Group Critical Illness

Discover the benefits of Group Critical Illness, including who we cover, what support you’ll receive and how to apply.

This workplace benefit will make a tax-free payment to your employees if they’re diagnosed with a serious illness – as long as it’s one we cover. They’ll qualify for the payment if they survive a set period of time as outlined by the terms of the policy.

As an employer, you can tailor this policy to your business needs. For example, you might choose to cover all permanent employees aged between 16 and 70.

We can cover a wide range of organisations, including:

• Companies registered in the UK
• Companies registered in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man
• Branch offices of companies outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, provided the branch is registered in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man
• Equity partnerships
• Limited liability partnerships
• Trade bodies, charities or any other legal entity

We can cover most employees who work in the UK, including:

• Permanent employees
• Part-time employees
• Directors
• Zero-hour contract employees
• Fixed-term contract employees
• Temporary employees

Please get in touch if you want to cover employees that aren’t on this list.

Every policy includes 12 core illnesses:

• Cancer
• Cardiac Arrest
• Coronary artery bypass grafts
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
• Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease
• Heart attack
• Kidney failure
• Major organ transplant
• Motor neurone disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Stroke

You can add a further 26 illnesses and conditions, including blindness, HIV and rheumatoid arthritis. See the full list of illnesses and conditions we cover.

You can also include cover for:

• A diagnosis of a second and subsequent cancer
• Total permanent disability, which covers employees if they become permanently disabled
• A number of child-specific illnesses

Multiple of salary

As an employer, you can choose to cover your employees by a multiple of their salary – up to 10 times their salary. For example, if you chose to cover an employee earning £25,000 by a multiple of 4, their total benefit would be £100,000.

There’s no maximum multiple, but an employee’s total benefit is limited to £500,000.

Fixed benefits

You can set a fixed amount for all employees, regardless of their salary. For example, all of your employees could receive a fixed benefit of £50,000.

These benefits are limited to a maximum of £500,000.

Children’s cover

We’ll automatically cover your employees' children with every policy – free of charge.

If they’re under 18 (22 if in full-time education), we’ll cover them for 25% of the employee’s benefit, up to a maximum of £25,000.

Optional benefits:

Partner cover

We can also cover your employees’ partner.

These benefits can be a multiple of the employee’s salary, or a fixed benefit. They’re limited to £150,000 or the employee’s benefit if that’s lower.

Example policies

Here are two different examples of policies the employer could choose:

You can choose exactly who to cover and when their cover should start.

Age

You’ll need to set minimum and maximum age limits. The minimum age we can cover is 16 and the maximum age is 70.

Entry date

This is the date employees join the policy. It can either be the day the employee joins the company or at a set time throughout the year e.g. the first of every month.

Minimum service

You can add a minimum service requirement, so that you only cover employees after a set period of employment. This is normally linked to your probationary period.

Toothfairy™

The UK’s first health regulated, smart dental app. Designed by dentists and partnering with real dentists in the UK, Toothfairy provides instant access to advice, guidance and prescriptions, all from the comfort of home.

myStrength

A mental wellbeing app designed to help employees overcome life’s challenges. Employees can learn from hundreds of evidence-based activities at their own pace, from guided meditation to improving sleep, helping them to make simple everyday changes to improve their mental wellbeing.

Personal Nurse Service

For employee critical illness claims, a qualified nurse will provide practical and emotional support over the phone – for as long as they need it.

Second Medical Opinion

If your employee or their immediate family are facing a health problem, we offer access to over 50,000 leading consultants worldwide on diagnoses and treatments for almost any condition.

To get a quote we’ll need the following information:

• Employer details
• The benefits you want to include
• What age the cover should end
• What illnesses you want to cover
• Cover details for individual employees (e.g. sex, date of birth, salary, occupation, work location, business travel)

We might need more information if another provider already covers the benefits.

Please send your quote request to: groupquotes@canadalife.co.uk