How much does critical illness insurance cost?

The premium for this type of policy depends on the amount of cover you want, how long you want to be insured for, your personal details (especially your current health) and the choice of options you select. Critical illness insurance can be bought as a policy by itself or combined with a life assurance plan.

You should be aware that on all critical illness policies you have to survive for a minimum number of days following the diagnosis of a critical illness. This is called the “survival period” and is usually between 28 and 14 days depending on your insurer. If you were to die within this survival period you would not have a claim.

A benefit of having both critical illness AND life cover on your policy is that if you were to die within the survival period, your policy would still payout under its life insurance provisions.

Your age, health, lifestyle and gender also have an impact on the premium. In addition, if your family has a history of illnesses such as cancer or heart disease this may result in you being charged a higher premium. Premiums are not eligible for any personal tax relief although the payouts are tax-free.