Bowel cancer was the second most claimed for form of cancer last year, Scottish Provident has reported.
According to the provider's Critical Illness Claims Report, of the £94m CI payouts in 2012 60% was for cancer claims.
Bowel cancer was the second most common claim made with 62 payouts, rising from the third most common claim in 2011.
Statistics also indicated that men were more likely to claim for bowel cancer at 68% with women accounting for only 32% of claims. The average age of a claimant was 50 years old.
Breast cancer was the most commonly claimed for CI at 224 payouts; total amount paid was £19.6m compared to £5m for bowel/colon cancer.
Jennifer Gilchrist, senior product development manager at Scottish Provident, said: "Our statistics reveal how important it is to raise awareness of bowel cancer.
"As a lesser thought of form of cancer, it accounted for 10% of all cancer claims last year. It is particularly important that people are aware of this due to the relatively young age of claimants."
She added critical illnesses were traumatic for sufferers and families and protection often at the bottom of financial priorities posed a huge risk.
