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Learn about Scottish Widows critical illness cover and how it works. Compare cover options and get a quote.
What is critical illness cover?
What is critical illness cover?
Critical illness cover can give you peace of mind by paying a cash lump sum if you’re diagnosed with an illness covered by your policy.
The lump sum you receive can go towards whatever you like, meaning you can focus on your health and wellbeing.
To be eligible for life insurance, you need to be a UK resident and be aged between 18 and 59 if you’re applying for Plan & Protect. You can apply for Scottish Widows Protect if you’re aged between 18 and 64.
How does critical illness cover work?
What critical illnesses does it cover?
This list of critical illnesses is only a guide. Check the terms and conditions of your policy to see what it covers:
- Plan & Protect critical illness policy summary (PDF, 1MB)
- Scottish Widows Protect policy summary (PDF, 2MB)
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Covered by Scottish Widows Protect:
- Benign tumour of the brain or spinal cord*
- Brain injury due to trauma or reduced oxygen supply
- Intensive care cover
- Motor Neurone Disease (MND)
- Coma
- Dementia including Alzheimer’s disease
- Intensive care cover
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Neurological deficit caused by specific conditions:
- Bacterial meningitis
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
- Encephalitis
- Neuromyelitis optica (Devic’s disease)
- Paralysis of limb
- Parkinson’s disease
- Parkinson Plus syndromes
- Stroke of the brain or spinal cord
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
- (SLE)
- Total Permanent Disability
*If you are on an official UK waiting list for treatment for one of these illnesses, we will make an advanced payment of the current amount of your cover.
Covered by Plan & Protect:
- Stroke
- Brain Tumour Heart Organs Cancer
- Traumatic Head Injury
- Encephalitis
- Bacterial Meningitis
- Dementia
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Motor Neurone Disease (MND)
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Atypical Parkinsonism / Parkinson Plus Syndrome
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
- Devic’s Disease
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Covered by Scottish Widows Protect:
- Cardiomyopathy
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Heart and vascular surgeries*
- Aorta graft surgery
- Cardiac arrest
- Coronary artery bypass grafts
- Heart valve replacement (or repair)
- Pulmonary artery surgery
- Structural heart surgery
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension
*If you are on an official UK waiting list for treatment for one of these illnesses, we will make an advanced payment of the current amount of your cover.
Covered by Plan & Protect:
- Heart Attack
- Heart Surgery:
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
- Heart valve replacement or repair
- Open heart surgery
- Aorta graft surgery
- Inserting a defibrillator after cardiac arrest
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Covered by Scottish Widows Protect:
- Aplastic anaemia
- Kidney failure
- Liver failure
- Major organ transplant*
- Respiratory failure
- Third degree burns
*If you are on an official UK waiting list for treatment for one of these illnesses, we will make an advanced payment of the current amount of your cover.
Covered by Plan & Protect:
- Kidney failure requiring dialysis
- Transplant:
- Heart
- Kidney
- Liver
- Lung
- Bone Marrow
- Pancreas
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Covered by Scottish Widows Protect:
- Invasive cancer
Covered by Plan & Protect:
- Invasive cancer
- For some less severe, early stage cancers, we will make an early help payment of £5,000 if you:
- Undergo surgery for early stage cancer
- Receive treatment for low grade prostate cancer
- Develop early stage malignant melanoma
You can claim for the early help payment more than once for any other unrelated early stage cancer. If you’ve got more than one Plan & Protect policy, we’ll only pay one early help payment across all of your policies. Your full cover continues unchanged and you can go on to make a full claim for any of the illnesses we cover.
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Covered by Scottish Widows Protect only:
- Blindness
- Deafness
- Loss of hand or foot
- Loss of speech
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Covered by Scottish Widows Protect:
- Loss of hand or foot
Covered by Plan & Protect:
- Paralysis of an arm or leg
- Amputation or severance of hand or foot
Critical illness cover options
There are a number of things you’ll need to consider when you’re taking out life cover. Here are some of your options.
| COVER OPTION | WHAT THIS MEANS | WHY YOU MIGHT NEED IT |
|---|---|---|
| Level cover | The amount of cover you choose and your premium will remain the same through the term of your policy. | The amount of cover won’t change over time so you and your family know how much will be received in the event of a claim. |
| Decreasing cover | The amount of cover you choose reduces each month, but your premium remains the same. | This is normally chosen to cover a repayment mortgage. |
| Increasing cover | The amount of cover you choose increases each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI). Your premium will also increase for this type of cover. This means that your cover amount stays in line with inflation. | As this type of cover stays in line with inflation, it is designed to combat price rises, maintaining its real value throughout the term. |
Frequently asked questions
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Critical illness cover is a policy that will pay out if you are diagnosed with an illness that is covered by your policy.
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Yes, you can take out life insurance with critical illness. Life insurance with critical illness and life cover can provide a cash sum on death or on diagnosis of a terminal illness or specified critical illness within the policy term.
With Scottish Widows Protect, you can include critical illness cover of up to £3 million. You also have the option to take life and critical illness cover where you only get one payout, but could pay a lower premium.
With Plan & Protect, you can include critical illness cover with life cover. You can have multiple polices of up to a total of £500,00 for life cover and £500,000 for critical illness cover.
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Critical illness cover could reduce the financial impact of a critical illness, by helping with practicalities such as helping pay off your mortgage and any bills, allowing you to focus on your health and wellbeing.
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That depends whether you choose our Plan & Protect Policy or Scottish Widows Protect.
With Scottish Widows Protect, you can choose to each have your own individual policy or you can have a joint policy. For a joint policy when one of you is diagnosed with one of the illnesses covered by the policy the cover ends for both of you. The payout will normally go to the person who has been diagnosed.
With Plan & Protect, your policy only covers you.
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It depends on your personal circumstances. There are some things you may need to consider, which could include:
- how much you and your family would need to support themselves without your salary
- the size of your mortgage and how long it’s got to run
- any other outstanding loans or debts you have
- the amount you want to pay each month.
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Yes. When you apply you can:
- start it as soon as possible
- choose ‘Not known yet’ (if you are unsure when you would like your policy to start)
- give a specific date.
With Scottish Widows Protect you can start your cover from 18 to 79 for life and 64 for critical illness.
With Plan & Protect, you can start your cover from 18 to 59 for both life and critical illness.
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No. Life insurance policies have no cash-in value at any time. Also, if you don’t pay your premiums on time your cover will stop, your policy will end and you’ll get nothing back. If the sum assured has not been paid out by the end of the selected term, the policy will end and you’ll get nothing back.
