What each policy protects
Life insurance is about the people who rely on you. If you die during the policy, it pays a lump sum to your family or to trustees for them, so they can clear the mortgage and keep life going.
Critical illness cover is about living through a serious illness. It pays you a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a condition on the list and it meets the definition. You might use it to replace income, pay for treatment or adapt your home.
Why critical illness cover costs more
For the same cover amount, critical illness cover usually costs more than life insurance. The reason is that insurers are more likely to pay a critical illness claim during a typical term than a death claim. Many people survive cancer, heart attacks and strokes, and that is when this cover earns its keep.
Your age, health and smoking status affect the price of both, as does the length of the term.
Combined policies and separate policies
You can buy life and critical illness cover together as one policy. It pays once, on whichever comes first: a valid critical illness claim or death. After that payout, the policy ends. Combined cover usually costs less than two separate policies.
Separate policies cost more, but they can each pay out. If you claimed for a critical illness and later died during the term, your family would still receive the life cover.
- Combined: one payout, then the policy ends
- Combined: usually costs less than two policies
- Separate: each policy can pay out
- Separate: you can set different amounts and terms
Choosing between them
If you have a mortgage or children, life insurance is often the starting point. Adding critical illness cover protects against a different risk: being alive but too unwell to keep up with costs. If you are single with no dependants, critical illness cover may matter more to you than life cover.
Your employer may already provide death in service, which could reduce how much personal life cover you need. Work benefits rarely include critical illness cover.
How Hi Tomorrow puts the right mix together
We ask who depends on you and what would happen if you fell seriously ill, then compare life, critical illness and combined options across our panel. We show you the price difference between combined and separate policies.
We also compare critical illness definitions, because they vary between insurers. Acceptance and terms are subject to the insurer's underwriting.