income protection issue

jen_polekitten

hi all,

i applied for income protection with LV however they declined on the basis i had a panic attack last year and due to back pain and possible IBS ( undiagnosed, currently having investigations )

im wondering if it is worth applying with anyone else or just wait a while?

my mortgage advisor advised we may need to wait 2 years before trying again with LV, my mortgage advisor has found accidental injury cover for now, but im very worried about if i am ever off sick as i wont be covered.

are my options limited? anyone had any sucess with similar issues like me ?

Weighty1

I think the big issue here is that you are currently being investigated for a condition, which whilst they may be confident is IBS, they can't categorically state is, at least until the investigations are complete.

In addition to this there would need to be an exclusion on the plan for "mental health disorders" and a spinal exclusion which are 2 of the biggest causes for claims.

If you were a client of mine I'd recommend waiting at least until the IBS investigations have been completed and you've been discharged from further investigation. You may still struggle due to the panic attack and back pain but it'll certainly improve your chances of getting cover.

jen_polekitten

it seems so unfair though, i was honest and i havent even been off work with it not even the back pain.

she has sorted out accident cover and hospitalization for now, but i guess i will have to wait 2 years or something

i think around 90% of people have had anxiety , back pain and even more with ibs

lets hope nothing happens to me over the next 2 years!:rotfl:

Weighty1

But once the cover is in force it allows you to claim on it long term so whilst you may not have been off work with back pain currently what happens if it gets worse and DOES cause you to go off work long term? LV would then potentially be in a situation of having to pay you an income for years. Also, mental health disorders are one of the most commonly claimed on issues for Income Protection providers and something which is VERY difficult to prove, so again, if they offered you cover now and you started having more frequent panic attacks which resulted in you being signed off long term LV end up footing the bill.

The IBS is unlikely to cause a major problem, providing the symptoms are well controlled and the deferred period isn't too short but currently it's not been diagnosed as that, it's just suspected that's what it is.

Put yourself in the insures shoes. If someone said they'd give you £20-30/month if you gave them £1,000/month if they went off work and then they told you about these issues, would you consider taking that risk? I know I wouldn't.

jen_polekitten

i do understand why they wont and id be happy if they wanted to exclude back pain and metal illness but they ddnt offer that it was just a straight decline

which as you pointed out maybe due to not having an ibs diagnosis yet


well fingers crossed in another year or so ill be able to get it

dunstonh

i agree with the above. It is the investigation that is the issue. Insurers will decline most health underwritten plans if there is an ongoing investigation taking place.

it seems so unfair though, i was honest and i havent even been off work with it not even the back pain.

But you have an investigation going on with unknown outcome.

i think around 90% of people have had anxiety , back pain and even more with ibs

And when the investigation is complete, you will find more willing to consider offering terms.

starrystarry

jen_polekitten wrote: »

i do understand why they wont and id be happy if they wanted to exclude back pain and metal illness but they ddnt offer that it was just a straight decline

Some insurers won't offer income protection at all if these two exclusions are needed. As weighty said, back pain and mental health issues are the two biggest causes of claims on these types of policy. And I know of at least one insurer whose claims statistics showed that where these exclusions were applied to a policy, policyholders were more likely to claim for something else (unrelated). Statistically, they received more claims from a group of policyholders that had these exclusions applied than from a group of policyholders that didn't.

havingaball74

How does the situation work if you have had tests which have come back negative but the symptoms remain? Could you apply for income protection before going back to the doctor for further tests/between tests? Or if you are simply 'living with' the symptoms? (possibly to go back to the doctor to explore other avenues of diagnosis). Is it 24 months after seeing the doctor or having symptoms? I was lead to believe that even declaring back pain as a symptom would mean either
-the insurance is not given
-there is an exclusion for all related symptoms
or -the premiums would increase.

Chris_Pollard

Exclusions - some income protection (IP) insurers will completely decline if they feel the risk they are assessing requires more than two exclusions, particularly if the exclusions are quite broad - which back and mental health would be. From the insurer's perspective, they might feel that offering an IP product with so much excluded does not represent good value to the customer. In some ways this is reasonable.

@havingaball - in the situation you outline, the underwriter would (like your medical professionals) not know what is causing the symptoms that you are experiencing. It is therefore impossible for them to predict the prognosis. Therefore, the insurer is unlikely to offer you terms until all investigations options have been excluded. Unfortunately the onset of health issues is often a (too late) prompt for people to take out insurance, and many who are being investigated to find the cause/diagnosis have their applications rejected.

Back pain, like mental illness, is common - underwriters will take into account non medical factors, such as occupation and whether the back condition might be chronic and likely to recur, or simply an acute strain, or ligament issue that resolved quickly.

Insurer's approaches will differ, some will leave your application pending submission of the results of further investigations whilst others will reject the application potentially inviting you to reapply when all investigations are concluded.