Critical illness cover and children's cover

Why might you need Critical Illness Cover?

No-one wants to think about getting seriously ill, but life after a diagnosis can often change dramatically – with both a personal and financial cost.

Choosing the optional critical illness cover with your Post Office Life Insurance policy could give you extra peace of mind.

The extra cash sum could help towards your mortgage, unexpected medical bills, or changes to your home. Something to fall back on if you were diagnosed with one of the serious conditions below.

Why choose our Critical Illness Cover?

When you purchase our Life Insurance you can:

• Pay a bit more each month for added reassurance to cover yourself for; cancer – excluding less advanced cases; coronary artery by-pass grafts – with surgery to divide the breastbone; heart attack – of specified severity; or stroke – resulting in permanent symptoms
• Get extra cover from minimum £10,000 to a maximum of up to £200,000 or no more than 100% of your life cover cash sum if you're diagnosed with a critical illness that meets our definition.
• Instant decision and immediate cover available when you purchase life insurance to put extra financial support in place, so you can focus on getting better, instead of worrying about the finances.

For full definitions and details about what is covered and what is not covered, Please refer to the terms & conditions.

Why choose our children’s cover?

It’s hard enough thinking about what life would be like if you were diagnosed with a critical illness yourself, let alone imagining your child falling seriously ill. Children’s cover can be added to your Post Office Life Insurance policy, for a little extra each month. It's designed to help cover extra costs that may be incurred for things like medical expenses, taking time off to attend hospital appointments and arranging childcare or making adaptations to your home, if your insured child suffers a specified injury or illness that meets our definition.

The children’s cover amount are available from £10,000 up to £30,000 and will be paid if, whilst covered under the policy, the insured child:

• dies within 90 days of an accident which occurred after the policy start date, or
• suffers one of the following injuries or illnesses:
  - bacterial meningitis – resulting in permanent symptoms;
  - blindness – permanent and irreversible;
  - cancer – excluding less advanced cases;
  - deafness – permanent and irreversible;
  - encephalitis – resulting in permanent symptoms;
  - loss of hands or feet – permanent physical severance;
  - paralysis – total and irreversible; or
  - traumatic head injury – resulting in permanent symptoms

For full definitions and details about what is covered and what is not covered, Please refer to terms & conditions.

If you'd like to add critical illness cover, you can do this either when you apply for your Post Office Life Insurance or after your policy has started.

You can increase or reduce the cover amount once the policy has started. Subject to policy terms.

• You'll pay an additional amount each month for your critical illness cover
• The minimum cover amount is £10,000
• The maximum cover amount at the start date is lesser of 100% of the Post Office Life Insurance cash sum or a maximum of £200,000.
• If you choose to add critical illness cover to a joint life insurance plan, the cash sum is payable upon the first life insured to suffer from a critical illness. The cash sum payable is specified in your policy summary.
• You must be covered by your policy when you make a claim and be diagnosed with one of the four critical illnesses covered that meet our definitions and survive for at least 30 days after diagnosis. You cannot make a claim during the first 3 months from the start date of the cover.

           Please refer to terms and conditions for exclusions and limitations.

• In the event a critical illness claim is payable, the critical illness cover will end and the monthly premium payment will be reduced accordingly, but your main life cover policy will continue until the end of the term, with no change to the cash sum made as long as you keep making your monthly premium payments.

Children’s cover can be added to your Post Office Life Insurance policy. It’s designed to help cover extra costs that may be incurred for things like medical expenses, adaptations needed to your home or loss of income due to caring duties, if your child suffers an accidental death or a specified serious injury or illness.

• You'll pay an additional premium each month for your children's cover
• When you apply for cover, the minimum cash sum for each insured child is £10,000 up to a maximum of £30,000
• Each insured child can be covered for a different individual cash sum, based on the limits above. In the event of a claim for an insured child, the children’s cover cash sum is payable once for each insured child. The cash sum payable is specified in your policy schedule
• The children must be under 21 years of age and must be resident in the United Kingdom at the start date; or if children's cover is added to the Post Office Life Insurance policy later, the date when they are accepted for cover. You cannot make a claim within the first 3 months of cover; if the condition was known to be present at birth or if the injury or illness occurred before the insured child's cover started.

Please refer to terms and conditions for exclusions and limitations.

The critical illness cover and children's cover are optional and cost extra each month but in the case of critical illness cover, it pays out an extra cash sum if you suffer a critical illness. The children's cover pays out an extra cash sum if they suffer an accidental death, specified serious injury or illness.

These optional covers are designed to add on to your Post Office Life Insurance policy, to help you financially while dealing with a critical illness, such as paying bills, maintaining your family's lifestyle, taking your child to medical appointments or adapting your home.

Things you need to know

If you're choosing to add critical illness cover or children's cover 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

The critical illness cover and children's cover are optional additions to Post Office Life Insurance. If your Post Office Life Insurance policy ends, your critical illness cover and or children's cover ends, and you cannot make a claim.

We won't pay a claim if two consecutive premium payments are missed or if you 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.

Terms and conditions apply. Please see terms and conditions for exclusions and limitations.

Post Office Life Insurance is underwritten and administered by Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited. Neilson Financial Services Limited assist in the administration.