Income protection cover...I have MS.

B'stard

I've never had insurance before, but because I'm buying my first house I thought I'd look into it. I contacted Friends Provident and they have declined me income protection cover because I have a pre-existing condition, ms. They have offered me life cover, to the value of £45,000, for £14.72pm.
My mortgage is pretty small, £40,000, and I hope to have it paid off between 5-10 years. I am not worried about life cover as there will be enough equity in the house to pay the mortgage off and my son will inherit a tidy sum. My son does not live with me, I live alone.

I am 38 years old, and have been diagnosed with ms since 2006. I work full time.

So, can anyone recommend an insurance company that would look favourably on someone with ms.

Btw I notice that it says life cover premiums have been increased because I have ms, can they do that, isn't it against the disability discrimination act?

Thanks

starrystarry

Hi,

It will be difficult for you to get income protection unfortunately. Often an insurance company can apply an exclusion if there's a pre-existing condition. E.g. if someone suffers from back pain, they can apply a back exclusion. It's more difficult with something like MS because there can be a wide range of symptoms affecting different parts of the body and proving whether the symptom was related to MS could be problematic. So there's no suitable exclusion to use. The only alternative for an insurer would be to increase the premiums, but that might well make the income protection unaffordable.

Increasing the premium for your life cover doesn't contravene the disability discrimination act. As long as the insurance company can prove that your condition represents an increased risk they are entitled to charge a higher premium. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear.

dunstonh

Btw I notice that it says life cover premiums have been increased because I have ms, can they do that, isn't it against the disability discrimination act?

Yes you are discriminated against and correctly so.

Insurance is for covering unforeseen events. The premiums initially quoted are priced on clean health. You have a medical condition that makes the chances of a claim more likely. Much in the same way a 17 year old driver is more likely to have a claim than a 40 year old.