LIFE INSURANCE QUESTION

bola123123

Hi all,
I am a young lad trying to get life insurance for myself and I had a few question:

1) Last year (2019) I had some chest pain and went to my GP who referred to me A&E. In the hospital they did lots of checks (blood tests, ecg, etc.) and I was diagnosed as having muscular chest pain. Does this need to be declared as it was not related to heart?

2) Another question, my father recently passed away. The death certificate said 1. Covid 19 and 2. Ischemic heart disease. During my conversation with the consultant doctor, they told me my father passed away due to cardiac arrest. So on the insurance option which asks if any of my parents passed away below 60 and for what condition, do I choose heart attack or cardiomyopathy?

3) In 2017, I had a car accident and made a whiplash claim for my neck and back pain. I have fully recovered from this following physiotherapy. Does this need to be declared?

4) Is it possible to get a copy / summary of the data the doctor holds for me as this would make answering all the insurance company questions quite easy. If yes, how do i go about getting this?

5) I am having problem finding a insurer what will insure me as my father was under 60 when he passed away. Can anybody recommend me a free life insurance broker for these scenario?

Thank you for your help in advance.

Old_Lifer

You should  just answer the questions on the proposal form.

If you are asked if you have consulted a doctor in the last  x  years , you should declare it.   Minor ailments will be ignored.

With regard to the parents ,  I  suggest you put down whatever is the cause of death on the death certificate  and the age at death.

Presumably  if you submitted a claim for whiplash  you visited a doctor ,  so I would put it on the proposal form  and  mention that following physio   you are  now fully recovered.   

I cannot  comment regarding  your accessing of  your own medical  records  yourself,  others on the Form  will probably tell you how to do this.

With regard to  death under age 60,      death at, say, 40  might be a concern  whereas death at 58 might not be.

In respect of your 'problem' finding an insurer,    Weighty , who has current market knowledge,   may be able to point you in the right direction.

dunstonh

Does this need to be declared as it was not related to heart?

The life assurance questions have a catchall covering recent events.  Usually along the lines of "in the last 5 years have you.......".   It would captured under that.

2) Another question, my father recently passed away. The death certificate said 1. Covid 19 and 2. Ischemic heart disease. During my conversation with the consultant doctor, they told me my father passed away due to cardiac arrest. So on the insurance option which asks if any of my parents passed away below 60 and for what condition, do I choose heart attack or cardiomyopathy?

Give them the explanation.  Dont look for one word answers.   If you are using an online only process which doesnt allow free text responses then use what the death certifiate says.

3) In 2017, I had a car accident and made a whiplash claim for my neck and back pain. I have fully recovered from this following physiotherapy. Does this need to be declared?

it will be in the catchall question as mentiond above.

4) Is it possible to get a copy / summary of the data the doctor holds for me as this would make answering all the insurance company questions quite easy. If yes, how do i go about getting this?

Contact your GP.

5) I am having problem finding a insurer what will insure me as my father was under 60 when he passed away. Can anybody recommend me a free life insurance broker for these scenario?

No you will not have a problem.   There are no free life assurance brokers.  Life assurance is retailed either as commission built into the premiums or fee-based with nil commission,  Commission increases the premium over fee basis.    So, one way or the other, you end up paying.

csgohan4

this website does an article on life assurance, they also list some common online brokers too, or use a local one, your choice 

bola123123

Hi guys, thanks for responding.

In regards to the second question, If i answer the question as it is then the word "Heart Attack" isn't in the death certificate, therefore, I presume I don't need to declare heart attack as it is not listed in death certificate?

If it was heart attack I am sure they would have written "heart attack?"

I wish they had never listed this ischemic heart disease at all.

csgohan4 said:

this website does an article on life assurance, they also list some common online brokers too, or use a local one, your choice 

I spoke with two advisory brokers on mse. one of them said it wasn't worth their time to go through with the application but did advise me to try other companies. another company did not really have an answer to if ischemic heart disease was the same as heart attack and they wanted to proceed without declaring but at my own risk...

bola123123

looks like i am over complicating things...

davidmcn

bola123123 said:

In regards to the second question, If i answer the question as it is then the word "Heart Attack" isn't in the death certificate, therefore, I presume I don't need to declare heart attack as it is not listed in death certificate?

If it was heart attack I am sure they would have written "heart attack?"

I'm sure they wouldn't, because "heart attack" isn't a medical term and never appears on death certificates. But in common parlance, that's essentially what the ultimate cause of death was - just tell them what it says on the death certificate rather than trying to tiptoe around it. Obviously what the insurers want to know is whether there might be a family history of heart disease, and in this case there is - so you ought to be telling them.

bola123123

davidmcn said:

bola123123 said:

In regards to the second question, If i answer the question as it is then the word "Heart Attack" isn't in the death certificate, therefore, I presume I don't need to declare heart attack as it is not listed in death certificate?

If it was heart attack I am sure they would have written "heart attack?"

I'm sure they wouldn't, because "heart attack" isn't a medical term and never appears on death certificates. But in common parlance, that's essentially what the ultimate cause of death was - just tell them what it says on the death certificate rather than trying to tiptoe around it. Obviously what the insurers want to know is whether there might be a family history of heart disease, and in this case there is - so you ought to be telling them.

How do i tell the insurance company? Online application you only have tick options, on phone they are like mechanical you answer same as yes or no. May be i am not finding the right broker/ advisor...

Weighty1

You may well be finding/dealing with the wrong broker/adviser.  Some of the problem with the broker/businesses which proliferate online is that they are typically the businesses which work by writing high levels of business and therefore specialise almost in piling it high and not selling it cheap but selling it quickly.  There are specialist brokers who don't work on high volumes of business but can offer a more hands on and in-depth approach.

For example, in your initial statement you said should you record your fathers passing as heart attack or cardiomyopathy.  The forms of cardiomyopathy an insurance company want to know about are specific conditions in and of themselves.  There are typically forms of cardiomyopathy, such as hypertrophic or diluted and not ischaemic cardiomyopathy which occurs as a result of a heart attack, as that would be disclosed under the heart attack section.  There is also a difference between between a heart attack and cardiac arrest.  A heart attack is caused by a blockage to the artery which results in the death of some of the muscle whilst a cardiac arrest is caused by a disruption to the electrical signals which cause the contraction of the heart muscle to pump blood.  If the death certificate therefore says cardiac arrest then it is neither a heart attack or cardiomyopathy and should not be disclosed as either.  UNLESS, you father than previously been diagnosed with either.  I say this because the application systems do not only ask about death they ask if either of your natural parents or brothers or sisters have BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH OR DIED from.  Obviously, many people survive many of the conditions listed so do not focus only on death.

You really need to be speaking to an adviser who can actually ensure you are answering the questions accurately, rather than simply putting the onus on you to adviser rather than question what you are actually saying if you are unsure.

In addition to the other questions you ask.  Insurance applications are clear in their questions.  They do not ask about back problems, unless you have recovered, and they don't ask about chest pains, unless they are muscular.  However, once you disclose a back/neck problem or chest pains, the systems are normally interactive enough to enable you to ultimately disclose that you have recovered from the whiplash and that it was muscular chest pain rather than heart related/angina type chest pains.

Your finally point 5, ALL insurers will cover you even though your father passed away under age 60.  However, if you had contact with your father in the last 30-days you many currently get tripped up by the questions which are currently being asked about an applicant having contact with a person is has been confirmed as having or is suspected  of having coronavirus or covid-19.

I do feel that if you were speaking to the right type of broker/adviser they'd be able to answer these questions quite easily and clearly.