Welcome, how can we help?
Policy Types
Getting Technical
Home / - Critical Illness Life Insurance Cover
The aim is to provide a guaranteed lump sum (or income if provided within a Family Income Benefit policy) if the life assured, during the period of cover, is diagnosed as having one of a number of specified critical illnesses covered by the policy.
Will you get a Critical Illness?
Click below to learn more about each Critical Illness that is usually covered.
Alzheimer’s disease
Aorta graft surgery
Aplastic anaemia
Bacterial Meningitis
Benign brain tumour
Blindness
Cancer
Coma
Coronary artery by-pass surgery
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Deafness
Dementia
Heart attack
Heart valve replacement or repair
HIV or AIDS from assault
Aorta graft surgery
Aplastic anaemia
Bacterial Meningitis
Benign brain tumour
Blindness
Cancer
Coma
Coronary artery by-pass surgery
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Deafness
Dementia
Heart attack
Heart valve replacement or repair
HIV or AIDS from assault
HIV or AIDS from blood transfusion
HIV or AIDS from occupational duties or accident
Kidney failure
Loss of independent existence
Loss of limbs
Loss of speech
Major organ transplant
Motor Neurone disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Paralysis - Paraplegia
Parkinson’s disease
Stroke
Third degree burns
Total permanent disability to age 65
NEWS
'Higher quality of life for cancer survivors who follow health recommendations'
30 April 2008 17:13:20
Life insurance policies for cancer survivors may be affected by claims that those who lead a healthier lifestyle have a higher quality of life.
A new study from the American Cancer Society found that people who have survived the disease and follow recommendations such as not smoking, eating more fruit and vegetables and taking exercise have higher health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores than those who do not follow health advice.
Researchers led by Dr Kevin Stein used data from more than 9,000 survivors participating in the American Cancer Society's Study of Cancer Survivors.
The study found higher HRQoL in survivors who were eating five portions of fruit and vegetable a day, meeting exercise recommendations and who smoked little or not at all.
The more lifestyle recommendations cancer survivors met, the higher their HRQoL score, regardless of the type of cancer they had suffered from.
Physical activity was found to have the biggest link with a high HRQoL score.
According to Cancer Research UK, around half of all cancers could be prevented by changes to lifestyle.
The organisation recommends not smoking, staying in shape, sun protection and healthy eating and drinking to help reduce risks of developing the disease.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
'Processed meat increases cancer risk'
31 March 2008 17:13:52
More needs to be done to get across the message that people who eat processed meat regularly are increasing their risk of developing bowel cancer, a leading cancer expert has said.
Professor Martin Wiseman, medical and scientific adviser for World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), has warned people that if they eat 50g of processed meat a day then their risks of developing bowel cancer, an illness which may affect their life insurance policies, are increased by 20 per cent.
Although the scientific evidence is convincing, research shows only 30 per cent of Britons are aware that eating processed meat increases cancer risk.
Professor Wiseman said: "We are more sure now than ever before that eating processed meat increases your risk of bowel cancer and this is why WCRF recommends that people avoid eating it.
"The evidence is that whether you are talking about bacon, ham or pastrami, the safest amount to eat is none at all."
We need to do more to get this message across because if two-thirds of people do not know about the link, then they are not in a position to be able to make informed decisions about whether to eat it or not, he continued.
According to Cancer Research UK, bowel cancer causes almost 16,100 deaths in the UK each year.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
Aneurysm screening welcomed by surgeon
01 May 2008 12:41:43
The benefits of screening for aortic aneurysms have been outlined by a vascular surgeon.
Plans unveiled recently by the Department of Health include screenings of the main abdominal artery for all men aged 65 to check for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) - a condition which may affect their life insurance policies.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's 'Case Notes', Hany Hafez, a consultant vascular surgeon at St Richard's Hospital, said: "There is a certain benefit from picking up silent aneurisms, following them up and treating them in a timely fashion, and by doing this we have demonstrated that we can reduce the risk of dying from this condition to a great extent."
As aneurysms, particularly those in the abdomen, do not have any symptoms, once they do become systematic it is usually too late for successful intervention, he added.
However, "the main harm" with the screening programme is that patients diagnosed with an aneurysm might worry about their condition, the expert continued.
AAAs - which can cause the aorta to rupture - are the third most common cause of death among older men, the BBC reports.
The condition is responsible for around 3,000 deaths each year.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
30 April 2008 17:13:20
Life insurance policies for cancer survivors may be affected by claims that those who lead a healthier lifestyle have a higher quality of life.
A new study from the American Cancer Society found that people who have survived the disease and follow recommendations such as not smoking, eating more fruit and vegetables and taking exercise have higher health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores than those who do not follow health advice.
Researchers led by Dr Kevin Stein used data from more than 9,000 survivors participating in the American Cancer Society's Study of Cancer Survivors.
The study found higher HRQoL in survivors who were eating five portions of fruit and vegetable a day, meeting exercise recommendations and who smoked little or not at all.
The more lifestyle recommendations cancer survivors met, the higher their HRQoL score, regardless of the type of cancer they had suffered from.
Physical activity was found to have the biggest link with a high HRQoL score.
According to Cancer Research UK, around half of all cancers could be prevented by changes to lifestyle.
The organisation recommends not smoking, staying in shape, sun protection and healthy eating and drinking to help reduce risks of developing the disease.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
31 March 2008 17:13:52
More needs to be done to get across the message that people who eat processed meat regularly are increasing their risk of developing bowel cancer, a leading cancer expert has said.
Professor Martin Wiseman, medical and scientific adviser for World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), has warned people that if they eat 50g of processed meat a day then their risks of developing bowel cancer, an illness which may affect their life insurance policies, are increased by 20 per cent.
Although the scientific evidence is convincing, research shows only 30 per cent of Britons are aware that eating processed meat increases cancer risk.
Professor Wiseman said: "We are more sure now than ever before that eating processed meat increases your risk of bowel cancer and this is why WCRF recommends that people avoid eating it.
"The evidence is that whether you are talking about bacon, ham or pastrami, the safest amount to eat is none at all."
We need to do more to get this message across because if two-thirds of people do not know about the link, then they are not in a position to be able to make informed decisions about whether to eat it or not, he continued.
According to Cancer Research UK, bowel cancer causes almost 16,100 deaths in the UK each year.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
01 May 2008 12:41:43
The benefits of screening for aortic aneurysms have been outlined by a vascular surgeon.
Plans unveiled recently by the Department of Health include screenings of the main abdominal artery for all men aged 65 to check for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) - a condition which may affect their life insurance policies.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's 'Case Notes', Hany Hafez, a consultant vascular surgeon at St Richard's Hospital, said: "There is a certain benefit from picking up silent aneurisms, following them up and treating them in a timely fashion, and by doing this we have demonstrated that we can reduce the risk of dying from this condition to a great extent."
As aneurysms, particularly those in the abdomen, do not have any symptoms, once they do become systematic it is usually too late for successful intervention, he added.
However, "the main harm" with the screening programme is that patients diagnosed with an aneurysm might worry about their condition, the expert continued.
AAAs - which can cause the aorta to rupture - are the third most common cause of death among older men, the BBC reports.
The condition is responsible for around 3,000 deaths each year.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online