Find someone to give me life insurance

jonboyS_2

my 25 year level life insurance policy is ending in July. I thought getting another one would be straightforward. It hasn’t been though. I’ve tried two providers, including my current one, both have declined on health and BMI grounds. Can anyone recommend someone who might insure me?

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6671748/find-someone-to-give-me-life-insurance

Speak to a whole of market broker, they can speak to the underwriters before submitting the quote request therefore avoiding declines.

With health conditions, sometimes the charities/support groups for your conditions have recommended people to approach, that said, the one for my congenital condition was useless and ended up with going with a different firm; they got a decline from the IFA approach to an approval but this is rare, most won't revisit decisions after they've issued a decline which is why its important to go via a broker rather than rack up declines via direct applications (or via tied agents more likely in this space)

Weighty1

Some people are unfortunately uninsurable, others just need to be selective over which insurer they use.

Without knowing what your BMI is or knowing the extent of your health conditions it's impossible to say which camp you fall within. For years I specialised in arranging cover for clients with pre-existing conditions so it's an area I'm pretty well versed in. In respect of your BMI alone there are insurers out there who will cover people with a reading up to around 46, slightly higher if they are in otherwise perfect health. For health conditions, it's totally dependent on the conditions themselves and in some instances whether they are impacted by your BMI.

As mentioned above, it'd be best to use a broker, not because racking up declines causes an issue, it simply wastes your time, but more because you might never spot the best insurer if you try and sort this yourself.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028852#Comment_82028852

Have things changed? I know when my IFA racked up several declines the broker I approached said those markets were basically closed to them as they won't entertain the same risk being presented by another intermediary that they've already declined.

That said, my condition isnt common, and the fact it's congenital is exceptionally rare (normally it's caused by a tumour, cancerous or otherwise). They said they had placed it once before and with one of the insurers that had declined so said they would try again despite the norm that they won't reconsider risks and did eventually managed to get it overturned but only after 3 rounds of medical evidence (GP, consultant and their own consultant - the later was a bit of a waste of time because my consultant was a professor specialising in my condition and considered the UK's leading expert and clearly she was somewhat in aw of him and was clearly not going to argue against him - he'd been her mentor at one point).

The other issue is the reinsurance market for these things are much smaller than general insurance and so if reinsurers say they won't cover X then pretty much all insurers are going to decline it too rather than carry 100% of the risk themselves. Hence typically many insurers have the same response

Weighty1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82031100#Comment_82031100

Historically insurers used to ask if you've been declined or accepted with special terms on any previous applications with another insurer, however, I can't think of any that currently ask this question or have done so in the past 10-years.

The past declines would only have some relevance if you went back to an insurance company who'd already declined you and had done that off the back of medical evidence such as a GP report, in which case it's hard to argue the case for being accepted if they have your medical history in black and white and based their decision on that.

There may be exceptions, such as in your case, which sounds quite complex, but for more standard cases, relating to things like BMI and common medical conditions it would never cause an issue applying to Z just because W, X and Y have declined terms. Even going back to Z wouldn't be out of the question if your risk profile changes.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82031149#Comment_82031149

I think you missed my point (accept I may have been unclear), I wasnt saying Z would decline you because W, X and Y would have but that W, X or Y may have accepted you had the case been presented to them properly in the first place but now will decline you out of hand in most cases.

I dont think my case is that complex for long term products that are more open to having human intervention, it does cause problem occasionally with more basic underwriting where I get asked "have you had the tumour on your gland removed" and my answer is "I've never had a tumour, I dont even have the gland for a tumour to grow on" but that doesnt fit the Yes/No option thats given. If I say "yes" I get quotes at normal prices, if I say "no" I get declined. My argument is I dont have a tumour so thats closest to "yes" as "no" would imply I still have a tumour.

Unfortunately I never got to see what was originally sent to the underwriters, given the GP had to look up my medication when I registered a year or so earlier I didnt have the greatest faith but they wanted £150 to release a copy of the medical report to me. Thankfully the new broker stepped in with a letter from my consultant saying that actually my premiums should be lower than normal for my condition as my hormone levels will forever remain at the ideal level whereas those who dont have my condition will find the hormone decreases in older age.

Weighty1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82031580#Comment_82031580

Ah ok, I get you now. I suppose this is the problem with modern insurance. It brings lower premiums than ever before but insurers want straight through processing wherever possible but it doesn't alwayas fit more nuanced cases when neither a yes or no answer is warranted BUT most systems have a facility that enable free text to be input to provide more details on things like this. That said, if you originally submitted an application saying you had a tumour, for example, and then resubmitted an application with contrary information they would take the new application at face value. Normally, the only time a new application wouldn't be entertained would be if a doctors report had been received and the decision was based off the back of that.

How the broker who arranged your existing cover managed to get a decision overturned is dependent on a) whether a GP report was obtained first time round and b) dependent on whether the GP provided different information second time round compared to the first.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82032545#Comment_82032545

No, my musings on more simple systems wasnt for Protection/long term insurance but classes like Travel

a) One was, they used they didnt repeat

b) A consultant basically said the GP doesnt know what they are talking about

That didnt get the decision overturned but they said they'd arrange an appointment with their own consultant and base their decision on that. As I say, their consultant clearly idolised my consultant and so unsurprisingly she didnt differ from his opinion.