• 14 % of people don’ t know what critical illness is or how it could benefit them.
• 26 % say they don’ t need it because they don’ t have a mortgage – but it’ s not clear if they all have a plan in place to pay their rent and bills if they did become critically ill over a protracted period.
Even for clients who understand, there can be pushback about viewing critical illness as expensive, having protection is sadly often undervalued and misunderstood. Critical illness could give people access to early treatment, keep them in their home or give them time to recuperate, all while facing challenges with the cost-of-living.
The CIExpert report also explored what clients would really value when it comes to critical illness cover:
• 45 % of advisers said if clients received a payout immediately after being added to the NHS waiting list, their client would be more likely to buy critical illness cover.
• 60 % of advisers said if additional / severity payments were paid quickly enough to pay for private treatment, their client would be more likely to buy critical illness cover.
• 67 % of advisers said if their client received a payment quickly enough to pay for private treatment for early-stage cancers, they’ d be more likely to buy critical illness cover.
This last point particularly makes sense given that fewer than 70 % of cancer patients are treated within 62 days of referral – the target is 85 % 2. When diagnosis and treatment delays can escalate over time into a matter of life and death, the monthly payment for a critical illness policy can seem like it adds up to better value.
“ We’ ve made a series of enhancements to our Critical Illness Plus policy to enable us to make an additional payout for certain conditions, and in some cases an earlier payout if the client is added to an NHS waiting list for eligible surgery. This adds real value for customers at a time when they are potentially facing real difficulties, both personal and financial. We want to be there to help,” says Tim Norman, Head of Protection Products, HSBC Life
So what’ s new? To help meet policyholders’ desired outcomes and fulfil the need for good decisions following advice, we’ ve looked hard at our policies and made some changes – particularly for our Critical Illness Plus policy which provides our enhanced cover.
The changes we’ ve made to Plus fall into four broad categories:
• Top up payments( up to age 60) – with additional payouts that reflect the financial obligations of working-age clients. This offers an extra payment of £ 200,000 or the sum assured( whichever is lower) if a claim is made for one of nine listed conditions. Successful claimants could use the money for whatever they want, whether that is private treatment, to pay bills, home adaptations or to cross off bucket list experiences. Essentially to provide a better quality of life.
• Enhanced critical illness definitions – we want it to be clearer what people are covered for and at the same time provide broader, improved cover, such as increasing the accidental hospitalisation payout from £ 5,000 to £ 50,000 or 50 % of the sum assured( whichever is lower) for valid claims.
• Pregnancy complications – we’ ll pay out £ 5,000 on seven different types of complication including still birth after 24 weeks, disseminated intravascular coagulation( DIC) or eclampsia and ectopic pregnancy with surgery to remove a fallopian tube.
• NHS waiting lists – NHS data shows that as of June 2025, there were around 6.23 million individual patients 3 waiting for treatment on the NHS waiting list in England alone. The number of people waiting over 52 weeks stood at around 192,000. Customers can claim when they are placed on the NHS waiting list for surgery for relevant conditions – they don’ t have to wait for the surgery to actually take place. This gives claimants a wider range of options including paying for private surgery to get treatment sooner.
WE’ VE MADE A SERIES OF ENHANCEMENTS TO OUR CRITICAL ILLNESS PLUS POLICY TO ENABLE US TO MAKE AN ADDITIONAL PAYOUT FOR CERTAIN CONDITIONS, AND IN SOME CASES AN EARLIER PAYOUT IF THE CLIENT IS ADDED TO AN NHS WAITING LIST FOR ELIGIBLE SURGERY.
What it means for advisers and their clients Our newly enhanced Critical Illness Plus policy is a stronger value proposition for potential clients. There for them when they need it most – offering them flexibility to deal with their situation in their own way with less pressure on paying the bills or getting back to work.
We haven’ t forgotten our Core Critical Illness policy. We’ ve also made some improvements to this too. For example, we’ re enhancing the definitions around blindness, less advanced prostate cancer and traumatic brain injury to make it easier to understand when a claim can be made. We’ ve also included some more conditions to receive an NHS waiting list payout for all new customers, not just Plus.
To find out more about what has changed – read on for a closer look at the enhancements.
1
From 1 January to 31 December 2024, HSBC Life( UK) paid out claims, accumulated across all its Life and Critical Illness products and distribution channels.
2 https:// researchbriefings. files. parliament. uk / documents / CBP-7281 / CBP-7281. pdf
3 https:// www. bma. org. uk / advice-and-support / nhs-delivery-and-workforce / pressures / nhs-backlog-data-analysis | PROTECTION ADVISER | AUTUMN 2025 | 37