Crossword Genius

Lease covers to become sick, retired and dependent (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

reliant

'dependent' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'lease covers to become sick retired' is the wordplay.
'lease' becomes 'rent' ('rent' can be a synonym of 'lease').
'covers' is an insertion indicator.
'to become sick' becomes 'ail' (I've seen this before).
'retired' is a reversal indicator.
'ail' in reverse letter order is 'lia'.
'rent' going around 'lia' is 'RELIANT'.

'and' is the link.

(Other definitions for reliant that I've seen before include "Banking" , "Dependent (on someone or something)" , "car firm" , "Trusting" , "needing help from others" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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