I have never heard of such a clause on a Life Assurance policy.
The trade makes good profits from selling extra policies to people as they get older and richer.
Certainly ask what the terms are for increasing your existing policy, because it might turn out to be better value than taking out a new one.
If you're insuring your life in case you die, don't get diverted into buying an endowment policy or any kind of savings or investment plan, which will cost you more and is unlikely to be the best vehicle on the market.
Term insurance is remarkably good value, because all it does is pay out if you die. If you take out one to pay off your 25-year mortgage, the chances are that it won't pay out because you probably won't die in the next 25 years, you'll probably live into your 80's. If you have a mortgage protection policy, check its terms. One of the reasons they can be very very cheap is that if you die in year 1, it pays out 100% of the amount borrowed. If you die in year 24, it only has to pay out about 5% of the amount borrowed, because, with a repayment mortgage, the balance owing reduces with every payment you make. If you don't die you get nothing. This makes them so cheap that you'd be a fool not to have one.
BTW I am not impressed by critical illness cover. My thinking is that if I'm insured for 50 ailments, I'll probably die of the 51st. Life assurance will pay out whatever I die of. If you have dependents, that's important.
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