The difference between combined and additional critical illness cover is what a critical illness payout does to your life cover. With combined cover (sometimes called accelerated cover) one policy pays once, so a critical illness claim uses up the life cover too; with additional cover the life insurance sits alongside the critical illness cover and is not used up by a critical illness claim, which is a main reason additional cover usually costs more.

An FCA-authorised broker can check which of the two a quote is and ask for the cover built the other way as well. Asking takes a few details sent from this page, and the broker's call-back costs nothing.

What happens to the life cover after a critical illness payout?

It comes down to how many times the cover can pay, and that is fixed by each insurer's terms, whatever the product is called. Legal & General's documents happen to show both patterns.

The combined version is in its Policy Terms and Conditions for Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover and Critical Illness Extra (QGI13939 - 2026/10), a document Legal & General hosts in the adviser section of its website:

If you choose a Life Insurance policy with Critical Illness Cover or Critical Illness Extra, only one claim can be made under full cover and the policy will end. This means if you make a Critical Illness Cover or Critical Illness Extra claim, you won't be able to make a Life Insurance claim.

That is combined cover: the critical illness payout is the policy's one payout, and the life claim is gone with it. For the other pattern, Legal & General's direct consumer terms (QGI12849 and QGI14872, October 2026) describe critical illness cover added as a separate policy, which they also call Additional or Independent Critical Illness Cover. If it accepts a critical illness claim on that separate policy, the terms say the Critical Illness Cover policy ends. The Life Insurance policy has its own rule, that it ends when a claim is paid under Life Insurance or Terminal Illness Cover.

Two Legal & General arrangements with similar names therefore part company at a critical illness claim: in one, the claim closes everything; in the other, only the critical illness policy closes. Our guide to life and critical illness cover explains what the critical illness part adds to a life policy, and how critical illness cover works covers the cover itself; this page is only about what happens next.

Royal London and Aviva: two other ways the cover is built

Royal London's terms for its life insurance with optional Serious Illness Benefit (code D2C TTC 1223139355) show a third arrangement, one policy where the critical illness part can be paid without ending the life part. The benefit is optional, and "You’ll pay extra each month for Serious Illness Benefit and this will be included in your monthly payment." After a payout the terms say:

Once we have paid your Serious Illness Payout, your Serious Illness Benefit will end. Your Life Cover will continue so you must keep making monthly payments for your Life Cover. Your monthly payments will be less because you’ll no longer be paying for Serious Illness Benefit.

Terminal illness works the other way in the same document: once Royal London has paid a terminal illness claim, "your policy will end" and the Serious Illness Benefit ends too (the difference is explained in critical illness cover and terminal illness cover). The terms also say you cannot add the Serious Illness Benefit option to a policy that has already been taken out, though you may apply for a new Life Cover policy with the option. Royal London's own policy is covered in its critical illness policy guide.

Aviva's Critical Illness Plan Policy Summary (DA09001, May 2023), the summary its critical illness cover page links to when read in October 2026, is the standalone version: a plan with no life cover in it. It says the plan "doesn’t pay out if you die", and that it pays its full cover amount just once, after which a claim means the plan ends. Because it does not pay on death, there is no life cover for a claim to end or to leave in place. Anyone who wants life cover as well would hold a separate life policy, and buying critical illness cover on its own looks at that route.

ArrangementAfter a critical illness payout
Legal & General, Life Insurance with Critical Illness CoverOnly one claim under full cover; the policy ends and a life claim is no longer possible
Legal & General, separate Critical Illness Cover policyThe Critical Illness Cover policy ends; the Life Insurance policy ends when a life or terminal illness claim is paid
Royal London, optional Serious Illness BenefitThe benefit ends; Life Cover continues and the monthly payments fall
Aviva, Critical Illness Plan (standalone)No life cover in the plan; it pays once and then ends

Other insurers write their own rules on this, and how a particular one treats a claim is something a broker can walk you through when it calls you back.

Why additional cover usually costs more

For the same amount and term, additional cover usually costs more than combined cover. MoneySavingExpert's critical illness guide (updated 28 July 2026) gives the reason in its own view: because additional policies could pay out more than once, they tend to be more expensive than combined ones. Royal London's terms show the same logic from the other side, treating the Serious Illness Benefit as an extra monthly payment that stops once the benefit has paid out.

How large the gap is depends on the insurer, your age, your health, whether you smoke, the length of the term and the amount of cover, and it can only be known from a quote. Anything that raises the amount covered or lengthens the term usually raises the premium too. The trade is plain enough: combined cover is usually the cheaper build and leaves no life cover after a critical illness claim, while additional cover usually costs more and keeps the life cover in place. Whether that is worth the extra is your call; whether critical illness cover is worth it has the considerations, and what critical illness insurance costs covers what moves the price.

To see the gap for yourself, ask for the same amount and term built both ways. Sending a few details through this page puts that request with a broker, who rings you at no cost.

How combined and additional cover show up on a quote

Insurers name the two builds in their own ways, so a product name on its own may not tell you which one you are being offered. The documents quoted above use these names:

  • Legal & General: Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover for the single policy that ends at the first payout, and Additional or Independent Critical Illness Cover for the separate policy.
  • Royal London: an optional Serious Illness Benefit within a life insurance policy. Its terms say "Your policy schedule will show you if you have this cover."
  • Aviva: a Critical Illness Plan, with no life cover in it.

Whatever name a quote uses, these are questions to put to the insurer or broker about it:

  • Is the critical illness cover part of the life policy or a separate policy?
  • After a critical illness claim, does the life cover end or carry on? Ask to see where the terms say so.
  • Does the quote show one cover amount and one premium, or separate figures for the life part and the critical illness part?
  • What do the terms say about a terminal illness claim, which at both Legal & General and Royal London ends the policy?

A terminal illness diagnosis and a critical illness diagnosis are separate triggers, each with its own conditions, so a quote can treat them differently. How soon a critical illness claim is paid, and what has to be true first, is covered in when critical illness cover pays out.

Not the same thing: additional conditions inside one policy

Searching for additional critical illness cover can land you on a different feature. Aviva's Critical Illness Plan summary (DA09001) says "Our Critical Illness Plan includes additional critical illness benefit.", which pays for a list of named conditions, and that "If you claim for an additional critical illness, your policy will continue. It won’t affect what we pay for any other benefit in the future." That is an extra benefit for particular conditions inside the one plan, not a second policy that pays alongside a life policy.

The two ideas answer different questions. Additional cover as a structure is about what survives a critical illness claim; additional conditions are about what the list covers, which the conditions covered page goes through. When a quote says "additional", the broker can tell you on the call-back which of the two it means.

Frequently asked questions

What does accelerated critical illness cover mean?

The term is sometimes used for combined cover, where the critical illness payment and the life payment come from one cover amount, so the policy pays once on whichever happens first. Legal & General's Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover works this way: after a critical illness claim, a life claim can no longer be made.

What is additional critical illness cover?

It is critical illness cover arranged so that a critical illness claim is not taken out of the life cover. Legal & General calls its separate version Additional or Independent Critical Illness Cover, a policy that ends after its own claim, and Royal London's terms say the Life Cover continues after a Serious Illness Payout.

Is additional or combined critical illness cover better?

Neither is better in itself. Combined cover usually costs less and ends the life cover when it pays; additional cover usually costs more and keeps the life cover going, so the choice turns on which of those you would rather have and what you can pay each month. A broker can show you both on the same terms.

How much additional critical illness cover can you have?

The limit is the insurer's. On Legal & General's product page, the critical illness amount may be smaller than the life insurance it sits beside but never larger, and Royal London's Serious Illness Payout has its own maximum by age when the policy starts. What an insurer would offer you is set by your age, health and the cover you ask for.

Does Aviva offer additional critical illness cover?

Aviva's Critical Illness Plan (DA09001) is a plan with no life cover in it, and its "additional critical illness" benefit is a set of extra conditions inside that plan, covered above. Whether it could sit beside a separate life policy for your circumstances is something a broker can go through on the free call-back.

If you are weighing combined against additional cover, an FCA-authorised broker can lay out both versions of the same policy for you; submit this page's form and it will ring you back, free. For a wider look at the cover, see how life insurance and critical illness cover differ, how much critical illness cover to consider, or the critical illness and income guides.

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