Life insurance - mortgage

FloFlo

Just moved home and need to sort out life cover for me and my husband.

We need a decreasing term life Insurance preferably with critical illness for £145,000.

Hubby has existing medical conditions - high blood pressure and is on medication for this.

Any recommendations for insurance providers or a broker to use please.

OshayAway

Good question. You need to find a broker who is willing to put some leg-work into researching underwriting. HBP in itself is not necessarily a problem if it's controlled. Other potential cardio-vascular issues could complicate things though. Is he on medication for high cholesterol? Is he a healthy weight? Any family medical history issues? Does he smoke?
Depending on the answers to these questions, you should hopefully find cover, possibly even on standard rates.
Choosing a provider that will take the information from the application will be beneficial, rather than having to write to your GP.
If in doubt, ask for a copy of the underwriting research.
They should be asking you questions like his most recent reading and date as well as those listed above before presenting a quote.

ACG

Snap on what oshay says.

If weight isnt too bad and blood pressure is controlled there is no reason why you cant get normal rates with some lenders.

You could do with a broker for this to save you the headache of searching around - not only that but not all providers deal direct.

FloFlo

Thanks both, weight is an issue for him too unfortunately.

Any recommendations for a broker?

OshayAway

What's his age, height & weight?

FloFlo

OshayAway wrote: »

What's his age, height & weight?

41, about 21stone, non smoker, non drinker. Has been on hbp medication for years with it under control - it would seem its hereditary from mothers side as she has it and brother and neither over weight. But he knows weight is a problem.

stephenni1971

HIs height is just as important as weight as the insurer will need to calculate his Body Mass Index.

OshayAway

True, unless he's very tall the BMI may be more of a problem than the high blood pressure.

A broker who has access to the whole market should contact as many as possible to ascertain which are able to offer the best terms. My guess is that with a BMI approaching or in excess of 40(?) would be a reason for decline for most providers. Over a certain BMI, many insurers will request a mini-medical nurse screening to accurately measure height and weight. A pound / centimetre or two can make a difference to the loading applied.

stephenni1971

I can usually get terms up to BMI of 45 ( not trying to advertise just showing whats possible! ).

There are a lot of things which on their own would be accepted ( albeit with a loading ) however a combination of circumstances ( BMI + BP ) can cause major issues.

OshayAway

Agreed, but very dependant on insurer. For his age, some providers would decline well below 45. Hence the need for research.

The blood pressure would need to be researched too as different insurers asses this risk differently including the number of meds to control, how long diagnosed & how often checked. Better still, although most would write to GP for readings some now will take it off the application if known.

Best case scenario would be to have research indicate terms available at a modest loading, no need to write to GP and happy to take height and weight from app so as not to need a medical. Whether or not that is possible will depend on the personal circumstances and research.

FloFlo

OshayAway wrote: »

Agreed, but very dependant on insurer. For his age, some providers would decline well below 45. Hence the need for research.

The blood pressure would need to be researched too as different insurers asses this risk differently including the number of meds to control, how long diagnosed & how often checked. Better still, although most would write to GP for readings some now will take it off the application if known.

Best case scenario would be to have research indicate terms available at a modest loading, no need to write to GP and happy to take height and weight from app so as not to need a medical. Whether or not that is possible will depend on the personal circumstances and research.

Thank you, I can't pm at the moment - no broadband and phone doesn't like pm button - I have taken your advice and spoken to someone.