Refused life insurance due to Fibroids condition

randompunk000

Hello all,

Asking for a friend who does not use the Internet...

She has recently been approved for a mortgage which will allow herself and husband to buy their rented property. Her mortgage advisor was looking in to life insurance for her but was being rejected due to her Fibriod condition. 

I thought this was a bit bizarre but wanted to get some more information as Google hasn't been my friend when trying to look in to this.

Any information or life insurance companies that can be approached would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

dunstonh

Is her mortgage adviser whole of market or tied to one insurer?   (a lot of mortgage brokers are whole of market on the mortgage side but not on the insurance side).        Other than cost (whole of market tends to be cheaper than restricted), it can be an issue when it comes to underwriting cases as the tied adviser only has one provider and if they don't offer cover, then there is no alternative available to that adviser and client.  A whole of market adviser can shop around by contacting the underwriters asking them if they would consider it.

"Fibroid condition" is a little vague.   It could be severe or it could be a quality of life issue.      
Is your friend still undergoing tests/investigations or have surgery/treatment planned? - if so, this will usually result in a rejection until completed.

randompunk000

Thank you for your reply.

The condition is under control but a future hysterectomy may be needed other than that she is in good health.

I am not sure if the mortgage advisor is whole market or not regarding insurance. The mortgage advisor I believe has tried several companies (but I'm not sure) and had the same result, but I have said that finding your own through several comparison sites may be what is need to be done.

Just thought I'd ask if here incase anyone had any experience or information.

I appreciate your reply, I will have to go through this in more detail with my friend.

Weighty1

I think the crux of it will be how likely she is to need the hysterectomy and how this affected her answering of the questions.  If it's a case of "may or may not require a hysterectomy" then an insurer would likely look at it completely different than if it is "definitely going to need a hysterctomy in the next 12-months" in which case you would expect most insurers to postpone her currently due to the mortality risks of having major surgery under general anaesthetic.

Did the insurer your friend applied to write to her doctor for a report or did they make the decision purely based on the application questions?

randompunk000

Thanks for your reply.

The mortgage advisor is going to contact the doctor for a report that can be given to potential insurers.

I was under the impression they would have a clause in the contract stating that cover will not be provided for the current condition. Like they do with pet insurance.

Aretnap

randompunk000 said:

I was under the impression they would have a clause in the contract stating that cover will not be provided for the current condition. Like they do with pet insurance.

That's often how things work with things like private medical insurance and income protection insurance but not with life insurance.

Life insurance is usually a very simple product. It pays out if you die, full stop. It doesn't come with a big list of exclusions. In fact the only common exclusion is suicide, and even that is usually only excluded if it happens in the first 12 months of the policy. Beyond that, the only common reason why it would not pay out would be because you hadn't accurately described your medical history at the time the policy was taken out. 

Weighty1

randompunk000 said:

Thanks for your reply.

The mortgage advisor is going to contact the doctor for a report that can be given to potential insurers.

I was under the impression they would have a clause in the contract stating that cover will not be provided for the current condition. Like they do with pet insurance.

The mortgage advisor will only be able to get a report IF the insurer which was already applied to requested one.  A GP will not produce a report purely for the advisors benefit.   In fact, only the client/patient can request a copy of the report due to patient confidentiality.

Sandtree

It may be worth while, or a total waste of time, to see if any of the national charities/support groups have recommendations of brokers or insurers for people with the condition. In my case it was a waste of time as the recommended IFA clearly had little interest in protection products and got straight declines. The broker I subsequently found and used, who unfortunately no longer is active, then got actually fairly good quotes including from ones the IFA had a decline from.  Others have had better responses from their recommendations though.

dunstonh

Sandtree said:

It may be worth while, or a total waste of time, to see if any of the national charities/support groups have recommendations of brokers or insurers for people with the condition. In my case it was a waste of time as the recommended IFA clearly had little interest in protection products and got straight declines. The broker I subsequently found and used, who unfortunately no longer is active, then got actually fairly good quotes including from ones the IFA had a decline from.  Others have had better responses from their recommendations though.

It's a fair comment.  I'm an IFA but haven't done any protection case in recent history.   Instead, we have protection advisers within the firm.     It is an increasingly common model to see IFA (firms) use focused advisers in protection and/or mortgages rather than the IFA (individual) at the IFA firm trying to the lot.   It's difficult to be do all areas nowadays and remain knowledgeable to the required levels.  You end up being a Jack of all trades, master of none if you try it.    

Sandtree

dunstonh said:
You end up being a Jack of all trades, master of none if you try it.    

My comment was simply one of personal experience and certainly not trying to tar all with the same brush... in every industry there are good and bad operators. 

We are now talking a decade ago and I believe it was a very small firm... filled in the forms on day 1, awaited the report, got told it was a decline that he could submit it to others if I wanted but likely to be the same answer. The next person (who happened to be a broker rather than IFA but thats not really relevant) was totally different... he spent several days talking to the u/w etc before even talking about forms, asked a lot of Qs about the management of the condition, its impact etc and came back saying the original decline would reconsider based on a letter from my consultant and going to see their specialist... the loading for my condition ended up being tiny (rather than a decline) though my consultant did say that with a well managed version of my condition mortality and morbidity risk was lower than someone without it but I was happy to get insured and didn't want further debate. 

csgohan4

i think without prying too much, fibroids on face value may not be something major, however the fact may need surgery is something insurers get twitchy about

Insurance is based on risk and since Covid, alot of insurers have been more risk averse, even those who obtained cover for previously stable conditions such as breast cancer, can no longer get them or have to pay a loaded premiums. 

Ensure the broker is whole of market. MSE does an article on life assurance who's providers some do other insurance products as well like income protection