Alongside Life Assurance we always recommend Critical Illness Cover. This is a type of insurance that will provide you with a lump sum payment if you were to be diagnosed with a critical illness during the term of the policy. This can be used to repay a mortgage.

Critical Illness Cover is often considered an even more important insurance than life cover due to increased life expectancy and advances in medical technology which mean we are all living longer and by consequence, suffering more critical illnesses.

Critical illnesses are becoming more and more treatable and people are recovering at much greater rates than ever before. It is obviously a fantastic thing that people are recovering from serious illness but it does raise other issues. The affected party may be unable to work or may require expensive care.

With just Life Assurance in place the policy would only have paid out if the person had died. If the affected person survives there would be no insurance payment, the mortgage would remain in place and the income may have stopped. Without Critical Illness Cover attached to the policy nothing would be paid out and your position financially may become very difficult.

Due to the frequency of critical illness in people under 65, the cost of this cover is high in comparison to life cover. It is one of those plans that although you hope is never used, if a claim has to be made, it becomes priceless.