Life Assurance and self harm

penguinpal1

I got declined for Life Assurance from Vitality today because last April, in the throes of a severe bout of OCD I cut my arm. One occasion in my whole life. They advised that I try again after ten years. I’m just utterly shocked and devastated, feel like I’ve let down my family as now if I die they’re not financially supported all because of one incident when I was extremely distressed. I’d understand if they just wouldn’t cover me for anything related to mental health, or put my premiums up, but to just instantly decline me on the basis of my lowest moment. I’m just horrified. Would be interested to know if anyone has had similar experiences or if anyone can recommend an insurer.

marcia_

 I was refused insurance from legal & general for suicidal ideation a year prior to applying and like you was pretty upset. 

 I waited a year and reapplied and was given it, at double the cost of my hubbys policy and suicide is not covered. 

Aretnap

Sorry to hear that. It must have been a shock to you but try not to think of it as a judgement on you personally. Rejection is more of a "computer says no" thing based on one particular companies criteria and target market.

First, you won't find life insurance that excludes mental health problems. It's designed to be a simple product - it pays out if you are dead, and not if you are alive. It doesn't try to distinguish between causes of death, which are often unclear and complicated in any event. Even suicide is not generally excluded, at least not after the first year of the policy.

Carving out a mental health exclusion would not be easy even if the insurer were minded to do it. For example if you start to drink too much and due of liver failure is that a mental health related death? How about if a slump into apathy and depression means that you don't manage your diabetes as well as you could and this shortens your life? The interplay between mental and physical health is complex and many physical illnesses are more common or more serious in people with mental health issues - it would be a lot more than just excluding suicide and self-harm.

So anyway that leaves insurers with only two real options for dealing with someone with existing health problems - increase the premium or don't offer cover at all. Fortunately there are a lot of life insurance companies and they do not all so the same thing. Some mass market insurers will just blanket decline to quote for anything slightly out of the ordinary (which is why you shouldn't take rejection personally); other insurers specialise in dealing with people with particular health problems and will be much more amenable.

I can't really comment on how easy it will be to find cover or recommend a particular insurer but if you contact a local mortgage broker or Independent Financial Adviser with access to the whole of the market (try not to use one who is tied to a particular insurer or a small range of companies) they will be used to dealing with people with more complicated medical histories and will know which companies to approach and how to approach them. There are IFAs and mortgage brokers who post on here who might be able to give you an indication of the likelihood of success, or how long you might have to wait before you have more options.

dunstonh

Would be interested to know if anyone has had similar experiences or if anyone can recommend an insurer.

Possibly,  your problem here was the choice of insurer.   Vitality like offering cover to clean health applications and encourage the super healthy.  That is their target market.      Insurance companies are not all the same.  Other underwriting teams may look at things differently.

Often with cases like this, as long as it was event driven and not clinical (ongoing) then a number of insurers will offer cover but remove death as a result of suicide.   In other words, was that period down to some event that is no longer impacting on your life or is it something that has to be controlled and is ongoing?

[Deleted User]

This is a big problem that affects a lot of people. Unfortunately all you can do is try a broker who may be able to find something, but it won't be cheap.

Write to your MP and ask them to do something about this.

dunstonh

Write to your MP and ask them to do something about this.

Do what exactly?

Life assurance is underwritten based on your health.   So, any health condition is going to have an impact on the premiums or acceptance of cover.    

[Deleted User]

dunstonh said:

Write to your MP and ask them to do something about this.

Do what exactly?

Life assurance is underwritten based on your health.   So, any health condition is going to have an impact on the premiums or acceptance of cover.    

Change the law to make considering such things illegal. Like it's illegal to give women cheaper car insurance, even if statistically they might be lower risk.

Nearlyold

[Deleted User] said:

dunstonh said:

Write to your MP and ask them to do something about this.

Do what exactly?

Life assurance is underwritten based on your health.   So, any health condition is going to have an impact on the premiums or acceptance of cover.    

Change the law to make considering such things illegal. Like it's illegal to give women cheaper car insurance, even if statistically they might be lower risk.

What would you include in the "such things" that Insurance Companies would no longer be allowed to take into account in assessing a life insurance application - Presumably not Terminal Illness, Cancer. Heart Problems, Attempted Suicide, Alcohol/Drug Abuse, Depression. If not these, then what health conditions/risk factors would have to be acccepted  which would previously be a decline or loading?

dunstonh

[Deleted User] said:

dunstonh said:

Write to your MP and ask them to do something about this.

Do what exactly?

Life assurance is underwritten based on your health.   So, any health condition is going to have an impact on the premiums or acceptance of cover.    

Change the law to make considering such things illegal. Like it's illegal to give women cheaper car insurance, even if statistically they might be lower risk.

Kiss goodbye the retail market.  All you would have to do is wait until you are ill and then buy life assurance.

user1977

Nearlyold said:

[Deleted User] said:

dunstonh said:

Write to your MP and ask them to do something about this.

Do what exactly?

Life assurance is underwritten based on your health.   So, any health condition is going to have an impact on the premiums or acceptance of cover.    

Change the law to make considering such things illegal. Like it's illegal to give women cheaper car insurance, even if statistically they might be lower risk.

What would you include in the "such things" that Insurance Companies would no longer be allowed to take into account in assessing a life insurance application - Presumably not Terminal Illness, Cancer. Heart Problems, Attempted Suicide, Alcohol/Drug Abuse, Depression. If not these, then what health conditions/risk factors would have to be acccepted  which would previously be a decline or loading?

It's downright ageist to charge 90 year olds more than 19 year olds.

Aretnap

[Deleted User] said:

dunstonh said:

Write to your MP and ask them to do something about this.

Do what exactly?

Life assurance is underwritten based on your health.   So, any health condition is going to have an impact on the premiums or acceptance of cover.    

Change the law to make considering such things illegal. Like it's illegal to give women cheaper car insurance, even if statistically they might be lower risk.

Car insurance is a completely different market. You can't wait until you're about to have a car accident before you take it car insurance, partly because such things are highly unpredictable, and partly because car insurance is compulsory anyway.

In theory a system where life insurers were not allowed to take medical history into account might be made to work if life insurance were made compulsory for everyone... but I doubt whether that's what you are advocating for. Otherwise there would be nothing to stop someone who has just been diagnosed with metastatic cancer taking out a large life insurance policy on himself on the same terms as a healthy person. Free money for his family, but not a recipe for a sustainable insurance market.