Applied for Life Insurance - They are doing Home Medical

riverboat2001

Is this usual?

I applied for 273k of life cover, declared all relevant medical problems (nothing major - overweight, and Dad died early)

Not only do they want to write to my Doctor, but they are also sending a Nurse round on Saturday to do a medical !

I've started imagining all sorts of horror scenarios!

Any Thoughts?

lisyloo

It's quite a high level of insurance.

So my first thoughts are it's either standard at that amount, or could possibly be just random.
I know it's not nice havign a medical but what have you got to be afraid of if you've been honest.
On the plus side at least you know there is more chance of them not wiggling out of payments as there own nurse checked you out.
I would be very suprised if there is anything remotely intimate or invasive involved considering there would be no chaperone.
The nurse would be at risk of allegations from you without a chaperone present.
It's quite standard not be be alone with a doctor/nurse for anything remotely intimate these days and thats for their protection as well as yours.

riverboat2001

Well she said, blood, blood pressure, urine etc. Got to fast for 9 hours too.
Being female, I'm not to worried about that side of things, more that they think I'm in poor shape and might not insure me!

starrystarry

As lisyloo said, these nurse screenings are arranged for various reasons. It might be because you're overweight, or just because of the level of cover you've requested. It enables the insurance company to get accurate, up to date information (which they often won't get from a GP), including a urine test and your blood pressure. They're not trying to catch you out or anything, nor are they trying to find a way to refuse your cover. They can often work in the customer's favour, allowing you to get better terms than you would have done otherwise. For example, if a customer is just outside the standard parameters in terms of height/weight they might get charged an extra premium. But if the insurance company gets a nurse screening which shows their blood pressure etc are fine, they may well be offered standard terms and conditions.

riverboat2001

Many thanks....

Does that mean if anything did happen they would find it harder to wriggle out of?

shelly42

riverboat2001 wrote: »

Many thanks....

Does that mean if anything did happen they would find it harder to wriggle out of?

They don't try and "wriggle out" of anything anyway. Unless you've got some sort of evidence to back up your views?

And even if they did, a medical is only going to give a picture of your current health, not your previous health. Even though they are writing to your GP does not mean you can feel free to leave relevant information from your application form. Many people have health conditions or lifestyle habits that they wouldn't see their GP about so they would not show up on your medical records. The best bet is to disclose as much information as possible.

riverboat2001

riverboat2001 wrote: »

Many thanks....

Does that mean if anything did happen they would find it harder to wriggle out of?

I probably watch too much "scare" TV:o

claretmatt

I don't think its anything out of the ordinary and would certainly be based on the information you mentioned earlier.

Different insurers underwrite policies in different ways, therefore one may offer you the plan on standard rates and another may load based on previous medical history, I always find it useful to speak to them before submitting the application.

If for whatever reason they won't offer terms or increase the cost then if you do apply to another company remember that the result of your medical tests can be shared (subject to your consent and within a certain time limit)

Good luck and don't worry

OshayAway

It would be useful to know a little more. Insurers vary and a good broker should check your medical history and financial medical underwriting limits with various insurance providers prior to submitting an application. This is why it is so important to use a whole of market route.

From the evidence that you state has been requested, as has already been said, this will either be due to the amount of cover you have asked for (limits depend on age), or your BMI, or a combination of the two.

The fact that you are having a fasting (lipids) blood test means that this is not the 'basic' level of medical which is height, weight, urinalysis, blood pressure and additional questions about your family medical history.

I would doubt the family history would prompt the medical, being a male relative, unless your father suffered something like polycystic kidney disease, or MS. High BMI can often prompt a medical as the variations in loadings are very close together at the higher end of the scale. Domestic scales can be quite inaccurate as can individual's 'guess' of their weight if not recently checked.

Would you feel happy disclosing the insurer, your BMI and age?

riverboat2001

no idea of bmi - but not going to be good with the numbers below!
About 18stone, 5ft6 45 yo female, non smoker, gave up about 7 years ago.

Aviva is the insurerer, via online broker recommended by Martin

OshayAway

riverboat2001 wrote: »

no idea of bmi - but not going to be good with the numbers below!
About 18stone, 5ft6 45 yo female, non smoker, gave up about 7 years ago.

Aviva is the insurerer, via online broker recommended by Martin

I take it this was a non-advised broker then or one who has not done the research or has a limited panel of providers they have access to.

Aviva are not know for being especially preferable for BMI or financial limits. If your BMI is confirmed as accurate, your premium will more than double with Aviva. That's on the assumption that nothing else crops up as a result of the medical like high cholesterol, blood pressure, sugar in urine etc. A couple of pounds more and you can expect a rating which will take your premium to approx three times the one quoted.

A whole of market broker who took the time to research underwriting would not be putting in an application to Aviva. That is unless there are other issues not mentioned here.