Life insurance declined due to mental health issue 15 years ago?

LucyB83

My husband is desperate to get life insurance as we have a house and now 2 children to think about. However his insurance quotes have all been declined due to his medical history and an incident that took place over 15 years ago due to mental health. My husband has not has an incident since and yet no insurance company will help. I think its disgraceful as it took alot for him at that time to be honest as ask for help but now he wished he didnt. Any advice is welcome?

Jaybee_16

Have you tried here?

Specialist insurance for mental health problems | Mind, the mental health charity - help for mental health problems

csgohan4

Life assurance is based on one's risk profile. If one has had mental illness compared to one without, the former would either be very expensive or will not be offered a policy. 

Not being honest at the time but nevertheless potentially being in his medical records by the GP,  will still be coded as a mental health issue. Any claim, the insurers will comb through one's medical record to see if there is any discrepancy at time of issue of a policy. 

Non disclosure will lead to the claim being nulled

If your partner did not seek help at the time, it is likely it will be far worse, I am sure life assurance at the time is the last thing on your mind then. 

dunstonh

 I think its disgraceful as it took alot for him at that time to be honest as ask for help but now he wished he didnt

If he is thinking like that, is it possible that he still suffers a bit from it?  That is generally not a rational way of thinking about it and could be an indication that mental health is still an issue.

Generally, with mental health, insurers are less concerned about event driven mental health (such as depression following a bereavement).  If the event has had sufficient time pass, they will usually remove suicide cover but often not increase the premium.      However, it is persistent or medically controlled mental health concerns then is more common for them to reject cover.

It is usually possible to get cover via insurers that consider higher risk cases. However, the premiums will reflect the level of risk involved.

Weighty1

OP, how many and which insurance companies have you tried?

A one off incident, such as a suicide attempt, would not normally cause major issues 5-years after it occurs.  If there was a suicide attempts but then things such as self-harm or continuing suicidal thoughts then this would be looked at far more stringently.

Ultimately, without a more detailed knowledge of your husbands mental health, which I appreciate you're not likely to want to give on here, it's difficult to say what his chances are of arranging cover.

lisyloo

Does he have a pension pot at work that would pay out if he died?
also any death-in-service with his employer? That doesn’t mean you have to die at work just be in employed by them.
don’t overlook either of those.

[Deleted User]

delete 123

dunstonh

[DELETED USER] said:

Unfortunately mental health issues are a problem for insurance with no time limit. Knowing this discourages people from getting help when they need it.

I hope you get your issue resolved. Please consider writing to you MP (free via Write To Them) about it, it needs a change in the law.

How could the law be changed to help?

Sandtree

dunstonh said:

[DELETED USER] said:

Unfortunately mental health issues are a problem for insurance with no time limit. Knowing this discourages people from getting help when they need it.

I hope you get your issue resolved. Please consider writing to you MP (free via Write To Them) about it, it needs a change in the law.

How could the law be changed to help?

In the same way as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act for example, make things non-declarable after a certain period of time. Wouldn't be the first time governments have interfered with insurance pricing... remember car insurance can no longer use gender as a rating factor.

dunstonh

Sandtree said:

dunstonh said:

[DELETED USER] said:

Unfortunately mental health issues are a problem for insurance with no time limit. Knowing this discourages people from getting help when they need it.

I hope you get your issue resolved. Please consider writing to you MP (free via Write To Them) about it, it needs a change in the law.

How could the law be changed to help?

In the same way as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act for example, make things non-declarable after a certain period of time. Wouldn't be the first time governments have interfered with insurance pricing... remember car insurance can no longer use gender as a rating factor.

If you start to allow non-disclosure of medical conditions, where do you stop?   Suddenly, everyone with a condition from x years ago will be crying foul.   It's a very difficult one to resolve.     Although insurers could reprice on it if forced.  They could just remove suicide cover for everyone or put everyone's premiums up to reflect the statistics.

Sandtree

dunstonh said:
If you start to allow non-disclosure of medical conditions, where do you stop?   Suddenly, everyone with a condition from x years ago will be crying foul.   It's a very difficult one to resolve.     Although insurers could reprice on it if forced.  They could just remove suicide cover for everyone or put everyone's premiums up to reflect the statistics.

Not suggesting they should, just saying how they could.

The problem with mental health is you can't take a blood test or a scan to see how the patient is doing. Likewise you cannot prove that someone is cured. 

You'll know much better than I how underwriters react to different metal health conditions but the majority react negatively to those with significant mental health history especially if its been multiple episodes. A very different reaction to those with a physical condition.