what life cover should I opt for?

sam12betsy_2

I'm 42 years old, female, non smoker, married, NHS employee,a mortgage of £122,000,paying into an NHS pension, history of depression (no symptoms since 2007) - I want to ensure that any cover I take out will pay off outstanding mortgage when I die... what should I do?

HappyMJ

Take out life insurance for £150,000 to £200,000. That should give your dependants enough to pay the mortgage off, pay for your funeral and have a little change. Do you have kids? Increase the amount if yes and decrease it if it'll save you money if no.

sam12betsy_2

Am just a bit worried I'll get penalised for past illness... have got one son age 16 who is likely to be at home til he's 40...

dunstonh

I would disagree with HappyMJ on this occassion. I would do one plan/segment for the mortgage and another (or possibly multiple) for any financial need that has a different period of cover required.

Am just a bit worried I'll get penalised for past illness

it almost certainly will do. Event based depression (which tends to be temporary) often his limited impact depending on how recent. Clinical depression tends to be hit harder with price increases over standard and/or suicide cover removed.

sam12betsy_2

Thanks, I thought it would have some ongoing impact and tbh the removal of suicide cover doesn't particularly worry me, I was thinking- perhaps naively- of specific cover for the mortgage as my NHS pension would provide some further buffer?

roxy13

Hi sam12betsy Im a life insurance underwriter. To be honest hardly any life insurance companies now offer a suicide exclusion, that is really old fashioned.
Depression is really difficult to underwrite as everyone has a different experience. I would say that if there was no suicidal ideas or attempts then you stand in good stead to have normal rates of premium applied. However if the opposite is true then you may have your premium increased. It really depends on the company, underwriting manual and your own medical history. Every case is different so really difficult for anyone to be giving you exact answers.

dunstonh

To be honest hardly any life insurance companies now offer a suicide exclusion, that is really old fashioned.

I had an underwriting decision to remove it some time back. That was on an event based depression case rather than clinical.

OshayAway

Some insurers are far more lenient on depression / anxiety / stress now, even if you are currently experiencing symptoms or on medication to control.

As with many disclosures, the perceived risk varies from insurer to insurer, actually quite considerably. If you haven't been signed off in the last 12 months for it, and not had any self harm / suicidal tenancies, you can almost certainly get standard premium life cover and critical illness cover but an exclusion on waiver of premium and total disability would likely be levied if you applied for that.

See a good broker who will do extensive whole of market pre-application research for you with out charge.