Emma Thompson, life office relationship director for national advisory firm Lifesearch, and Hannah Foxley, founder of London-based The Women’s Wealth Expert, said they valued the additions to help protect families against the financial pain of some of the most severe children’s health issues.
The extended cover now includes hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy.
Customers will be protected even if the condition is diagnosed during pregnancy, as long as the policy was in force prior to diagnosis. It also includes a child’s funeral benefit.
Ms Thomson said: “What Friends Life has done is fantastic. Instead of playing the critical illness numbers game it has focused on improving its children’s CI coverage, a key area that is typically the fifth biggest cause of claims. This is a new kind of TCF: treating children fairly.”
Ms Foxley said: “This is a very positive improvement and will give a couple who are about to start a family peace of mind, knowing that should their child be diagnosed with one of these awful disabilities they will at least have some financial support.”
She added that, along with the high number of partial CI payments, the ‘Best Doctor’ addition, as well as 24-hour access to Bupa nurses, made the Friends Life policy an “attractive choice”.
