Legal & General is improving its Defaqto 5 star Rated Critical Illness Cover (CIC).

It has introduced a new definition for cardiac arrest and a change to the major organ transplant definition.

Other improvements include:

• A new range of benefits for Childrens CIC
• Accident hospitalisation benefit
• Moving the maximum age at outset to 67
• A new option of indexation for Term and CIC4
• Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) will now be optional

Legal & General started selling critical illness cover over 20 years ago and has retained its 5 star rating from Defaqto for 2013.

£209 million was paid out to 3080 customers for critical illness claims in 2012.

Bonnie Burns, product and technical director for Retail Protection, Legal & General, said: “When a child falls ill it’s a very emotional and worrying time for a parent.

“We also recognise that there may be unforeseen expenses if someone is confined to hospital for an extended period following an accident. Our key focus is to help as many customers as possible when they need to make a claim.

“Our latest enhancements will help us ensure we continue to deliver what customers want, when it really counts if they need to claim.”

Ben Heffer, insight analyst at Defaqto, added: “Recent enhancements to Legal & General’s critical Illness contract include a new cardiac arrest definition. This is a good move on their part and it is potentially more valuable than simply adding to the lengthening list of rare illnesses sometimes found in CIC plans.

“Legal & General have also taken the opportunity to add some extra generous benefits which acknowledge that not all medical conditions would warrant a payout from a traditional CIC policy, but nevertheless cause financial hardship.

“The plan is also more flexible now with TPD and indexation available as options rather than automatically included; such an approach allows advisers to more closely match their recommendations to client needs.”