Legal & General critical illness cover is a separate policy that runs alongside an L&G life insurance or decreasing life insurance policy, and by our count the list in its October 2026 policy summary holds 36 main conditions, from aorta graft surgery to traumatic brain injury. Two more, carcinoma in situ of the breast and low grade prostate cancer, can bring a part-payment without ending the policy.
Whether a plan like this fits depends on your health, your family and what the money would need to do. To talk that through with an FCA-authorised broker, send this page's short form; the broker phones you, and the call is free.
Is L&G critical illness cover a standalone policy or part of its life insurance?
Neither, quite. L&G's critical illness page says the cover cannot be bought by itself: it is added, at an extra cost, to a Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance policy. Once added it is a policy in its own right, which L&G's terms (QGI14872, October 2026) say is "also referred to as Additional or Independent Critical Illness Cover". The at-a-glance table in the policy summary (QGI14786, October 2026) shows critical illnesses as None for life insurance taken alone.
The life policy keeps its own terminal illness benefit, for an illness that L&G's Medical Officer and your consultant think will lead to death within 12 months. Whether other insurers sell the cover alone is in can you buy critical illness cover on its own.
- How much. L&G lets the critical illness sum be less than the life sum, never more, and cover type and premium options may differ between the two.
- Who can apply. UK residents aged 18 to 67, for a term of two to 50 years that must end before you turn 75. L&G describes the premiums as guaranteed unless you change the policy.
- What a claim does. A full critical illness claim pays the amount once and ends that policy, though L&G says the cover can pay out separately from the life insurance. Claims for the two part-payment conditions, or for a child, do not end it.
Joint policies and the replacement option after a claim are set out in our Legal & General life insurance guide. On tax, L&G's summary expects its payouts to sit outside UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax. If you meet a definition and survive 14 days but die before the claim is settled, the policy can still pay, to your estate, where Inheritance Tax may apply, and L&G says this policy cannot be issued or assigned into a trust. Whether critical illness payouts are taxed and critical illness policies and trusts go further.
What are the 36 conditions on L&G's list?
The total of 36 is our count of the entries on pages 11 and 12 of the summary, and they match the list on L&G's what's-covered page. The table groups them by part of the body.
| Group | Conditions on L&G's main list |
|---|---|
| Heart and circulation | Aorta graft surgery; cardiac arrest (with insertion of a defibrillator); cardiomyopathy; coronary artery by-pass grafts; heart attack; heart valve replacement or repair; open heart surgery; primary pulmonary hypertension |
| Cancer and blood | Cancer (excluding less advanced cases); aplastic anaemia |
| Brain and nervous system | Benign brain tumour; bacterial meningitis; coma; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; dementia including Alzheimer's disease; encephalitis; motor neurone disease; multiple sclerosis; multiple system atrophy; Parkinson's disease; progressive supranuclear palsy; stroke; spinal stroke; traumatic brain injury; paralysis of limb |
| Organs | Kidney failure; liver failure; major organ transplant; respiratory failure; systemic lupus erythematosus |
| Senses, limbs and injury | Blindness; deafness; loss of speech; loss of hand or foot; removal of an eyeball; third degree burns |
The name in the table is a short label, not the test. L&G's what's-covered page warns that "the heading of each critical illness is only a guide to what is covered", and the summary adds that "some types of cancer are not covered" and that for some illnesses "you need to have permanent symptoms." A UK consultant whose specialism L&G considers appropriate must confirm the diagnosis. The terms also define Total and Permanent Disability, but that applies only where it is shown in your own terms and policy schedule.
If you already hold L&G critical illness cover, L&G tells you to go by your original policy documents, because the illnesses you are covered for may differ from today's list. For a new policy the contract is the terms together with your policy schedule; the Guide to Critical Illnesses Covered (QGI14860, January 2026) is an earlier, plain-English companion. How other insurers' lists compare is in which conditions critical illness cover usually includes, one of our critical illness and income guides.
What does the policy wording say about cancer, heart attack and stroke?
Cancer. The October 2026 terms define it as "Any malignant tumour positively diagnosed with histological confirmation and characterised by the uncontrolled growth of malignant cells and invasion of tissue." A list of exclusions follows: pre-malignant and in situ cancers; tumours of borderline malignancy or low malignant potential; prostate tumours unless they have a Gleason score of 7 or more or have reached a stated stage; melanoma confined to the outer layer of skin and other cancers confined to the skin; and some thyroid, urothelial, neuroendocrine and stromal tumours below a set stage or grade. L&G's what's-covered page puts the effect simply: "a cancer needs to have spread or reached a specified severity to be covered under the policy." More on cancer claims is in critical illness cover for cancer.
Heart attack. The wording opens "A definite diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction with death of heart muscle as evidenced by all of the following:" and then needs both new ECG or imaging changes and the typical rise in cardiac markers such as troponins. Excluded are "myocardial injury without infarction" and "angina without myocardial infarction".
Stroke. The terms require "Death of brain tissue due to inadequate blood supply or haemorrhage within the skull resulting in neurological deficit with persisting clinical symptoms lasting at least 24 hours." A transient ischaemic attack does not count, nor does an eye stroke affecting the optic nerve or retina.
Reading a definition against a diagnosis you or someone close to you already has is hard to do alone. A broker can talk through how an earlier diagnosis may affect an application, and asking for that call through this page is free.
What children's and hospital benefits come with the cover?
The summary says children's critical illness cover and the accident hospitalisation benefit come with L&G's critical illness cover at no extra cost. A relevant child is your natural, legally adopted or stepchild, from 30 days old until their 18th birthday (21st in full-time education), and that includes children born after you take out the policy.
| Benefit (L&G, October 2026) | What it pays |
|---|---|
| Children's critical illness | The lower of 50% of your cover (the original amount on decreasing cover) or £25,000, for any condition in L&G's definitions other than Total and Permanent Disability, or for either part-payment condition. One claim per child, two claims in all, and at most £50,000 for one child across L&G policies. Not paid for a condition present at birth, symptoms that began before the child was covered, or a child who dies within 14 days of diagnosis. |
| Accident Hospitalisation Benefit | £5,000 after 28 consecutive days in hospital with physical injuries following an accident, not payable if a valid critical illness claim has been made; a child version pays £5,000 on the same test |
| Childcare Benefit | Up to £1,000 towards a registered childminder for your child under 5, after L&G pays a claim for your own illness, against receipts |
| Family Accommodation Benefit | £100 a night, up to £1,000, for nights a covered child spends in hospital in the three months after diagnosis |
| Child Funeral Benefit | £4,000 towards the funeral of a covered child, for up to two children |
None of these payments reduces your own amount of cover or your premiums. Cover bought on a child's own life is a different product, explained in life insurance for children.
Does L&G pay anything for carcinoma in situ of the breast or low grade prostate cancer?
Each can bring a part-payment if L&G's definition is met. They are the two conditions in the summary's additional cover section, and for either one L&G pays "25% of the amount of cover at the time our definition is met up to a maximum of £25,000." Your main cover and premiums stay as they were, each condition can be claimed once, and on a joint policy each person can claim once per condition.
The breast definition needs surgery, on a hospital consultant's advice, to remove a tumour after a diagnosis of carcinoma in situ; other treatment does not qualify. The prostate definition needs treatment on a hospital consultant's advice for a tumour with a Gleason score of between 2 and 6 that has reached a stated minimum stage; observation or surveillance does not qualify. Where more than one diagnosis falls in the same spell of investigation and treatment and a full critical illness claim can be made, no part-payment is made.
So L&G critical illness cover treats breast cancer like other cancers: it is judged against the main cancer definition above, and the single breast-specific entry is the part-payment for carcinoma in situ removed by surgery. Whether a diagnosis meets either wording is L&G's decision when a claim is made.
How do L&G critical illness claims work, and what has L&G paid?
L&G's what's-covered page lists four reasons a claim would not be paid: the policy definition is not met, death within 14 days of diagnosis, false information on the application, or a policy that has lapsed through missed payments. A successful payout goes to you as the legal policy owner, and the critical illness policy then ends; the terms add that if the owner has died the payment goes to their personal representative, and that an assigned policy pays the assignees.
L&G's two critical illness pages give different years for the amount paid out. The main page (reviewed January 2026) says "we paid out £303 million in Critical Illness Cover claims in 2024, helping thousands of people and their families." The what's-covered page, which carries no date, says "we paid out £291 million in Critical Illness Cover claims in 2025, helping thousands of people and their families." Both are totals paid, not the share of claims accepted.
When you want this set against your own amount and term, this page's form gets you a no-cost call with an FCA-authorised broker.
Frequently asked questions
What does L&G critical illness extra cover give the policyholder?
On L&G's October 2026 terms, two things could be meant. One is the critical illness policy itself, added alongside life insurance, which the terms also call Additional or Independent Critical Illness Cover; the other is the additional cover inside it, the part-payment for the breast and prostate conditions above. If your policy carries an older name, its own documents say what it gives you.
Where are L&G's guide to critical illness cover and policy booklet?
L&G's what's-covered page links all three (summary, terms and guide) under key information for new customers. Existing customers are pointed to their own policy documents and to My Account.
How long does an L&G critical illness payout take?
The policy cannot pay until you have survived 14 days from diagnosis, and the evidence L&G asks for depends on the claim, starting with a UK consultant's diagnosis. On a call-back, at no cost, the broker can walk you through how timing tends to work, NHS diagnosis included.
Sources
- Legal & General, Life Insurance and Critical Illness Cover Policy Summary (QGI14786 - 2026/10, direct and standalone CIC version), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Life Insurance Policy Terms and Conditions, Critical Illness Cover section (QGI14872 - 2026/10), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Guide to Critical Illnesses Covered (QGI14860 01/26), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Critical Illness Cover (reviewed 29 January 2026), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Critical Illness Cover: what is covered (undated), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com