It seems pretty common for employers to offer life cover in the UK (my wife has critical illness cover as well) - I have 4x annual salary from my employer, my wife has 3x from hers.

We also both have additional personal life cover for at least 6x annual salary.

This doesn't seem excessive cover to me - maybe because we are in our 40s with kids (and knowing people who have died and having close relatives who are terminally ill) makes you worry about these things more - I certainly didn't in my 20s.