Critical Illness Cover Critical Illness Cover Critical Illness Cover gives you choices when you need them most. It pays you a lump sum if you contract one of a list of conditions set out by an insurer as long as you survive 14 - 28 days depending on the policy. You keep the money even if you fully recover. We generally recommend a sum assured about twice gross salary, but this will finally depend on your judgement of what is right for you. The lump sum can be used for any purpose you wish and may include: • Paying for private specialist treatment • Removing debts and mortgages to make income go further • Adaptation of your house to better support a disability • Ensuring long term goals are achieved e.g. supporting children through higher education • Offsetting your loss of NHS pension provision if you cannot work • Sharing the cruise of a lifetime with family • Setting up a charitable foundation It is important to disclose all medical conditions in detail when applying – we shall help you – and then you can rest assured that when the insurer offers a contract it will be based on sound evidence. The range of conditions varies greatly between insurers and needs careful consideration – again, we shall provide comparisons when recommendation are made. Some insurers allow critical illness policies to help with support for long-term care. • In the UK in 2005 more than 45,500 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, that’s around 125 women a day1 • Someone dies from a heart attack every six minutes 2 • More than one in three deaths each year are from heart and circulatory disease2 • At least 450,000 people are severely disabled as a result of stroke in England.3 1 Cancer Research UK website, February 2009; 2 British Heart Foundation website, February 2009; 3 Stroke Association website February 2009 Ask us to call you back here to talk about ensuring that you have choices when you are very ill.