Can You Include Your Partner On Your Critical Illness Policy?

Can You Include Your Partner On Your Critical Illness Policy?

Yes, as with Life insurance, Critical Illness policies can insure one or two lives.

STEP 1 of 2

Type of cover

Life Insurance Mortgage Life Insurance

Cover Level (£)

Number of years

Do you want:
Critical illness cover
Family income benefit

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Is there a waiting period to receive payment on a Critical Illness claim?

All Critical Illness policies require you to survive a specified number of days following diagnosis in order to have a valid claim. The typical survival period is 28 days but some insurance companies have reduced this to 14 days.

How long should you insure for?

20 to 25 years is most common but it really depends on how much you can afford and your personal circumstances.

Should you have a “Guaranteed” or a “Reviewable” policy?

When a policy is first started Guaranteed policies have higher premiums than Reviewable policies - but in the longer period Reviewable policies generally work out more expensive.

What information will be needed at the time of a Critical Illness claim?

For a Critical Illness claim to be successful the insurance company’s claims department will need evidence that you have been diagnosed as having one of the listed critical illnesses. This evidence will normally come from a Hospital Consultant who is a specialist in the illness which has been diagnosed.

What happens if your condition improves after making a claim on your Critical Illness policy?

Once the insurance company has paid you the money is yours to spend how you like. The policy is terminated and your insurer has no interest on how you live your life or indeed whether your condition improves or is healed.

Insuring one life (known as a Single policy)
If you only want insurance cover for one person you want a quote for a Single life. The benefits would be paid to you in the event of a claim and you spend the money as you see fit.

Insuring two lives (known as a Joint policy)
If you and your spouse are to be insured you need a Joint policy. Joint policies are written on what is called a first event basis. This means that if either of the policyholders were to have a claim the policy pays out and then automatically terminates. The policy does not continue for the survivor.

A better option for two people?
If you want to insure two people consider a Joint policy and then cost up the alternative of having a separate policy for each person. Why? Because with a Joint policy, after a first claim the policy automatically terminates. This leaves the survivor uninsured and at an older age when it is more expensive to obtain insurance or maybe impossible due to deteriorating health.

However, a Joint policy will always be cheaper than two Single policies.

Hereâ€™s a Tip:

You may find that you can get quote for a Life Insurance policy with Critical Illness cover cheaper than just Critical Illness policy alone! That would give you far more protection and it's cheaper too!