Real life story 1 - Mrs Downs†

In 2008, Mrs Downs, claimed on her critical illness policy and received a payout within a matter of weeks.

Mrs Downs said, "I found out I had breast cancer* late last year through a routine screening. It was a shock to hear the diagnosis and we didn't immediately think of the money side of things or how our finances might be affected."

"A family member reminded us to check if we had critical illness cover, and it was lucky we did because I wasn't eligible for sick pay and did not end up having any money coming in for six months. Whilst our mortgage wasn't huge, we did manage to pay it off with the proceeds from the policy which took a significant weight off our mind."

"The whole claims process was professional and painless, in fact we didn't have to put ourselves out at all. The people on the other end of the phone were very helpful and really took the time to understand what we were going through so that they could speed things along."

"We've definitely recommend critical illness cover to all our friends and family now, because you just never know."

Real life story 2 - Mrs Williams†

In 2002, Mrs Williams, an administrator from London, took out a critical illness policy on the advice of her independent financial adviser following a divorce.

Sadly, in February 2007, Mrs Williams was diagnosed with breast cancer*. As her condition was covered under the critical illness definition of her policy, Mrs Williams received a payout of £70,000 plus interest.

Whilst the news was undoubtedly traumatic, this money did allow Mrs Williams to pay off her mortgage on her home which was a welcome relief at a difficult time.

Mrs Williams said, "When I was diagnosed with cancer I wondered how I would cope. Then I remembered that I had a critical illness policy but my friends and family told me that the insurance company would never pay out enough money to pay off my Mortgage."

"However, it was very straightforward and I got a lump sum paid to me after eight weeks, plus interest backdated to the point when I had made the claim. It just goes to show that having this sort of cover really is worthwhile."

It's a common misconception that insurance companies don't pay out claims. Your clients may be comforted to know that in 2010 we paid out £147 million in CIC claims, a total of 2,515 in CIC claims.

* As with all critical illness cover products, our policies are designed to cover the more severe forms of cancer. This doesn't include non-invasive cancers or those diagnosed early, for example skin cancer. The full list of critical illnesses covered and their definitions are given in Legal & General's Guide to Critical Illness Cover (W11353)  PDF: 1.03MB .

† Names have been changed to protect their identities.