Critical Illness Cover FAQs

Our Critical Illness Cover can be added for an extra cost when you take out Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance. Please read the Guide to critical illness cover (PDF: 149KB), Policy Summary PDF:1.61MB  and Policy Booklet PDF:184KB before you apply.

If you have an existing Critical Illness Cover policy with us, please refer to your original policy documents for full terms and conditions and definitions available to you. The critical illnesses you're covered for may be different from those listed below.

You must be a UK resident when you apply to be eligible. The maximum age limit for taking out Critical Illness Cover is 67, and the minimum term length is two years. What’s more, your policy must end before you turn 75, and the maximum length of your policy is 50 years.

Depending on your medical history, some conditions may be excluded from your policy but each application is looked at on an individual basis. You'll be informed of any exclusions during your application process.

For more information, please refer to our

Policy Summary PDF.

Legal & General’s Critical Illness Cover covers a range of specified critical illnesses. This includes various cancers, excluding less advanced cases.

The list of illnesses we cover includes many types of cancer, heart attack and stroke. However, some types of cancer are not included and you need to have permanent symptoms to make a claim for some illnesses.

For more information on Critical Illness Cover, list of the illnesses we cover

Yes, we will automatically include Children's Critical Illness Cover when you select Critical Illness Cover. If your child is diagnosed with a critical illness that we cover, we could pay out £25,000 or 50% of your cover amount, whichever is lowest. 

There are additional benefits included too such as Childcare Benefit and Family Accommodation Benefit. Learn more about Children's Critical Illness Cover.

Further eligibility criteria and exclusions apply, so please read the Guide to Critical Illness Cover for more information, and the Critical Illness Cover Policy Booklet to see what is and isn’t covered.

The amount you pay for Critical Illness Cover varies according to each person.

Some of the factors that will determine the cost include your age, whether or not you smoke (or have previously smoked or used nicotine replacements in the last 12 months), how much cover you want and how long you need it to last.

Health and lifestyle factors are also important, including your weight and family medical history. The same applies to your job, as some occupations can potentially make cover more expensive as well as any hazardous hobbies such as extreme sports.

As every person’s circumstances are different, it’s important to get a quote for a more accurate idea of the price.

Critical Illness Cover can pay out a cash sum if you’re diagnosed with, or undergo a medical procedure, for one of the critical illnesses we cover during the length of your policy, and you survive for 14 days from diagnosis. Given that a critical illness can affect anyone at any age, it can be a good idea to get Critical Illness Cover for the peace of mind it provides.

Read our guide on the advantages of Critical Illness Cover.

Both terminal and critical illnesses refer to serious medical conditions. But the difference is that a critical illness refers to a specified serious injury, illness or medical episode, whereas a terminal diagnosis means your hospital consultant expects the illness will lead to death within the next 12 months. 

Read more about the difference between critical illness cover and terminal illness cover.

With Legal & General, Critical Illness Cover is only available for an extra cost when taking out Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance. 

No, the money you would receive from any Critical Illness Cover payout should not be subject to UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax. The Government may change this tax position at any time.

Critical Illness Cover only pays out for specified illnesses, and this excludes mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. However, you can still apply for Critical Illness Cover if you’re someone who experiences difficulties with your mental health.

Critical Illness Cover is not specifically designed to pay off a mortgage. It pays out a one-off cash sum if you make a valid claim – you can use this money however you wish, for example to help with child care costs, household bills or to help maintain your standard of living if you're forced to take time off work while you recover.

You can call our claims team, Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. The telephone number you need is 0808 291 3354

You can also use the same telephone number to make a claim under children’s critical illness cover or additional cover for the ‘Carcinoma in situ of the breast’ or 'low grade prostate cancer' definitions.

You can also email or write to us.

What information will you need?

To let us know you want to make a claim you'll need to provide us with the following:

  • A policy number (this can be found on your Direct Debit)
  • Details of the diagnosis/illness
  • Contact details for your GP/Medical Consultant


What happens next?

  • We'll carry out some basic policy checks to ensure the condition can be regarded as a claim
  • We'll ask for information about your diagnosis and your Consultant and GP details. If you have any GP or Consultant letters, these will be useful for us.
  • Once we've finished discussing your claim, we'll send you some simple forms to sign and return – we can email or send these to you via post.


Following this, we'll then take control of your claim and keep you updated throughout the whole process.

It’s important that you continue to pay your premiums while the claim is being assessed.

Each claim is treated individually and your claims handler will explain everything to you in detail if you ever come to make a claim.

Yes, but we recommend speaking to your financial adviser before cancelling a policy. 

If you cancel your policy within the first 30 days, we’ll refund any premiums paid. After 30 days, no premiums will be refunded. We’ll require authority from each policy holder(s).

Please call us on 0333 242 7167, we're open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.
We may record and monitor calls. Call charges will vary.

Or you can cancel online.

Extra protection with Critical Illness Cover

M&S and Amazon vouchers

Receive a £110 Gift card

After you take out cover on or before 24 March 2024*

Restrictions apply, see www.amazon.co.uk/gc-legal