Self Diagnosis of Alcohol Problem

willieormandsheroes

I need Life Assurance for my repayment mortgage, I declared an alcohol issue and am getting clobbered by a huge hike in the premium.

My gripe is that I am completely self -diagnosed on this (for some I might not even have such a massive problem) and fail to understand why I am getting so hit. About three years ago I decided that I was drinking too much. I hadn't any health issues, no work issues, hadn't lost my job, hadn't lost my house, family; No run-ins with the police etc, I just decided I was drinking too much and wanted to cut it down or out altogether, Went to my GP - told her my consumption. We decided it was way too much for my own good.

Was going to go on a 'cut-down' regime but mentioned I had medical insurance and found after a phone call to them that they'd pay for me to have a stint in one of the Priory rehab centres. Why not. Seems the best way I can sort this out for myself. So I did. Did the 28day alcohol rehab treatment course and came out feeling great. And so decided to kick alcohol completely.

Now Life Assurance Companies are giving this as a reason for hiking my premium. I made a decision to improve my lifestyle and improve my health - and this is held against me. I don't get it. Yes of course I'd understand if I had had been told to go for medical help, if I had any medical conditions or criminal record due to alcohol abuse - but no. I just decided I was drinking too much and wanted to cut down. And in fact I've cut it out altogether now for nearly 3yrs. And I am being penalised - at a cost of £1200 over two years (when they'll review my situation)

Do I have any grounds to ask the assurance companies to reconsider.

starrystarry

You can ask them to reconsider but they're not obliged to.

The fact that you recognised you were drinking too much and took the appropriate action before it caused any major issues is a positive feature but the fact remains that you did have an issue with alcohol.

The insurer isn't "penalising" you, they're charging what they consider is the appropriate premium for the risk. Someone with a history like this does represent a higher risk than someone who has never had any issues with alcohol. The risk will reduce the longer you're abstinent though, which is probably why they've said they'll review it in 2 years.

willieormandsheroes

Fully understand. But my self-diagnosis of drinking too much - 35 units a week....? I might have told the GP more to force the issue. I just said that I had a drink problem - but no-one can actually check how much I actually drunk or whether I had a 'real' alcohol problem. Everyone just took my word for it - that I felt I was drinking too much. And I simply felt that going for 4 week stint in the Priory was a good way to reduce my intake. I could have just tried cutting down as my GP told me to do.

I'll add - what happens if I decide in a few years to have a couple of beers. And straight afterwards I croak it through an accident not of my fault. Does the fact that I had a couple of pints and so will have alcohol in my blood invalidate my Life Assurance?

starrystarry

No GP would ever be able to verify someone's alcohol consumption, it would always be based on what the patient says. The "self-diagnosis" bit is a red herring really.

You felt you had a problem, enough of a problem to seek the advice of your GP. Your GP agreed you were drinking too much and advised you to cut down. Those are the facts. Even if you hadn't decided to attend rehab, it would probably still have had an impact on your premiums.

Drinking alcohol in the future won't invalidate your insurance, assuming the insurer hasn't applied any form of exclusion to that effect. The increased premium you'll be paying covers the risk of you starting to drink again. That's why they've applied the premium increase.

willieormandsheroes

OK - tbh I don't really have a huge issue with the additional premium their charging - it just irks a little - and was really just wondering how they justify 'penalising' insured person for trying to improve their health rather than ignore health or lifestyle issues. To some - maybe many - my alcohol intake would not seen as excessive - it's just that I decided to do something about it,

I had a look at the policy and couldn;t see anything about future alcoholic intake

BTW - I referred to as 'self-diagnosis' as I hadn't presented myself to my GP with health issues that on investigation were put down to excessive alcohol intake. Just me saying to my GP I thought I was drinking too much. And I suspect the GP of much of the population would say to their patients, as mine did to me, that they agreed and their patient should cut down

Ah well - such is life - and being honest,

JimmyTheWig

I think this is one of those situations where the answer is "tough". I can totally see your frustration - that you're paying more for having dealt with it.

But with all of these situations you need to look at it from the other angle. The insurance company don't care about you. All they care about is making money.
To make money on life insurance the company need you to live long enough for your premiums to pay for the payout.

Now, don't get bothered by what I'm going to say as from what you've written I don't think it applies to you. But as I say, the insurance company don't care about you. They can't go into every minute detail.
So, if you had details of two people in front of you that were the same apart from one of the people had been treated in the Priory for alcohol reduction, which of the two would you expect to die first?