Critical illness insurance

The New Guide to Minimum Standards for Critical Illness Cover

The Association of British Insurers released a revised Guide to Minimum Standards for Critical Illness Cover on 16 September 2022. Before then, the Minimum Standards were last reviewed in 2018.

The review of and updates to the Minimum Standards were supported by the ABI Critical Illness Working Group and the ABI Health and Protection Board before being approved by the ABI Board. 

To view the new Guide to Minimum Standards for Critical Illness, please click here. To view the Consumer Guide to Critical Illness insurance, please click here.  

All critical illness policies cover the following illnesses, providing they are of a certain severity:

• cancer
• heart attack
• stroke

Covers varies between insurers and some policies include additional medical conditions, so check the details of your policy with your insurer.

Next steps

If you have a policy, want to buy some cover, or just want more information:

• read through your policy and / or talk to your insurer
• talk to a financial adviser or insurance broker through unbiased.co.uk or the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) website to find out more about critical illness cover 
• shop around to find out more on how to buy the best type of critical illness cover for you