Critical illness cover
Our critical illness policy
Critical illness cover is only available with Zurich as part of a life insurance and critical illness policy.
If you are diagnosed with any of the conditions listed in your policy, we will pay you the lump sum you selected when you took it out (unless you have since changed this amount).
In most cases, it’ll be a one-off payment for you to use how you wish: to cover your mortgage or rent, to meet living expenses, or even to pay for that round-the-world trip you’d always wanted to take.
Key features of a life insurance and critical illness policy
- Pays a lump sum if you die, become terminally ill, or are diagnosed with a critical illness
- Spend the sum on anything you like such as medical and everyday expenses
- We’ll pay you if you are diagnosed with any one of 39 conditions
- Add up to £25,000 cover for your children
- Choose a single policy or cover you and a partner on a joint critical illness policy
- We’ll also pay out a lump sum of up to £25,000 for one of two additional payment conditions (less advanced breast or prostate cancer), and your original policy will still be intact
What is critical illness cover?
What would life be like if you were diagnosed with a serious illness? Things could change very suddenly.
You’d get your family together and tell them what was going on. Before long, you’d start spending time in hospital for treatment. You may also need to take some time off.
It’s hard to know what the financial impact of all this would be for you and the people who depend on you.
Critical illness cover provides a financial cushion should you suffer a serious illness, such as cancer, heart attack or stroke.
Critical illness customer stories
Glenn's story
Glenn, a father of two and co-owner of his family’s bakery, experienced this recently when he was diagnosed with cancer.
Thankfully, Glenn had taken out a Critical Illness policy which meant he could focus on the most important thing: getting better.
Emily's story
Emily was enjoying life managing her art company and her cat-sitting business when she found out she had thyroid cancer.
After having to undergo surgery, Emily claimed on her Critical Illness policy which meant she didn't have to worry about her finances during her recovery.
Add cover for your children
It’s hard enough knowing what life would be like for you with a critical illness, so it is extremely difficult to imagine your child falling seriously ill.
Did you know that for an additional cost you can add your children to your life insurance and critical illness policy at any time?
It means if your child is diagnosed with one of the same 41 conditions you are covered for, we’ll pay out up to £25,000.
They’ll be covered from birth until their 22nd birthday and from the moment they are 18, they can take out a policy of their own up to £25,000 free of underwriting.
So you can have peace of mind the whole family is covered.
Optional extras and benefits
We offer a handful of optional extras and automatic benefits if you have a Zurich life and critical illness policy…
Multi-fracture cover
Add multi-fracture cover for a small fixed cost each month and we’ll pay a lump sum of up to £6,000 if you break a bone, dislocate a joint, rupture your Achilles tendon or tear a knee ligament. Available on both a life cover and a life cover and critical illness policy.
Separation benefit
Automatically included. If you have a joint policy and you separate, divorce or have a civil partnership dissolved, you can cancel this policy and start individual policies for one or both of you, without giving us any more medical details.
Making changes to your policy
Automatically included. If something changes in your life, like buying a bigger home or having a baby, you may be able to increase your cover without giving us any more details about your health or activities. Bear in mind though that increased cover will result in increased premiums.