income protection insurance are available that can either cover a set portion of your salary, or your mortgage or loan repayments, for example.
The main difference between critical illness cover and terminal illness cover is that critical illness cover pays out for serious conditions that don't necessarily lead to death but can impact your way of life, such as strokes or heart attacks, whereas terminal illness cover pays out for conditions that are more likely to be fatal within a year and can't be treated, such as certain stage cancers and tumours.
The main difference between the critical illness cover and life insurance is how you receive your lump sum payment if you make a claim. Critical illness pays out to the policyholder directly if they have a medical emergency that affects their lifestyle, such as a heart attack or a stroke. Life insurance pays out the amount to loved ones after the policyholder dies. Both can be purchased individually, or you can add critical illness onto your life insurance policy.
No, critical illness insurance policies typically do not pay out on death. The insurance company will generally pay a lump sum to the policyholder if they are diagnosed with an accepted serious illness while they are still alive.
Once this payment has been made, the policy usually ends. No further payments will be made, even if the policyholder later passes away. If you specifically want insurance that will pay out in the event of death, you should seek alternative forms of life insurance.
If you can prove you have been diagnosed with an illness covered by your policy, your insurance company should pay out, as promised. However, if an insurer finds that you have been dishonest — for example, if you’re a smoker but failed to inform your insurer of this — then they may refuse to pay.
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Data based on the 10th Percentile price of life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket for life insurance and critical illness cover in July 2025.
Shopping Gift Card value varies based on the first monthly premium of the policy and will be confirmed on the results page
Data based on the median price of life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket for life insurance and critical illness cover in June 2025.
The number of providers for life insurance in July 2025
YouGov Survey 1st October 2023 to 30th September 2024. Net recommended score derived from “Which of the following online service website would you recommend to a friend or colleague, or tell them to avoid?” Base: Current Customers of (MoneySuperMarket n=19272, CompareTheMarket n=17631, Go.Compare n=10457, Confused.com n= 8421, Uswitch n=681)
Data based on the median price of life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket for life insurance and critical illness cover in July 2025.
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