Critical Illness Cover for businesses and groups

Group critical illness cover pays a tax-free lump sum to an employee on diagnosis of a critical illness from either a defined list of conditions or a defined list of surgical procedures.

The benefit is paid after an employee survives for a specified period, which varies among providers. Calculation of the lump sum is at an employer's request and is usually a multiple of salary. A growing trend is to offer group critical illness cover within a flexible benefits scheme.

Group critical illness insurance is offered by a number of different insurers. However, each will have their own set of definitions and criteria. Generally, most insurance companies offering group critical illness cover require the companies/business to have more than 50 employees.

Key man insurance is something that smaller businesses may wish to consider as they are less likely to be able to have group critical illness insurance. Smaller businesses may be more reliant on specific members of their staff in that should they suffer a critical illness and be off work for any length of time it would have a detrimental affect on the business

Contact your independent adviser, Healthcare Partners, for more details.