Aviva is revamping its critical illness (CI) proposition, increasing the sum assured by 400% and adding to the number of conditions covered as part of a raft of changes.
The maximum sum assured is increasing to £2m from £500,000 while the insurance giant has added five new conditions, including liver failure.
Additionally, the maximum term assured is increasing from 25 to 40 years while the maximum age assured is rising to 75.
Elsewhere, Aviva is removing what it terms "unnecessary" exclusions on its policies and doubling the level of free child cover to £20,000.
"There has been a move in the market to increase the number of conditions covered to make policies appear more attractive, but the problem is this lures customers and financial advisers to compare policies solely on the number of conditions covered," Aviva chief underwriter Michael Whyte says.
"We won't add conditions unless they increase the scope of cover - for example, they are not already covered within other definitions.
"The conditions covered must have a significant impact on a person's life even if rare and definitions must be able to be fulfilled under current medical practice."
Aviva paid out 744 CI claims totalling almost £60m in H1, with the average payment just over £80,000.
