Critical illness cover can be bought on its own from some insurers but not others. Aviva's Critical Illness Plan has no life cover in it, Vitality says you can take out a serious illness plan without life insurance, Legal & General's own page says its critical illness cover cannot be taken out alone, and Royal London's is available through an adviser.

Which insurers might consider critical illness alone, at your age and in your health, is something an FCA-authorised broker can check for you. Tap your answers into the form on this page, which takes minutes, and the broker rings back at no charge.

Which insurers sell critical illness cover without life insurance?

Vitality's consumer page (as archived on 23 August 2026) puts the question itself, "Can you get serious or critical illness cover without life insurance?", and starts its answer with "This will vary depending on your selected provider." Here is where five insurers stand:

Insurer and productWithout life cover?
Aviva, Critical Illness PlanYes: a plan with no life cover in it
Vitality, Serious Illness CoverYes, through a quote online and a conversation with its team
Legal & General, Critical Illness Cover (direct)No: it goes with a Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance policy
Royal London, Critical Illness CoverAvailable through an independent financial adviser
Scottish Widows, Plan & Protect and Scottish Widows ProtectCritical illness can be its own plan; see below

Aviva's Critical Illness Plan Policy Summary (DA09001, May 2023) is the one its product page tells you to read before applying. The plan can cover one person or two, and the summary says it does not pay out if you die. Applicants must be aged between 18 and 64.

Vitality's page says: "At Vitality, you can take out a serious illness plan without taking out life insurance." You get a quote online and then speak to a member of its team.

Legal & General's direct page (reviewed 29 January 2026) says: "You can’t take out Critical Illness Cover only – it needs to be taken out with a Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance policy." Its terms (October 2026) do call the critical illness policy a separate one, but separate means alongside the life policy, not instead of it. The same page gives 67 as the oldest age to take it out.

Royal London's consumer page says its Critical Illness Cover is available through an independent financial adviser and pays a lump sum or monthly income on a covered diagnosis or total permanent disability. Its plan details (July 2025) are held on its adviser site, so treat them as adviser-sold product literature. If you would want Royal London's cover with no life policy next to it, the broker can raise that with you when it rings.

Scottish Widows' critical illness page, read October 2026, says: "For Plan & Protect, you would need to take out two separate plans, one for life and the other for critical illness." The Scottish Widows Protect policy summary that page links (January 2026) names Critical Illness Cover as a policy you can choose apart from Life with Critical Illness Cover.

What does critical illness cover on its own pay out for?

Aviva's summary sets two tests, both inside the policy term: a diagnosis that meets one of its own definitions, and survival of at least 10 days. Illnesses it does not define are outside the cover, and its consumer page is plain that "Our critical illness plan does not pay out on death." Terminal illness, where death is expected within 12 months, is on its list, so that money is paid on the diagnosis, during the person's lifetime.

Vitality's plan works on a sliding scale: its page says the amount depends on your level of cover, how severe the illness is and whether you have claimed before, and asks that you survive 14 days after diagnosis. How Vitality's serious illness cover pays sets out the scale. Lists of illnesses vary between insurers (conditions covered by critical illness cover), a claim is traced step by step in when critical illness cover pays out, and tax is dealt with under whether payouts are taxable.

What happens to a standalone policy after a claim?

In most of these plans one full claim brings the plan to a close. Aviva pays its full amount a single time and the plan then stops, though a claim for one of its smaller additional critical illness payments leaves it running. On a joint plan, the same summary keeps cover going for the survivor after a death. Royal London's plan details say the same about a single payout, after which cover stops. Vitality is the outlier, since its page says you can claim more than once.

At Legal & General, where the critical illness policy sits beside a life policy, an accepted critical illness claim ends only the critical illness policy; combined and additional critical illness cover explains what each way of building it leaves in place. For a plan from any other insurer, ask on your call-back what a paid claim would leave you holding.

Do you need life insurance as well as critical illness cover?

Each answers a different event, so one does not stand in for the other. Legal & General's terms (October 2026) say its life policy is designed to cover a death, or a terminal illness diagnosis, within the policy's term; a critical illness policy instead pays on a diagnosis from its own list. A plan built like Aviva's pays nothing on death, so money paid on your death would have to come from a separate life policy.

Whether you need both turns on your own circumstances: who depends on your income, what would replace it if you were ill, and what an employer or savings already provide. These pages set out the questions: whether critical illness cover is worth it, how life insurance and critical illness cover differ and income protection, critical illness and life cover compared. If you work for yourself, critical illness cover for the self-employed covers the position without an employer scheme, and each related product has its own guide under critical illness and income cover.

What moves the price of critical illness cover on its own?

No single figure fits everyone. Aviva's consumer page lists the inputs as things like your personal circumstances, medical history, policy term and the level of cover chosen. MoneySavingExpert's guide (updated 28 July 2026), giving its own view, says: "The more cover you get and the longer the term, the more it'll cost." In its view older age, poor health, smoking and even a risky job push the cost up as well.

Aviva's policy summary also says how the premium behaves later. On level or decreasing cover it is guaranteed. On increasing cover, where the cover amount itself rises each year with the CPI (up to a maximum of 10%), premiums "could change": they rise each year by 1.5 times the CPI increase, capped at 15% a year, and do not rise at all if the CPI does not. You can turn down a year's increase, and then both the cover amount and the premium stay the same for that year. Legal & General prices its critical illness cover as an add-on: its page says it "is added at an extra cost". What critical illness insurance costs goes further into pricing.

To set a critical illness only quote against one with life cover attached, the broker who answers this page's form can fetch both on your details, with no charge for the call.

Frequently asked questions

Is critical illness cover on its own unusual?

MoneySavingExpert's guide (updated 28 July 2026) calls it a common add-on to life insurance while noting that standalone policies exist. Of the insurers in the table, Aviva and Vitality sell it without life cover, while Legal & General's direct cover has to go with a life policy.

Can I add critical illness cover to a life policy I already have?

Legal & General's page describes it being added, at extra cost, when you take out a Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance policy. If the life policy you already hold is with a different insurer, the broker can find out whether it would take critical illness cover on top.

How do I get a quote for critical illness cover only?

It depends on the insurer: Vitality asks you to get a quote online and then speak to its team, and Royal London says to speak to a financial adviser. A broker can also ask several insurers about critical illness only on your behalf.

Once you would like figures of your own, the form on this page, a short set of questions, leads to an FCA-authorised broker's call about critical illness cover without life insurance, free of charge.

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