Aviva Critical Illness Plan: what it covers and how it pays out

The Aviva Critical Illness Plan pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with, or need surgery for, a critical illness that meets Aviva's definition, provided you survive at least 10 days after diagnosis. Aviva says the plan covers 52 conditions, all listed in its policy conditions, including nearly all types of cancer, heart attacks and strokes¹.

It is not life insurance. Aviva states plainly that the plan does not pay out on death, and that it is not a savings or investment plan: it only pays out on a successful claim¹. If a payout on death is what you need, that is a separate life insurance policy, and Aviva sells those too³.

You can choose level cover, where the payout stays the same, or decreasing cover, where the amount you would get drops over time¹. Children are included automatically at no extra cost, and the plan is open to UK residents aged between 18 and 64².

What the Aviva Critical Illness Plan pays out for

The plan pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with or need surgery for a critical illness that meets Aviva's definition, and you survive for at least 10 days². Aviva describes the cover as spanning over 50 conditions including nearly all types of cancer, as well as heart attacks and strokes². Its product page puts the figure at 52 conditions, all listed in the policy conditions¹.

The full cover amount is paid out once only⁵. That matters if you are weighing up how much cover to take: a claim on the main benefit ends that element of the plan, so the lump sum needs to be sized for what it is meant to do, whether that is clearing a mortgage, replacing income or covering a period of treatment and recovery.

Aviva also pays £5,000 if any of your children die during the policy term¹. That is a separate, smaller benefit from the children's critical illness payout described below.

The plan does not pay out on death, and Aviva repeats that it is not a savings or investment product¹. There is no cash-in value and nothing is returned if you stop paying, which is covered later on this page.

Critical illness cover can be bought on its own or added to a life insurance policy, and Aviva's own life insurance plan offers critical illness cover as an add-on for an additional fee³. The two routes behave differently: a standalone plan pays only on a qualifying illness, while a combined policy can pay on death as well. The standalone or combined critical illness cover comparison sets out how each is structured.

Level or decreasing cover: how each one works

Aviva offers two types of cover on this plan: level cover and decreasing cover².

With level cover, what you pay each month stays the same for the whole term of the policy, and so does the cover amount². You can also choose to protect the cover against the effects of inflation, which means what you pay will increase over time as well².

Decreasing cover works like a repayment loan with a fixed interest rate: the value of your cover decreases gradually, but the amount you pay stays the same². It is designed to sit alongside a repayment mortgage, where the balance falls over the years, so the cover tracks the debt rather than holding its value in real terms.

The choice usually comes down to what the money is for. A lump sum meant to clear a repayment mortgage fits decreasing cover, because the debt is shrinking anyway. A lump sum meant to replace income, pay for adaptations or give a family breathing space suits level cover, because those costs do not fall over time. The level or decreasing term life insurance comparison covers the same trade-off for life cover, and how much life insurance cover do I need works through sizing a payout.

You choose the policy length, from 5 to 50 years, or up until your 75th birthday².

Additional critical illnesses and partial payouts

Not every condition on the list pays the full cover amount. Aviva splits its list into the main critical illnesses and a set of additional conditions that pay a smaller, capped sum.

Aviva's guidance describes the additional specified conditions paying up to £25,000 or 25% of your total cover amount, whichever is lower⁴. The two figures come from different Aviva documents and are not identical, so it is worth checking the policy conditions for the condition concerned.

In total Aviva counts 11 additional critical illnesses, including low-grade prostate cancer and less advanced cancer of the cervix¹. The same 10-day survival rule applies to these additional conditions: if you are diagnosed and survive for 10 days, the benefit is paid¹.

Partial payments are a common feature of critical illness policies rather than something unique to Aviva. The practical effect is that a diagnosis on the additional list leaves the main cover in place, because only part of it has been paid. The does critical illness cover pay out for cancer page looks at how cancer claims are treated across policies.

Cover for your children

Children's cover is included automatically with the plan, at no extra cost, and Aviva describes it as keeping the whole family protected². It covers your children aged 30 days to 18 years, or 21 years if they are in full-time education¹.

The payout is the lower of £25,000 or 50% of the cover amount¹. Aviva's guidance gives the same structure, describing the benefit as the lower of 50% of your cover amount or £25,000⁸. It applies if any of your natural, step or legally adopted children is diagnosed with a covered children's critical illness or condition during the policy term⁵.

Two exclusions apply. Aviva does not cover children for terminal illness, and it does not cover a critical illness that was present at birth, whether diagnosed or not, or where the child had symptoms of the critical illness before they were covered by the policy¹.

Aviva says that in 2024 alone it paid out over £7.6 million in children's critical illness claims across all of its Aviva individual critical illness policies⁸. It also says that if a claim is for cancer it will fast track the process, with no long forms to fill in, and the insurer calls the cancer nurse or specialist⁸.

Children's cover is a standard feature of many critical illness policies, though the age limits and payout caps vary between providers. The children's critical illness and child cover page compares how different policies handle it.

How premiums are worked out and who can apply

Aviva says your monthly premium depends on things like your personal circumstances, medical history, policy term and the level of cover¹. Its guidance names age, overall health, job, lifestyle and hobbies as the factors behind the price, and notes that premiums tend to be higher as you get older and that people in overall good health usually pay less⁹. Aviva states that the number one factor affecting the price of most life, critical illness and income protection policies is your age when you take it out¹⁰.

To apply you need to be a UK resident aged between 18 and 64². For Aviva's policies, UK includes England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man¹¹. A UK resident is defined as someone with the legal right to live in the UK for the duration of the policy year who lives in the UK during that time, other than trips abroad not beyond three months overall¹¹.

Aviva does not usually cover pre-existing conditions⁹. Once it has assessed your questionnaire and any information from your doctors, the symptoms or conditions it will not cover are listed in your policy documents⁹. If you are diagnosed with something after your policy has started, you do not need to tell Aviva about the change¹⁰.

The plan is priced individually, so the provider's site has today's figures. Independent research published on 11 August 2026 gives an illustration of the market: a 30-year-old non-smoker taking £300,000 of life insurance plus £75,000 of critical illness over 20 years was quoted £30.56 a month with Aviva, and a 50-year-old was quoted £145.79 a month for the same structure¹². Those are illustrative quotes for a combined policy, not a price for this plan, and your own premium depends on the factors above.

Applying and the cooling-off period

Aviva's application process starts with a quote online, providing a few personal details, the date you want cover to start, customisable cover options and any medical history⁹. Aviva says you can get a quote in under 5 minutes¹⁰.

Once the policy is issued, you have a 30-day cooling-off period from your policy start date, or from when you get your policy documents, whichever is later⁵. If you cancel within that window, Aviva refunds the premiums you have already paid¹⁶. The same 30-day structure applies across Aviva's life insurance plan³.

That is a longer cooling-off period than Aviva's health insurance, which gives 14 days from the policy start date or renewal, with a full premium refund if no claims have been made¹⁷. It is also longer than the statutory minimum that applies to most protection policies, so it is worth diarising the date your documents arrive rather than the date you applied.

If you already hold health insurance with another provider, Aviva describes a switching route: have your policy information to hand, get a quote online, and you can transfer your medical history from your current provider. As long as you meet Aviva's criteria for switching, you may be able to claim for symptoms or conditions you or your family had in the past¹⁸. That is a health insurance process rather than a critical illness one, but it shows how Aviva handles transfers of medical history.

How to make a claim on an Aviva Critical Illness Plan

You can notify Aviva of a claim by calling its team on 0800 015 1142 or by completing its online form¹. Calls to 0800 numbers from UK landlines and mobiles are free¹⁴. If you have critical illness cover, you can view your policy cover details or manage your claim in MyAviva, or call Aviva instead¹⁹.

Aviva will request reports from your doctors to confirm details of your illness or treatment, and it needs GP and specialist contact details⁵. That is the part of the process that usually takes the time, because it depends on how quickly your doctors respond.

If your claim is successful, Aviva says it will usually pay out within five working days⁷. It also asks you to contact it on 0800 015 1142 if 10 working days have passed and you have not received your payment⁵. The 10-day survival period runs from diagnosis and must be met before the claim can be paid¹.

Aviva's life insurance plan follows the same payment target: once the claim is agreed and everything needed has been received, it aims to pay out within five working days³. The claiming on critical illness cover or income protection page walks through the documents and timescales common to these claims, and how long does a life insurance claim take covers the equivalent process after a death.

If you are deaf or use British Sign Language, Aviva says you can get in touch using a qualified BSL interpreter for free as part of its partnership with the online video interpreting service Convo, covering policy set-up, claims and customer service queries⁵. The same arrangement is described for Aviva's life insurance plan¹⁶.

When a claim is declined and what happens if you stop paying

Aviva says a claim is declined if the condition you are claiming for is not covered by your policy, or if the policy was not in place when what you are claiming for happened⁵. The first of those is why the policy conditions matter more than the headline count of 52 conditions: the definitions decide whether a diagnosis qualifies.

There is a separate risk at the application stage. Aviva states that if you do not give accurate information, your policy may be cancelled, premiums may not be refunded, and you would not be able to make a claim¹⁰. The answering an insurer's questions honestly page explains how the duty to answer questions accurately works in practice.

If you stop paying your premiums or cancel your policy, the policy will end and you will get nothing back¹. Aviva repeats the same rule across its protection range: if premiums stop, the cover will end⁴, and the same applies to its life insurance plan and its over 50s plan³. There is no cash-in value and no partial refund of premiums paid.

Who provides the plan and how you are protected

Aviva is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority²². The firm behind the Aviva trading name, Gresham Insurance Company Limited, appears on the FCA Register with reference number 202160, authorised since 1 December 2001, with Aviva as its current trading name²³. It also appears on the Bank of England's list of UK insurers authorised to carry out contracts of insurance, dated 1 September 2026²⁴, and is an active company, incorporated on 27 June 1910²⁵.

If you have a complaint about the plan, Aviva's bereavement line is open Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm, and closed at weekends and on bank holidays²⁶. If Aviva does not resolve a complaint to your satisfaction, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to consumers.

Protection if the insurer fails is a separate question from the cover itself. The is my life insurance protected if the insurer fails page explains how the Financial Services Compensation Scheme applies to protection policies. The protection insurance guide sets out how critical illness cover sits alongside life insurance and income protection, and the Aviva page covers the provider's other products.