How is Terminal Illness different from Critical illness?

The cover for both terminal and critical illnesses comes under life insurance via riders. By including them in your policy, you can enhance your plan’s coverage and make it more comprehensive.
Let’s understand the key differences between critical illness and terminal illness, the insurance cover for both, and more.

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What is Terminal Illness?

A terminal illness is a medical condition that is considered incurable and expected to lead to death within a specific time frame, often 6 to 12 months. Some of the common examples of terminal illness are advanced-stage cancer, organ failure, motor neuron disease, heart disease, and more.

It’s worth mentioning that a critical illness can turn into a terminal illness if not treated properly on time.

Terminal Illness Insurance

Battling with a terminal illness is not easy — it affects you not only mentally but financially as well. The latter can be a result of high medical expenses, loss of income, or unemployment due to illness, and more.

You can tackle all such issues with terminal illness coverage in your term life policy. Generally, this coverage is already included in life plans in the UAE. With this cover, the insured gets a lump sum amount if diagnosed with a terminal illness. This amount can be used to cover treatment costs, living expenses, liabilities, and more.

Terminal illness coverage ensures that you and your family members get financial assistance during this difficult period. It lets you get the best medication while also allowing your family to maintain their current lifestyle.

Do You Know❓

Cancer, one of the common terminal illnesses, is the third-leading cause of death in the UAE.

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What is Critical Illness?

A critical illness is a severe, often life-threatening health condition that requires extensive treatment but is potentially curable or manageable. Conditions like heart attacks, strokes, paralysis, or kidney failure are categorised as critical illnesses.

Critical Illness Insurance

In the UAE, you can add critical illness coverage to your standard insurance plan as a rider or get a separate policy altogether. With this coverage, you can get financial benefit — a lump sum payout — if you are diagnosed with a critical illness.

You can use this amount for various purposes — covering the treatment costs, maintaining your lifestyle, managing debts and liabilities, and meeting other financial responsibilities.

You can get a lump sum amount if diagnosed with any critical diseases Available as a rider or a standalone policy Usually extra payment required for this rider or standalone policy	You can get a lump sum payment through accelerated life benefit Generally included in standard life plans No extra cost — it’s built in most plans

What is the Difference Between Critical and Terminal Illness Cover?

Tabled below are the key differences between terminal and critical illness —

Critical Illness Insurance vs. Terminal Illness Insurance

Parameters	Terminal Illness Insurance	Critical Illness
General Features	For diseases that have no cure and ultimately leads to death Common examples include brain tumours, organ failure, paralysis, Alzheimer's disease, and more	For serious medical conditions that may be treated Common diseases include organ failure, cancer, stroke, heart attack, and so on
Availability	Coverage generally included in standard plans	Extra amount may be required for this cover
Sum Assured	Up to a certain percentage — generally 50% — of the sum assured or death benefit	A lump sum amount that is primarily separate from the death benefit
Claim Eligibility	Usually when the life expectancy is 12 months or less	When diagnosed with a critical illness (a survival period may apply)

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Terminal Illness vs Critical Illness Cover — What are the Key Benefits of Both?

The key benefits of critical and terminal illness coverage are as follows —

Terminal Illness Cover Benefits

Offers financial stability, ensuring family members are not financially burdened after the death of the insured
Helps patients access palliative care or specialised treatments, even in case of non-curable diseases
Provides a sum to the insured that can be used to cover loss of income, daily expenses, and more
Straightforward claim process — the insured can get urgent support in case of emergencies

Critical Illness Cover Benefits

Comprehensive coverage for various critical conditions
Provides a lump sum that can cover your treatment costs, daily expenses, debts, and more
Available as both rider and standalone policy

Who Should Buy Terminal Illness Cover?

Terminal illness cover is best suited for —

Those with a family history of terminal illness such as major organ failure, heart diseases, brain tumours, Alzheimer's disease, and so on
Individuals who are their families’ sole breadwinners
Those concerned about end-of-life costs

Who Should Buy Critical Illness Cover?

Consider getting critical illness insurance if you —

You have a family history of critical illness such as cancer, stroke, heart attack, paralysis, and more
You’re a working professional and want to be prepared to replace income for an extended time for critical illness treatment and recovery
Want more coverage against medical expenses due to severe conditions

Note: Young adults are considered low-risk in terms of health issues and mortality. This, consequently, also means lower premiums on critical illness insurance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Critical illness insurance provides a lump sum when you’re diagnosed with a serious health condition that is often curable. Terminal illness cover, on the other hand, pays out a portion of the death benefit on being diagnosed with a terminal illness, which is expected to cause death in the next 6 to 12 months.

Typically, terminal illness coverage is included in standard life insurance plans — critical illness cover is available as an add-on or a standalone policy and requires an additional premium. With that said, the scope of coverage and other factors play a key role in determining the coverage price.

Yes, it’s possible to add the coverage to your standard policy. However, in many plans terminal illness coverage is inbuilt.

Critical illness insurance provides a lump sum when you’re diagnosed with a critical illness. You can use this sum as you deem fit — whether for medical treatments, daily expenses, financial liabilities, and so on.