Life insurance refused for partner

Xaphan · 11 October 2017 at 6:58PM

Hi so we have a bit of a problem.
we (my fiancee and me) applied for joint life insurance via our mortgage adviser basically to cover if either of us kick the bucket the mortgage gets paid....
when my fiancee gave birth to our first child 18 months ago now there was a multitude of complications she ended up with being diagnosed with a subarachcnoid haemorrhage (a bleed on the brain) amongst other things.... she had her last angiogram back in July and was thankfully given the all clear.

We bought our first house back in mid August which is when we applied for the insurance cover.... finally today after a very long wait Aviva (the insurance company) sent us a letter saying basically the wont touch her with a barge pole because of the haemorrhage but they will cover me on non standard terms....what ever that means???
it doesn't quite make sense to me because she has been given the all clear from her consaultants

does anyone know of any insurance company that might cover us jointly? or am i just better off getting cover for myself to support my fiancee and daughter should the worst happen?

sorry for the long winded post and thanks in advance

Weighty1 · 11 October 2017 at 7:27PM

Basically non-standard terms means that they are either increasing the premium or placing some form of exclusion on the policy (very unlikely with life insurance).

In regards to your partner, just because Aviva have declined her it doesn't mean other insurers will. Does she have any other health conditions, specifically diabetes as diabetes and a s.a.h.WILL cause an application to be declined with pretty much every mainstream?

I'd get in touch with a specialist insurance broker who is used to dealing with this kind of scenario. A good start would be to get your partner to ask her doctors surgery for a copy of the GP report. If the surgery won't provide it ask Aviva to return their copy to the surgery marked for her attention and she should be able to collect it free of charge. I'd then hope the broker you use would ask for a copy of said report and then forward this on to other insurers to see if different copies would have a different stance.

In the meantime, I'd suggest it would be worthwhile you getting cover in place. You can always switch to a joint plan later if a different insurer would cover your partner. Just make sure your mortgage broker doesn't get you to sign an agreement preventing you from cancelling the policy at a later date without repaying the commission.

Hope that helps.

Xaphan · 11 October 2017 at 7:57PM

Weighty1 wrote: »

Basically non-standard terms means that they are either increasing the premium or placing some form of exclusion on the policy (very unlikely with life insurance).

In regards to your partner, just because Aviva have declined her it doesn't mean other insurers will. Does she have any other health conditions, specifically diabetes as diabetes and a s.a.h.WILL cause an application to be declined with pretty much every mainstream?

I'd get in touch with a specialist insurance broker who is used to dealing with this kind of scenario. A good start would be to get your partner to ask her doctors surgery for a copy of the GP report. If the surgery won't provide it ask Aviva to return their copy to the surgery marked for her attention and she should be able to collect it free of charge. I'd then hope the broker you use would ask for a copy of said report and then forward this on to other insurers to see if different copies would have a different stance.

In the meantime, I'd suggest it would be worthwhile you getting cover in place. You can always switch to a joint plan later if a different insurer would cover your partner. Just make sure your mortgage broker doesn't get you to sign an agreement preventing you from cancelling the policy at a later date without repaying the commission.

Hope that helps.

thanks for the reply....... my fiancee does have a rather complicated medical history it must be said.... 6-7 years ago she was diagnosed with a brain tumour (an acoustic neuroma to be precise) again she has been given the all clear from that and is having bi-annual MRI scans to be certain it doesn't return the last of which will be in 3 years time (so far so good)...... she also suffers from fibromyalgia which is a from of non-degenerative arthritis. all of which was declared when we applied .
in the reply from Aviva nothing was mentioned about any of this but they specifically mentioned the S.A.H. in the GP report as the reason for declining .

as for me I have no health conditions at all............I cant even remember the last time I saw my GP. I very rarely drink alcohol but I do smoke....which I know is an issue as far as insurance is concerned maybe this is why they say non-standard terms?? again it was declared when we applied.

csgohan4 · 12 October 2017 at 7:04AM

your partner will need a good broker but don't expect market rates, expect a premium if she is going to be covered or exclusion clauses related to her current conditions as she is understandably higher risk

Pullingmyhairout2 · 12 October 2017 at 9:11AM

If I am honest I am surprised your broker didn't tell you that the likelihood of exclusions or decline would be high for your fianc!. When she is out of the check up period for the brain tumour then I would consider re-applying for her, and if I am honest I would probably not do a joint application.

It may be worth looking into an accidental death only policy for her in the short term for the amount required.

With regard to your policy it is impossible to say why you have been accepted on non standard terms. Although you will get a revised terms letter from the insurer or broker to confirm.

YHM · 12 October 2017 at 1:43PM

Xaphan

Aviva aren't great for applicants with numerous disclosures. They generally work on volume, so anything that cannot be underwritten quickly or cleanly, I have experienced they shy away from.

As touched on above, there are specialist brokers out there that are fantastic at sourcing life insurance for people with complex medical pasts. Maybe try them?

bubblerawk · 12 October 2017 at 8:14PM

my situation isnt really the same but my mortgage broker recommended that we went through aviva for ours, ive also been declined. i suffered with depression and anxiety for 8 years but have been discharged over 2/3 years ago, i cannot get life insurance with aviva or standard terms with any other insurer (to date). Out of 4 brokers searching the market for me and 2 being specialist in mental health, only one company will quote and the terms and premiums are non standard and high.

id recommend finding a specialist. my husband has had to take out his own insurance without me as this was, what i felt like, my only option so at least one of us has cover.

Life insurance refused for partner

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