Critical Illness & Disability Cover Planner

A critical-illness plan pays a fixed, tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of the specific serious illnesses it lists (such as cancer, heart attack or stroke), regardless of your actual hospital bills. You can use the payout for anything — income replacement, home care, or costs a health policy will not reimburse.

Health insurance reimburses hospitalisation expenses up to its limit. Critical-illness insurance pays a lump sum on diagnosis, independent of the actual bill, and is meant to cover the wider financial impact — lost income and non-medical costs — during a long recovery. The two work together rather than replacing each other.

A common approach sizes the cover to replace a few years of income plus expected out-of-pocket and recovery costs, less any existing critical-illness cover. Because it is income-protection, the right figure tracks your earnings and dependents. This calculator suggests a level for your situation.