No one likes to think about the possibility of suffering a serious critical illness but if it were to happen, the consequences could be potentially devastating for yourself and your family.

Critical Illness Insurance will pay you a tax free lump sum on diagnosis of any one of a wide range of specified illnesses including certain types of cancer, heart attack, stroke, brain tumor and major organ failure.

However, Critical illness policies can vary greatly in the cover they offer so it is important to shop around. A basic plan will cover the most serious conditions like cancer, but a more comprehensive plan will cover many more (usually over 30 conditions), such as blindness, loss of limbs, traumatic head injury, deafness, third degree burns and total and permanent disability. Some plans will even cover your children at no additional cost.