Two protections, one payout
A combined plan sets one sum and one term. If you are diagnosed with a condition on the insurer's list and your diagnosis meets its definition, the policy pays and closes. If you die before any such diagnosis, it pays your family instead. Either way, there is one payment.
Many people buy it to protect a mortgage. A serious illness can be as hard on household finances as a death, and a plan that clears the loan in either case covers both worries with one premium.
Combined versus separate policies
With separate policies, a critical illness claim pays you, and your life cover carries on. If you later died during the term, your family would receive a second sum. That double protection costs more each month.
A combined plan is the lower-cost route. The trade-off is that once it pays for an illness, you have no life cover left under it, and getting new cover after a serious diagnosis can be difficult or expensive.
- Combined: one premium, one payout, lower cost
- Separate: two premiums, two possible payouts
- Mixed: full life cover with a smaller critical illness sum
Setting different sums
You do not always need the same amount for both parts. Some families take life cover for the full mortgage and a smaller critical illness sum aimed at a year or two of costs during treatment. That keeps the premium manageable while still giving support on diagnosis.
Some insurers build this into one plan with separate amounts. Others need two policies. We can price a few combinations so you see where the money goes.
Reading the illness definitions
The critical illness part depends on definitions. Each insurer lists its conditions and the severity needed for a full payout. Many also pay smaller amounts for less severe diagnoses and include cover for children. These details vary a lot, which is why the cheapest combined plan is not always the strongest.
How Hi Tomorrow builds your plan
We ask what you want each part to do, then recommend whether combined, separate or mixed cover fits your budget. We compare the illness definitions across our panel, as well as the price, and flag anything that matters for your family history.
We help with the medical questions, since an accurate application protects any future claim, and we support you or your family through a claim if it comes.