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Critical illness cover
Critical illness cover from Scottish Widows. Get a quote today. To help with peace of mind for you and your loved ones.
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What is critical illness cover?
Imagine having the peace of mind knowing that, in the event of a serious illness, you won’t have to worry about the financial burden.
Critical illness cover could pay you a cash lump sum if diagnosed with an illness covered by your policy.
This cash lump sum could have the power to ease you and your family’s everyday expenses. Allowing you to focus all your energy on your health and wellbeing.
Can you apply for our critical illness cover?
To apply for cover, you must:
- be a UK resident
- be 18 or older.
You do not need a medical exam, and you'll get your decision the same day.
Enjoy 12 months of Disney+ on us!
Get 12 months of Disney+ (Standard With Ads) when you purchase a new protection policy directly with us.
With blockbuster movies, new originals, and much-loved shows, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Stream endless entertainment and relax, knowing we’ve got you covered.
Your subscription starts after you make your first payment.
We can amend or withdraw this offer at any time. Terms and conditions apply.
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Critical illness cover might be right for you if:
- you’d struggle to keep up with day-to-day costs if you are too ill to work for some time
- you don’t have savings or workplace benefits that could cover your costs if you are too ill to work
- you'd like a cash lump sum if you become seriously ill, letting you focus on your health and wellbeing.
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If you are too ill to work for an extended period, how much would you need to help your loved ones.
Consider the help you might need to keep up with:
- Day-to-day costs and bills.
- Rent or mortgage payments.
- Costs to make health-related changes to your home.
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The amount of cover that's right for you depends on a few factors. If you are too ill to work, what kind of support would you and your loved ones need?
Choose the amount of cover that's right for you and your loved ones.
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It might help to think about life’s milestones, like the number of years until:
- your children turn 18
- you have paid your mortgage in full
- you reach state pension age.
We can offer cover from 5 to 40 years, up to age 69. If you are over the age of 59, you will need to call us to discuss your options.
Download our policy guides
Critical Illness cover policy document (PDF, 800KB)
Critical illness cover terms and conditions (PDF, 871KB)
The image highlights the illnesses we cover and when you can claim. These headings are only a guide. For full details, refer to the terms and conditions.
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- Stroke
- Brain tumour
- Traumatic head Injury
- Encephalitis
- Bacterial meningitis
- Dementia
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Motor neurone disease (MND)
- Parkinson's disease
- Atypical Parkinsonism/Parkinson plus syndrome
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
- Devic's disease.
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- Heart attack
- Heart surgery:
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
- Heart valve replacement or repair
- Open heart surgery
- Aorta graft surgery
- Inserting a defibrillator after cardiac arrest.
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- Kidney failure needing dialysis
- Transplant:
- Heart
- Kidney
- Liver
- Lung
- Bone marrow
- Pancreas.
- Kidney failure needing dialysis
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- Invasive cancer
- For some less severe, early stage cancers, we will make an early help payment of £5,000.00 if you:
- Undergo surgery for early stage cancer
- Receive treatment for early stage prostate cancer
- Develop early stage malignant melanoma
You can claim for the early help payment more than once for any other unrelated early stage cancer.
If you've got more than one Plan and Protect policy, we'll only pay one early help payment across all of your policies.
Your cover will continue. You can go on to make a full claim for any of the illnesses we cover.
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- Paralysis of an arm or leg
- Amputation or severance of hand or foot.
- Paralysis of an arm or leg
What it could cost to wait.
This table shows what the price might be, based on your age group. It shows how the monthly cost you pay for life insurance can be lower if you take it out sooner.
50% of our customers paid these prices or less for single level Plan & Protect critical illness cover bought online between 31 January 23 and 31 January 24.
Note, the sample size for 18-25 critical illness is 122 and 51-59 critical illness is 170.
Prices are subject to underwriting criteria that depend on personal circumstances and are subject to change.
What can critical illness cover be used for?
You can use critical illness cover in various ways, including:
What type of critical illness cover do I need?
There are different types of critical illness cover available. We offer level critical illness cover online. Here's how it works.
Level cover - cover and payments stay the same
How does level cover work?
Level cover means that the cash pay-out stays the same until your policy ends. You'll pay the same amount each month.
What’s the benefit of level cover?
With level cover, the amount that gets paid out if you make a claim won’t change. So you and your loved ones will always know how much cover you'll have in case the unexpected happens.
Get protected by experts
Our life insurance is provided by Scottish Widows. They're a part of Lloyds Banking Group, like us. Scottish Widows are our life insurance experts, and they've been protecting what matters most for over 200 years.
Here are a few reasons why they could be the right choice to protect you and your loved ones:
Scottish Widows protection products have no cash-in value at any time. So if the policy ends without a claim, you won't get any money back. If you don't make payments on time, your cover will stop, your policy will end and you'll get nothing back.
Need to speak to someone?
Our Halifax protection experts are here to help find the cover that is right for you.
They'll give you advice on Scottish Widows life and/or critical illness policies.
They won't charge you for their advice and you do not need to take the product as a result of speaking to them.
Call: 0800 131 0551
Lines are open Monday to Thursday 9am to 7pm, Friday 9am to 6pm.
Or ask for a call-back at a time that suits you.
Lloyds Bank Insurance Services Limited provides this service, which is also part of Lloyds Banking Group.
Scottish Widows works closely with partners like Macmillan. They help make sure our customers get the right help, at the right time.
So if you're diagnosed with a critical illness and need to make a claim, they can put you in touch with one of our partners, if that would be helpful. They can give you a bit of extra support, when you need it most.
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This kind of cover could pay out a cash lump sum if diagnosed with an illness, covered by your policy before it ends. It's designed to help you and your loved ones meet day-to-day costs. This can let you focus on your own health and wellbeing.
You’ll choose the size of the cash lump sum that will get paid out when you make a successful claim. You’ll also choose how long you want cover for.
You’ll pay a fixed amount each month by direct debit, until your policy ends. Your policy doesn’t have a cash-in value. This means that if it ends without a successful claim, then you won’t get the money back.
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Scottish Widows might not be able to help if you have a pre-existing condition. But if they can't offer you a policy, they'll let you know how to get more help or advice.
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Our Halifax protection experts are here to help find the cover that is right for you.
They'll give you advice on Scottish Widows critical illness policies.
They won't charge you for their advice and you do not need to take the product as a result of speaking to them.
Call:
Lines are open Monday to Thursday 9am - 7pm, Friday 9am - 6pm.
Lloyds Bank Insurance Services Limited provides this service, which is also part of Lloyds Banking Group.
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Life insurance costs vary according to how much cover you need, your age, and other factors such as your health history.
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No. Your policy only pays out if you make a successful claim. If your policy ends without a successful claim, then your cover will end, and you won’t get any money back.
Make sure you pay each month on time, or your cover could stop.