Life Insurance with Chronic Illness

Mahsroh

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice here. I've never previously bothered with Life Insurance. Thus far it's just been me for the most part looking after myself.

However, I'm getting married later this year, and children will no doubt follow shortly after (9months after the Wedding if the other half gets her way!!).

She earns quite a bit less than me so now seems appropriate to get a life insurance policy sorted. The whole thing is a bit of minefield but reading up on it on the MSE main site, I think I'm just about understanding it. Although, unless someone can tell me differently, it sounds like if you take on a 20year policy, you're committing to it for 20years.... bit like a mortgage! Maybe someone can advise me on that?

Anyway, that wasn't the main reason for this post. I suffer from Crohns disease which will inevitably affect my premium (just as it does with travel insurance etc). I would presume there are other people on this forum who suffer from a chronic illness? Does anybody else have any experiences? I don't want to keep applying just to get rejected. I would assume there are insurance companies who are particularly / experienced in providing insurances to those with Chronic conditions?

Any help / advice / experiences much appreciated.

pinkteapot

My husband has a complex medical history and a couple of chronic conditions.

In our experience, conditions don't really affect the life insurance premium - but they do affect whether a particular insurer will insure you or not. The decision for the insurer seems to be "Shall we insure this person?" yes/no, not "How much shall we charge this person to insure them?"

You'll probably find that some insurers have Crohn's on a list of conditions which means they won't offer you life insurance. So, applying is a bit of pot luck - finding the insurer who'll accept you.

I'd highly recommend using a broker, rather than applying yourself. We used one and didn't have to pay them (I assume they got a kick-back from the insurer we ended up with). Even so, the first place they applied to for my hubby rejected him, but on the second attempt they got him a policy.

We used a big online broker who specialise in insurance for people with medical conditions - The Insurance Surgery (http://www.the-insurance-surgery.co.uk/). But any broker - local office-based or online should be able to help.

You can still apply direct if you prefer - just be very careful to answer all questions honestly and contact the insurer if you're not sure how to answer one. Just to avoid any risk of a policy later being declared void. Life insurance application forms aren't too hard to understand though. The reason to use a broker is they'll have some knowledge of which insurers are most likely to offer terms, so can save you some wasted time/effort in approaching ones who'll say no because they blanket-refuse your particular condition.

Mahsroh

pinkteapot wrote: »

My husband has a complex medical history and a couple of chronic conditions.

In our experience, conditions don't really affect the life insurance premium - but they do affect whether a particular insurer will insure you or not. The decision for the insurer seems to be "Shall we insure this person?" yes/no, not "How much shall we charge this person to insure them?"

You'll probably find that some insurers have Crohn's on a list of conditions which means they won't offer you life insurance. So, applying is a bit of pot luck - finding the insurer who'll accept you.

I'd highly recommend using a broker, rather than applying yourself. We used one and didn't have to pay them (I assume they got a kick-back from the insurer we ended up with). Even so, the first place they applied to for my hubby rejected him, but on the second attempt they got him a policy.

We used a big online broker who specialise in insurance for people with medical conditions - The Insurance Surgery (http://www.the-insurance-surgery.co.uk/). But any broker - local office-based or online should be able to help.

You can still apply direct if you prefer - just be very careful to answer all questions honestly and contact the insurer if you're not sure how to answer one. Just to avoid any risk of a policy later being declared void. Life insurance application forms aren't too hard to understand though. The reason to use a broker is they'll have some knowledge of which insurers are most likely to offer terms, so can save you some wasted time/effort in approaching ones who'll say no because they blanket-refuse your particular condition.

Thanks for the response. I do feel this is an important decision and one I need to get right! Slightly more complex / important that say, contents insurance! Therefore, I think I will take your advice and talk to a broker.

Weighty1

Contrary to what pinkteapot says, chronic conditions DO absolutely affect the insurance premiums. Few insurers have a blanket refusal to offer cover apart from the most serious of conditions such as heart related issues, stroke, cancer etc.

With Crohn's I'd expect most insurers would be interested in the following:
Time since diagnosis
*Last flare up
*How often flare ups occur
*If you've required surgery or have pending surgery (the latter almost certainly causing cover to be postponed)
*Medication take - steroids and immuno-suppressants will almost certainly in themselves cause an increase in the premium
*Whether there are any complications of the condition aside from those affecting the digestive system

Based on this the premium will normally increase by a % above the normal standard premium. In my experience this is often ~50-75% for very well controlled, mild cases, right through to a decline for the most severe but a moderate loading being ~150%.

You'd definitely be best of speaking to a broker as even if you find a company who will cover you that's not to say you've found the most competitive one for the condition.

HTH