Some questions about medical history and life insurance application

Ddrago

Hi all

I am about to apply for my 1st life insurance policy. I am fairly nervous about this as I don't want to get anything wrong in the application so after reading through this site I think it's probably best I use a broker. The main point of my questions is that I have suffered from anxiety in the past, this has basically manifested itself in me going to the doctors at any sign of symptoms, real or not.

Because of this I have obtained my medical records and they are longer than what I'd hope.

So to my questions:
1) is it best for me to just send my medical records to the broker in order to make sure everything is above board? Or is that not the 'done thing". 

2) is there standard length of time they normally go back with these things? I started one of the online forms with one of the normal insurance companies and they only seemed to ask about the previous 1 year but I have heard of others saying 5 years.

3) there is a note on my medical history from almost 30 years ago when I was essentially a child that says I have a family history of heart disease. My understanding is that means a brother or father who's had it, I don't think this history is correct in my case. Is this something that can be challenged and if not, is it something that would affect my application?

4) there is another bit on my records that says I was a moderate drinker when I was 16! Again I'm not sure if this is a mistake or if I misunderstood the question at that age but there's a bit next to it that says "alcohol protocol$$" I'm not sure what this means? I know there's catch all questions that ask if you have ever been advised to drink less or something like that so I'm not sure if that's relevant.

Thanks for any help, this whole process is pretty daunting so I appreciate any advice

Sandtree

Family history typically goes broader that simply father/brother and will consider both male and female relatives. What is recorded in your medical records will be the result of forms you’ve filled in or conversations you’ve had... if your grandfather went into hospital with a heart attack there is no process that then automatically notes a family history of heart conditions on all his close relatives.

Insurance is more about honesty than it is anything else, you have almost shot yourself in the foot by getting your medical records as you now you’ve got some kind of comment about alcohol from when you are 16. If you hadn’t done it you’d have just ticked the no box on alcohol advice and if the insurer requests your medical records or more likely a doctors report, could have honestly stated you had no idea it was there or why it was there (did you drink moderately at 16? Do you recall why you were seeing the Dr back then that it may have come up?). Now its a bit more complex.

A good broker is worth their commissions and will help deal with trickier questions/the grey areas and will be able to leverage their connections to discuss the matters with the insurers if required. 

Ddrago

Sandtree said:

Family history typically goes broader that simply father/brother and will consider both male and female relatives. What is recorded in your medical records will be the result of forms you’ve filled in or conversations you’ve had... if your grandfather went into hospital with a heart attack there is no process that then automatically notes a family history of heart conditions on all his close relatives.

Insurance is more about honesty than it is anything else, you have almost shot yourself in the foot by getting your medical records as you now you’ve got some kind of comment about alcohol from when you are 16. If you hadn’t done it you’d have just ticked the no box on alcohol advice and if the insurer requests your medical records or more likely a doctors report, could have honestly stated you had no idea it was there or why it was there (did you drink moderately at 16? Do you recall why you were seeing the Dr back then that it may have come up?). Now its a bit more complex.

A good broker is worth their commissions and will help deal with trickier questions/the grey areas and will be able to leverage their connections to discuss the matters with the insurers if required. 

Hi thanks for the reply. I am going to challenge the alcohol thing as it turns out I was actually 15. However assuming this was just a note on my drinking habits (there are similar comments about me being a non smoker) and not any sort of advice to reduce drinking then I assume it's not actually applicable?

Old_Lifer

Do you think you are  over-thinking this  and looking for problems that may not exist ?

Dr_Crypto

I think you’re overthinking this.
Many of these records, particularly historical ones, aren’t terribly accurate. When GPs started to go fully digital in the early/mid 2000s they had to transfer over their old Lloyd-George paper notes to PC and they often paid students etc to do it. As a result some data is erroneous, guesstimated or wholly fictitious. 

naedanger

I also think you are over worrying. I am not an underwriter but nothing on your medical records sounds concerning. 

1) It is not the done thing. Don't send your medical records to the broker they won't want them and will probably be annoyed if you send them.

2) At the underwriting stage you will be asked a series of questions. Each question will make clear how far back you need to answer. Some will go back to birth e.g. have you ever had a heart attack, cancer, stroke etc. Answer all questions completely honestly and err on disclosing things. (Most people will have some things they need to disclose. It does not mean you won't get cover on normal terms. Life insurers offer cover to the vast majority of people not just those in ideal health.)

3) You need to disclose family health if asked. They may ask what ages your parents died, and of what cause. If there was a pattern of parents and grandparents dying young from the same type of illness they may ask more, or perhaps increase the premiums they would charge. But again how many families won't have some history of some illnesses? The question is how life shortening is it likely to be for you? Is your life expectancy likely to be significantly less than average for your age? If not then you are likely to be accepted on normal terms. And even if you have a significant medical condition you will probably still be offered cover, just at a higher cost.

4) If you are asked if you have ever been advised to drink less answer the question honestly. (Once 30 years ago, if you don't drink heavily now is unlikely to be of any concern.) I suspect they may have more relevant questions e.g. do you drink more than x units a week where a unit is half a glass of beer etc. 

5) It is very unlikely any insurer will ask to see your medical records at this stage. If you die in circumstances where they think you might have not disclosed something then they would at that point investigate, and one thing they would do is look at your medical records. For example if you died from a smoking related disease having said you never smoked then they would may investigate. And if it was clear from your medical records you were a smoker then there might be a problem. 

Bottom line: you are almost certainly worrying over nothing. Insurers want to offer cover to the vast majority of people not just the very healthiest.
 

Sandtree

Ddrago said:
 I am going to challenge the alcohol thing as it turns out I was actually 15. However assuming this was just a note on my drinking habits (there are similar comments about me being a non smoker) and not any sort of advice to reduce drinking then I assume it's not actually applicable?

What realistically do you think would come from challenging the record? Given you cannot remember what it came from what probability do you think there is that the doctor who wrote it recalls the situation, if he even works at your current surgery?