How to apply for life insurance. Critical illness Benefit – Life Insurance I Post Office®

Why might you need Critical Illness Benefit? Critical illness cover.

No-one wants to think about getting seriously ill. And while survival rates for critical illnesses are improving^ life after a diagnosis often changes dramatically – with both a personal and financial cost.

Choosing Critical Illness Benefit with your Post Office Money Life Insurance policy could give you extra peace of mind.

The extra cash sum could help cover your mortgage, rent, childcare costs and living expenses or even pay for medication or changes to your home. Something to fall back on while you concentrate on getting better.

Why choose our Critical Illness Benefit?

When you purchase our Life Insurance you can:

Pay a bit more each month for added reassurance

Get extra cover equivalent to 25% of your life cover cash sum if you're diagnosed with a critical illness that meets our definition

Cover for three of the most common* critical illnesses: cancer – excluding less advanced cases, heart attack – of specified severity and stroke – of specified severity

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How does it work?

If you'd like the Critical Illness Benefit, choose to add it when you apply for your Post Office Money Life Insurance. You won't be able to add it once your policy has started. You won’t be able to reduce or increase the cash sum but you can remove it at any time.

You'll pay more each month, and we'll pay out a cash sum if you're diagnosed with a covered critical illness that meets our definitions.

Critical Illness Benefit will pay an extra cash sum of 25% of the value of your Post Office Money Life Insurance - a maximum of £125,000. It won't change over your policy term unless you choose Increasing Cover, in which case it grows over time too.

You must be covered by your policy when you claim, be diagnosed with one of the three critical illnesses covered that meet our definition and then survive for at least 10 days after this. If you do claim for a critical illness your Critical Illness Benefit will end, but your main policy will continue until the end of the term, with no change to the cash sum so long as you keep making your monthly payments.

Some common questions

Which critical illnesses are covered?

Can I choose my level of Critical Illness Benefit?

How much will my policy pay out if I suffer from one of the covered critical illnesses?

It depends on the type of cover you choose.

For Level and Decreasing Cover, the Critical Illness Benefit can pay out an extra cash sum equivalent to 25% of the life cover cash sum of your Post Office Money Life Insurance if you claim during your policy term. It won’t reduce.

For Increasing Cover, your Critical Illness Benefit cash sum will increase 3% in line with your Post Office Money Life Insurance cover amount.

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Here's what the Critical Illness Benefit cash sum could be for different types of cover at different points in the policy if the life cover cash sum was £100,000 and a claim was made at the start of the year.

Critical Illness Benefit payable by year of claim

Will my Post Office Money Life Insurance cover stop if I claim for Critical Illness Benefit?

Will my life cover cash sum go down if I claim for Critical Illness Benefit?

Can I add Critical Illness Benefit later?

What changes can I make?

Do I get any medical consultation?

What about tax?

Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to the policy wording.

^ Source: Royal London, Cover the Unexpected: Managing the impact of critical illness, 2015

† Source: Macmillan Cancer Support, Statistics Fact Sheet, 2015

Post Office Money Life Insurance is provided by The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited.

It offers up to £500,000 of life cover for customers who are UK residents aged 18-70 at the start of the policy. The minimum term is 5 years and cover must end before your 81st birthday.

We won’t pay a claim on death if it was as a result of suicide or intentional self-inflicted injury within 12 months of the start date of your policy.

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We won’t pay a claim on terminal illness if you don’t meet our definition of terminal illness; or terminal illness is caused by intentional self-inflicted injury within 12 months of the start date of your policy. The full definition of terminal illness can be found in the Terms and Conditions.

The Critical Illness Benefit is an additional option to Post Office Money Life Insurance, and Post Office Money Life Insurance Terms and Conditions apply. Find out more

Critical Illness Benefit can pay an extra cash sum if you are diagnosed, during the term of your policy, with one of the three critical illnesses covered that meets our definition and then survive for at least 10 days after.

If your Post Office Money Life Insurance policy ends, your Critical Illness Benefit ends and you cannot make a claim.

If you’re choosing to add Critical Illness Benefit to meet a specific financial commitment, you need to be comfortable that the amount of the extra cash sum will meet your needs. We cannot provide you financial advice, but you can find a financial advisor at unbiased.co.uk.

We won’t pay a claim if you don’t keep your payments up to date as you will no longer be covered under the policy. If you don’t tell us something or give us an incorrect answer to our application questions that affects your cover we may reduce the amount we pay for a claim or at worst cancel your cover and not refund your monthly payments. If you’re a UK resident aged between 18 and 70, excluding members of the Armed Forces, Army Reserve (previously known as the TA) or Reservists, you can apply. Please see Terms and Conditions for further details about the restrictions that apply.