Workplace protection
Group Critical Illness
A tax-free lump sum on diagnosis of one of the listed conditions, paid on diagnosis rather than on incapacity, so the money arrives while decisions are still being made.
Dublin city centre
Who it is for
Employers adding a diagnosis benefit to a group package
What it does
- Core and extended condition lists
- Children’s cover included as standard
- Second medical opinion service for members and families
- Cover continues during maternity and paternity leave
The product in full
Group critical illness pays on diagnosis, not on incapacity. That single distinction is what it is for. An employee diagnosed with cancer may still be working, may intend to keep working, and may need money immediately — for travel to treatment, for a partner to reduce their hours, for adaptations at home. Income protection pays when they stop working. This pays when they are told.
Cover comes on a core list of twelve conditions or an extended list of more than forty. The core list covers the conditions that account for the overwhelmajority of claims; the extended list adds a long tail of rarer diagnoses. The honest way to present the choice is that the extended list changes the claims experience of a small number of members considerably and the scheme’s total claims experience only a little.
Children’s cover is included as standard rather than offered as an option, because a diagnosis in a member’s child is one of the situations in which an employer’s benefit package matters most. Cover also continues during maternity and paternity leave, which sounds administrative and is the sort of gap that otherwise produces a declined claim at the worst possible time.
A second medical opinion service is available to members and their families. It is used far more often than the benefit is claimed, and it is frequently the most valuable part of the policy to the person using it.
Literature
Product literature is issued to appointed intermediaries. Ask your underwriter, or request it through the enquiry form.
- Policy conditionsOn request
- Condition definitionsOn request
- Claim formOn request
How it works
What happens, in order
From the first enquiry to the point the cover, the contract or the facility is in place.
The condition list and the benefit are chosen
Core list of twelve, or extended list of more than forty. Benefit typically one to three times salary.
The scheme is rated on its own data
Age and gender profile, occupations and membership size, with a two-year rate guarantee.
Members are covered, children included
Children’s cover is standard, and cover continues through maternity and paternity leave.
A claim is made on diagnosis
Against the condition definitions in the policy, which are what a claim is actually assessed on. They are published, and they repay reading before a scheme is placed.
The lump sum is paid, and the support services remain
Including the second medical opinion service for the member and their family.
The numbers
A worked example
Illustrative arithmetic, so the shape of the product is visible rather than described. Nothing here is a quotation or a projection.
A 200-member scheme at twice salary
Illustrative figures, comparing the two condition lists on the same membership.
- Members
- 200
- Total annual payroll
- £8,600,000
- Benefit basis
- 2× salary
- Total sum assured
- £17,200,000
- Illustrative premium, core list of 12
- £51,600 a year
- Illustrative premium, extended list of 40+
- £68,800 a year
- DifferenceAbout £86 per member
- £17,200 a year
- Children’s cover
- Included on both
- Rate guarantee
- 2 years
Illustrative and not a quotation. What a claim pays depends on the condition definitions in the policy rather than on the diagnosis alone, which is why the definitions document is part of the quotation pack rather than an appendix to it.
Core list against extended list
Illustrative annual premium for the 200-member scheme above.
View these figures as a table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Core list of 12 | £51.6k |
| Extended list of 40+ | £68.8k |
Suitability
Where the Group Critical Illness fits
The cases it answers, the cases it does not, and what an underwriter needs before quoting.
It is the right answer when
- Employers adding a diagnosis benefit alongside life or income protection cover.
- Workforces who would value a second medical opinion service.
- Employers who want children’s cover included without arranging it separately.
Look at something else when
- Replacing income during absence — that is Group Income Protection, and the two pay at different moments.
- Cover for death only, which Group Life Insurance does more cheaply.
What we need to quote
- 1.The scheme data template and the benefit basis.
- 2.The condition list required — core or extended.
- 3.Claims history, if the scheme is transferring from another insurer.
Questions
What brokers ask us about this product
Does a diagnosis always mean a claim?
No. Claims are assessed against the policy’s condition definitions, which specify severity and staging. That is why the definitions document should be read when the scheme is placed rather than when a claim is made.
What does children’s cover pay?
A benefit on the diagnosis of a listed condition in a member’s child, on the terms set out in the policy. It is included as standard on both condition lists.
Can a member claim on both this and income protection?
They are separate policies answering separate events — a diagnosis and an incapacity. Where both apply, both are assessed on their own terms.
Request information
Ask us about the Group Critical Illness
The form reaches an underwriter in Dublin. If you are an intermediary, say so and we will route it to the broker desk.