Life insurance - Mental health

Reece_

The birth of our first child in August has prompted my wife and I to look at life insurance. For my wife, no problems getting a good policy at a good price, however with myself I am struggling;
I've suffered with various mental health issues for over 10 years and have had recent, multiple suicide attempts. I can obviously understand I am a higher risk etc but simply puts getting life insurance well out of reach, my question for those in the know : I'm not concerned necessarily about being covered for suicide ( if that's even possible!) but if I omit my suicide attempts when getting quotes, should something happen, not related to this, would the insurance be invalid anyway?

Weighty1

If you fail to disclose the attempts then this would fall under the remit of gross misrepresentation and the insurance WOULD be invalid and your family would receive nothing in the event of a claim.

Unfortunately, it can be extremely difficult to obtain cover if there's been multiple suicide attempts, especially if any of them have been recent (ie. within the last 5-years)

You may want to look at guaranteed acceptance type plans. You wouldn't be able to get a large amount of cover but you could at least get some.

sal_III

You will be committing insurance fraud and can go to jail. Really pointless since, when the insurance event occurs there will be at least basic review and the truth will come up so there will be no payout.

The insurer concerns with suicide attempts are that a suicide can be staged as an accident if there is a motivation of insurance payout.

Aretnap

sal_III wrote: »

The insurer concerns with suicide attempts are that a suicide can be staged as an accident if there is a motivation of insurance payout.

More down to the fact that even if suicide were excluded (which it generally isn't, contrary to popular myth) serious mental health issues still correlate with a load of other health problems and factors which can affect life expectancy, eg drink/substance abuse, reckless behaviour, generally not taking good care of yourself and your health etc. So the actual risk of suicide is only part of the reason for asking about mental health issues and suicide attempts.

As a general rule failing to disclose information when asked will invalidate the while policy, not just specific claims which can be directly linked to the information in question.

Reece_

Thanks guys, confirmed what I thought. I'll have another try for a reasonable policy and if not just put some money aside each month

Socajam

Reece_ wrote: »

Thanks guys, confirmed what I thought. I'll have another try for a reasonable policy and if not just put some money aside each month

Why not take out a policy on your child such as:
when the child reaches 18, so much is paid out; and another pay out at say 25.

Not sure if this is possible, but it's worth a try.
The 18 year payout could go towards university fees and learning to drive.

csgohan4

Consider getting a broker to find you a policy if possible.

[Deleted User]

I managed to get cover but had to wait a year from my last contact with mental health team. Paying double what my hubby is too.