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Critical illness cover
Critical illness cover from Scottish Widows. Get a quote today. To help ensure peace of mind for you and your loved ones.
Get your quote now Get your quote now.
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 hold the power to ease you and your family’s everyday expenses. Allowing you to focus all your energy on your health and wellbeing.
Are you eligible for our critical illness cover?
To apply for cover, you must:
- be a UK resident
- be 18 years of age or older.
You do not need a medical exam, and you'll get your decision the same day.
Protect your loved ones and get a gift card up to £200
Buy a policy online and make three monthly payments. Then you’ll be able to choose a gift card from over 140 retailers.
The value of the gift card you receive will be based on your premium amount.
See our Terms and Conditions for full details.
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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.
Download our policy guides
Critical Illness cover policy document (PDF 800 KB)
Critical illness cover terms and conditions (PDF 871 KB)
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 £5000.00 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
Get covered today
This table below 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 Halifax customers paid these prices or less for Plan and Protect policies bought online between 31 Aug 22 and 31 Aug 23.
Prices are based on single level critical illness cover.
Note, sample size for critical illness 51+ was 193. Prices may be higher or lower 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.
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?
Cavendish Online is here to help find the cover that is right for you.
Like us they are part of Lloyds Banking Group. They'll give you guidance on Scottish Widows life insurance and/or critical illness policies.
Trustpilot rate them as 'Excellent' 4.9/5.
They won't charge you for their guidance and you do not need to take the product as a result of speaking to them.
Call: 0800 131 0299
Lines are open Monday to Thursday 10am -7pm, Friday 10am- 6pm.
Or request a call back at a time that suits you.
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 provide 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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We want to make sure you get the help you need.
To get advice about critical illness cover, contact Cavendish Online. They can help find cover that’s right for you and your loved ones.
Cavendish Online won't charge you for their advice, and you're under no obligation when you speak to them.
Call Cavendish Online on:
Lines are open Monday to Thursday 9am - 7pm, Friday 9am - 6pm.
Cavendish Online is a part of Lloyds Banking Group.
They'll give you advice on Scottish Widows protection products.
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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.