Zurich has increased the maximum term for its critical illness cover from 30 to 40 years.

The insurer says the move is designed to help protect customers with longer mortgages and to better reflect changing retirement patterns.

Increasing the maximum term for critical illness policies will enable more advisers to offer their customers cover to match the length of their mortgages, it said. This extension follows the increasing trend of people taking out mortgages over longer periods to help make their monthly repayments more affordable as house prices continue to rise.

Data from the FCA shows that in the past five years, the average mortgage term has increased from 25.8 years to 27.2 this year. The recent introduction of the Mortgage Market Review has further accelerated this trend, by allowing people to spread payments over a longer term as household finances remain stretched.

Peter Hamilton (pictured), head of retail propositions at Zurich, said: “We have listened to advisers and customers, and we are pleased to be able to offer them extended protection, without them having to worry about rising premiums or whether or not they will be able to secure cover in later years.

“It is important for us to be able to respond to a constantly shifting market by offering simple and straightforward solutions.”