In theory, yes. But its very unlikely.
It is technically possible to get life insurance cover with critical illness cover included. However, it’s very unlikely that this would be something you could achieve.
Why? Because there are a few things about insurance that usually make it cheaper and easier for people to buy the two policies separately instead of together as one policy.
Policy providers prefer to sell the two types of policies separately because:
- They can quote you their cheapest price, based on your personal health and lifestyle.
- They can offer more flexible payment options (e.g., monthly or annually).
- You can take out a life insurance policy first, then add critical illness cover later on when it makes sense for you financially (e.g., when you’re ready to buy a house).
Why do insurers not offer life insurance with critical illness cover?
You may have noticed that insurers don’t offer life insurance with critical illness cover as a package. This is because insurers like to keep things simple. Each type of policy has its own set of rules, so it’s easier for the insurer if they can sell one type of policy at a time.
For example, when you take out life insurance, the insurer will want to know details about your health such as your weight and whether you smoke. They will also ask if you’ve previously had any serious illnesses such as cancer or heart disease. If you answer yes to these questions, they may charge extra for your life insurance policy or refuse to provide cover altogether.
If an insurer offered a combined life insurance and critical illness cover policy, it would be much harder to assess the risk they were taking on. It would be more difficult for them to decide how much cover customers should get under each section of their combined policy and what price they should charge for it all since there are so many different factors involved in assessing the risk for each separate part of the policy (life insurance and critical illness cover).
It may be possible to add critical illness cover to your life insurance policy later on.
It may be possible to add critical illness cover to your life insurance policy later on. This will depend on what type of life insurance policy you have:
- Some life insurance policies, such as term life insurance policies and whole-of-life insurance policies, can have critical illness cover added as an optional extra. However, other types of life insurance policies, such as cancer and terminal illness cover, may not allow you to add CI cover.
- If you already have an existing critical illness cover policy, you won’t normally be able to take out a separate critical illness policy or add it to your existing life insurance policy.