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  2. Serious Illness Cover

Serious Illness Cover

Covers you for nearly 4 times as many conditions as a typical critical illness policy*

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Five-star rated Serious Illness Cover

Critical illness can strike at any time. 1 in 2 people in the UK will develop some form of cancer during their lives1, every 7 minutes someone will have a heart attack and every 12 minutes someone will have a stroke2.

WHAT IT DOES

Our Serious Illness Cover helps protect you financially if you fall ill with one of the 175 conditions we cover. We’ll pay you out a cash lump sum based on the severity of your condition – meaning that you can focus all your energies on making a full recovery.

HOW IT WORKS

Unlike typical critical illness cover, we pay out for the less severe conditions as well as the more critical ones. So if you get ill and need to claim, we’ll give you a percentage of your cover depending on how severe your condition is. This means that if a condition gets caught early on, we’ll pay you out a portion to alleviate the stress, but you’ll also have the rest of your cover should you need to claim again and again.

Five star Defaqto rating Critical Illness Cover

Compared to a typical Critical Illness Policy

Our Serious Illness Cover protects you for far more than typical critical illness cover.

  • You're up to 3 times more likely to get a payout with us**

  • 116% more likely to get a payout for cancer with us

  • 34% more likely to get a payout for heart attack with us

  • 25% more likely to get a payout for a stroke with us

  • We cover nearly 4 times as many conditions

  • We cover all heart attacks and strokes

  • We cover more cancers than any other insurer

  • We payout based on how severe your condition is

  • We cover the earlier stages of certain conditions

  • You can claim more than once if you have cover left

  • We provide more protection against cancer recurrence

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Explore our Serious Illness Cover

Frequently Asked Questions

How do severity-based payments work?

We pay out on the severity of your illness or disability meaning that you could receive a payout at an earlier stage or your illness, even if it’s not life threatening. There are seven levels of severity to determine how much money gets paid out when you need to make a claim.

Can I add children to my Serious Illness Cover?

Yes, you can choose a cover amount of between £10,000 and £100,000 for your children. If your child is diagnosed with one of the illnesses we cover, we give you a cash lump sum.

What illnesses are covered?

You can choose between Comprehensive Serious Illness Cover that covers you for 175 conditions or Primary Serious Illness Cover which covers you for 114 conditions. The typical critical illness policy only covers you for around 48 conditions. Have a look at all the conditions we cover including heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.

Am I covered for heart attacks or stroke?

We define medical conditions in the same way as the medical profession. So, if your consultant or doctor diagnoses that you’ve had a heart attack or stroke, we pay out. The amount we pay depends on the severity of your condition, which means we can cover all types of heart attack and strokes. 

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Serious Illness Booster

Increase the amount of cover we payout beyond 100%.

Get extra help for the long term effects of serious illness.

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Limited time offer!

Up to 2 months free cover

Our 5-star award-winning protection just got cheaper!

Get up to two months free cover when you take out a VitalityLife policy with inflation protection and one of our optimisers. Join by 30 June.

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1 Cancer Research UK, Sept 2014
2"Cancer's Hidden Price Tag”, Macmillan Cancer Support 2014
* The average number of conditions that typical critical illness policies cover is 48. Source: Defaqto, 2017
** Source: Hannover Re UK Life Branch August 2013 

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