
Critical Illness Cover
Take care of yourself – and your family
Reviewed by Lisa Redman on 29th January 2026.
What is Critical Illness Cover?
Critical Illness Cover offers you and your loved ones financial protection if you find yourself being diagnosed with a critical illness. It could help with childcare costs, household bills or to help maintain your standard of living if you're forced to take time off work to recover. Our Critical Illness Cover can be added for an extra cost when taking out Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance.
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Critical Illness Cover - uncovered
If you experience a serious illness, Critical Illness Cover can protect you and your loved ones. In this video Barry breaks down the key differences between Critical Illness Cover and Terminal Illness Cover.
For further in-depth information about Critical Illness Cover you can read our Critical Illness Cover details. You may also wish to explore what critical illness conditions we cover.

How does Critical Illness Cover work?
- Life insurance with critical illness. When taking out Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance you'll have the option to add Critical Illness Cover for an extra cost. You choose the amount of cover you need and how long you need it for.
- Cash sum payout. You and your loved ones could receive a cash sum if you’re diagnosed with - or undergo a medical procedure for - one of the specified critical illnesses that we cover during the length of your policy, and you survive for 14 days from diagnosis.
- Supporting benefits. You'll also get access to our Wellbeing Support service to support your mental health and wellbeing. Plus Care Concierge, a personal service to help with adult care.
Critical Illness Cover details
What's covered
Additional cover
We also provide additional cover for the following:
Claims paid under additional cover will not reduce your amount of cover or change your premiums. We'll pay out once for each 'Additional Cover', if you have a joint life policy, each person can claim once per condition. Terms and conditions apply.
If you are an existing customer please refer to your policy documents for details of your cover.
Things you need to know
Please read the key documents before you apply. If you are an existing customer please refer to your policy documents for details of your cover.
Why choose Critical Illness Cover?
Quick and easy
Get a free quote online in 2 minutes. You could be covered in just 20.
We're there when you need
We're proud of our high payout rates. In fact, we paid out £303 million in Critical Illness Cover claims in 2024, helping thousands of people and their families.
Cover for your children
Children’s Critical Illness Cover will be automatically included on your policy.
Do I need Critical Illness Cover?
Would your loved ones manage financially if you were critically ill? Critical Illness Cover could provide a financial lifeline when you need it most.
A critical illness can affect anyone at any age and unfortunately, can turn lives upside down. But if you have a back-up plan in place, you can alleviate some of the financial stress of the situation.
Of course, everyone's situation is different. Some people may use their savings to supplement their loss of income, while others may rely on an employment benefit package. But for many, some form of critical illness insurance provides peace of mind.

£100 gift card
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Hear their story
Naturally, a critical illness diagnosis is a shock to the system for any family. Learn how L&G Critical Illness Cover has helped our customers both financially and emotionally at a challenging time.

Can I get Critical Illness Cover without life insurance?

You can’t take out Critical Illness Cover only – it needs to be taken out with a Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance policy.
However, you can choose the amount of Critical Illness Cover you need to suit your needs. Your cover doesn't need to match the amount of Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance you take out – it can be less but it cannot be more.
Am I eligible for Critical Illness Cover?
To be eligible for Critical Illness Cover, you’ll need to be:
The minimum term length is two years, and the maximum length of a policy is 50 years.

Why get life insurance with L&G?
We've been protecting families like yours for 190 years. You can trust us to provide expert cover and supporting benefits.
Defaqto 5 Star Rated
5 Star Defaqto rated cover - the highest rating possible!
There when you need us
In 2025 we paid out over £527 million in life claims, that's an average of £1.4 million every single day. Helping almost 14,000 people and their families.
Wellbeing Support
We've partnered with RedArc Assured Limited to bring you our Wellbeing Support service, offering phone-based services to support your mental health and wellbeing.
Care Concierge
Free access to our team of Care Experts, offering confidential and impartial telephone guidance. This can help you or loved ones understand and find adult and later life care. Find out more.
Supporting benefits
Wellbeing Support service
We know that the pressures of everyday life can sometimes be stressful, and can impact your wellbeing in lots of ways. From day one of your policy you'll have access to our dedicated Wellbeing Support service.
Care Concierge
Care Concierge is personal service to help understand and find adult and later life care. There's a lot to consider when looking for care, and it's important that you or your loved one get the support they need.
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Our Life Insurance product reviews
As of 2 September 2026, 1,811 customers have rated our life insurance giving the product an average star rating of 4.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot. The score of 4.4 corresponds to the star label ‘Excellent’. It includes reviews from customers who’ve claimed on a policy.








