Scottish Widows Critical Illness Review

Scottish Widows is a life insurance and pensions company in the United Kingdom.

See how it compares to the UK's best-known providers of Critical Illness Cover.

In this guide:

• The History of Scottish Widows
• What Critical Illness policies does Scottish Widows offer in the UK?
• How much does Critical Illness from Scottish Widows cost?
• What do customers say about Critical Illness from Scottish Widows?
• The pros and cons of Scottish Widows Critical Illness
• Claiming from Scottish Widows

We have also reviewed Scottish Windows life insurance.

The History of Scottish Widows

Scottish Widows was established in 1815 as a mutual life insurance company in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was set up by a group of widows who pooled their resources to provide financial security for themselves and other widows in the future. The company expanded rapidly in the 19th century, becoming one of the largest life insurers in the UK. In the 20th century, it diversified into other financial services such as banking and investments. Today, Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group and offers a range of financial products and services to both individuals and businesses.

What Critical Illness policies does Scottish Widows offer in the UK?

The Critical Illness policies offered by Scottish Widows in the UK provide protection in the event that the policyholder is diagnosed with a critical illness.

The policy will pay out a lump sum benefit to the policyholder, which can be used to help cover the costs of treatment, make adaptations to their home or replace lost income.

The policies cover a range of critical illnesses, including cancer, heart attack and stroke. They also provide cover for children, so that if a child is diagnosed with a critical illness, the policy will pay out a lump sum benefit to help with the costs of their treatment.

How much does Critical Illness from Scottish Widows cost?

The cost of Critical Illness cover from Scottish Widows will depend on the age of the customer, the level of cover required and the length of the policy. For example, a 35-year-old UK customer taking out £100,000 of cover for 10 years would pay £12.48 per month.

What do customers say about Critical Illness from Scottish Widows?

The vast majority of feedback from Scottish Widows' UK customers has been positive, with many people praising the company for their prompt and fair payouts in the event of a critical illness claim.

There have been a small number of negative reviews, however, with some people complaining about the high premiums charged for their policies, and others stating that the cover is not as comprehensive as they had hoped.

Overall, though, feedback from customers suggests that Scottish Widows' Critical Illness policies are reliable and provide good value for money.

The pros and cons of Scottish Widows Critical Illness

Pros:

• The policies cover a wide range of 40 critical illnesses, including cancer, heart attack, and stroke. (See how this compares to other providers of critical illness cover.)
• Scottish Widows is a well-known and respected insurance company in the UK.

Cons:

• The policies have a "survival period" of 10 days, which means that it will not pay out anything if the policyholder dies within this time.
• The policies may not cover pre-existing medical conditions.

Claiming from Scottish Widows

In 2021, Scottish Widows paid around 92% of all critical illness claims. See how that compares to the UK industry average critical illness pay out rate.