Critical Illness Insurance

This critical illness insurance section has been included for completeness - if you want unemployment cover you should look at our accident sickness and unemployment insurance section.

You can only choose this benefit if it is to protect a secured loan which is used to purchase your home/principal private residence and if you are not currently in arrears on your mortgage repayments.

You cannot take out unemployment benefit on its own.

You must take it out with one of the other benefits available under this plan. This benefit is made up of two parts. It will give you:

• > a monthly income if you become unemployed through no fault of your own, and

• > premium payment benefit (unemployment) will take care of your premiums while you are receiving your monthly benefit.

You choose the level of cover that you want. However, the following limits apply.

The definition of salary or earned income is the same as that used for disability income benefit

For example, if your salary or earned income is £30,000 a year and your mortgage is £100,000, the most we would pay is £1,000 a month (ie 40% x £30,000 = £12,000 a year or £1,000 a month). This has been checked to make sure it is within our maximum limits (ie 12.5% x £100,000 = £12,500 a year and is not more than £24,000 a year).

When you take out your benefit, you can choose the deferred period you want and the maximum payment period you would want to receive your benefit.

eight weeks; or 52 weeks; or 13 weeks; 104 weeks.

The deferred period is the period during which an insured person must be unemployed before we pay any benefit and starts from the later of:

• > the date you registered with the appropriate Government office in the UK, the Channel Islands or The Isle of Man, and start to receive any appropriate benefits; and

• > the end of any period for which you have received payment in lieu of notice.

There is an eight week waiting period from the later date of:

• > when we issue our acceptance terms; and

• > the start date of your unemployment benefit during which if you become unemployed or are notified that you will become unemployed at a later date, no claim will be payable in respect of that period of unemployment.

We will pay your benefit until the first of the following events happens:

• > you reach the end of your chosen payment period

• > you cease to be unemployed

• > you reach the end of your benefit term

• > you die.

The maximum age at the end of the benefit term is 65 and your benefit will end on the benefit anniversary after you reach 65, (or the first life to reach 65 if you choose joint-life benefit).

If you find temporary work whilst unemployed, and we are happy that it is temporary and will not continue for more than six months, your unemployment benefit will stop being paid. Payments will resume when the temporary work finishes.

When we accept a claim, we will pay the benefit amount 30 days in arrears.

There are some situations where we will not pay claims for unemployment benefit. You will find these in the section headed Exclusions and Limitations of the plan

Although critical illness insurance policies can provide unemployment insurance we suggest that a separate policy may be more suitable. Please use the quotation link below to request more information on critical illness insurance. and the link at the top for information about ASU cover.

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