The term health insurance is generally used to describe a form of insurance that pays for medical expenses. It is sometimes used more broadly to include insurance covering disability or long-term nursing or custodial care needs.

Critical illness insurance or critical illness cover is an insurance product, where the insurer is contracted to typically make a lump sum cash payment if the policyholder is diagnosed with one of the critical illnesses listed in the insurance policy.

This policy solely covers any bodily injuries due to accidents, which are external, violent and visible, as the definition goes. It covers you for four contingencies that may arise from an accident: death, permanent total disability, permanent partial disability, and temporary total disability.