Have you been declined Life Insurance because of your medical history?
The Insurance Surgery is a leading specialist in dealing with individuals who are classed as High Risk by insurance providers due to medical history, hazardous occupations or extreme sports/hobbies.
In this guide we try to answer some key questions:
What happens if I have been declined Life Insurance previously?
Why is my Life Insurance premium higher than normal?
Why should I speak to a specialist/expert?
A large number of people have been or will be declined life insurance or rated heavily when applying through comparison sites, banks and usual IFA’s simply because of a lack of understanding around their condition. The Insurance Surgery are constantly dealing with people who have been declined cover elsewhere and we are often able to place them relatively easily through our many years of specialist underwriting knowledge and experience.
Why should I speak to a specialist?
Unless your broker/IFA is used to dealing with ‘impaired’ lives they would not know which insurance provider offers the lowest premium for your condition(s).
The Insurance Surgery has many years experience dealing with a wide range of medical conditions, occupations and extreme sports. Throughout the years we have an exceptional track record in obtaining unbeatable premiums and especially in obtaining cover where other companies/banks have declined.
What is ‘Impaired Life Insurance‘?
Life insurance is generally classed as impaired when there is a factor that would cause the underwritten risk to be higher than a ‘standard application’. An application can be impaired for a number of reasons, for example:
- Pre-existing medical conditions
- Hazardous occupations
- Professional sports person
- Extreme sports
- High risk hobbies/pass times
There are thousands of different reasons why an application may be classed as impaired which all come with different elements and levels of risk. The job of the insurance provider is to classify that level of risk and apply a rating or increase in premium that takes that in to account.
Why is my premium more than a standard application?
An increase in a premium could be for thousands of reasons as mentioned above and the difference will vary from one insurance provider to another.
For example:
A person with Type 2 Diabetes applies for Diabetes Life Insurance with 2 different companies and provides both companies with exactly the same information.
Company 1 offers: £25 per month
Company 2 offers: £32 per month
The reason for the difference in premium between the 2 providers is not a mistake, it is simply that Company 1 has lower underwriting limits for Diabetes Life Insurance than Company 2. This can be due to a number of different factors such as claims history, re-insurer terms or underwriting guidelines. There are also many different factors which must be taken into account when underwriting an application for Life Insurance such as the severity of a medical condition, how often somebody is at risk and how high the risk is in terms of occupations or sports.
How do I know who will be the cheapest?
It can be very difficult to know who will offer the best premium for an individual’s particular circumstances without knowing exactly how each insurance company’s underwriting works. This is where speaking to a specialist company such as The Insurance Surgery can be an advantage as they will know how each insurer will view your application.
Actual case study (May ’11 – The Insurance Surgery)
Client applied for Life Insurance through The Insurance Surgery, details as follows:
Sum assured: £120,000
Term: 25 years
Applicants: male 25 (non-smoker) & female 24 (non-smoker)
Medical history: Male diagnosed with Pancreatitis
Previous applications:
Company 1 – £48 per month
Company 2 – £55 per month
The Insurance Surgery – £10 per month
What is classed as ‘Impaired’?
As mentioned above, there are thousands of reasons why an application may be classed as Impaired and they can be broken down in to several main categories. Some examples of pre-existing medical conditions are:
What happens if I can’t get cover?
There are some individuals and certain conditions where it may not be possible to obtain Life Insurance due to the severity of the condition or combinations of medical conditions. Through our many years experience The Insurance Surgery will advise you immediately if Life Insurance is not available at the time of application for yourself and explain your options.
Could I still get an Over 50’s Plan?
There are alternative products available that may offer some cover and that have no medical underwriting. For example, an Over 50’s Plan could provide you with some cover for a relatively small monthly premium to offer some security.
We aim to provide a guide to each of the major medical conditions throughout the coming months in our subsequent newsletters. Keep an eye out for a newsletter that may be useful for you and your circumstances and if there is anything that we haven’t mentioned and you would like us to then please feel free to email [email protected] and we will do our best to include it for you.
Our customers love us.
Would recommend using this service
Tom has been incredibly helpful throughout the whole process of getting my life insurance set up. Very knowledgeable and absolutely ‘on it’ to get me the best product out there.
Mat Wise
First Class Experience
Service was first class, Simon kept me informed at every step in the process.I would have no hesitation in dealing with him again.
Duncan Fordyce
Great, Quick Service
Dealt with Karl who could not have been more helpful. Made the whole process of getting life insurance far easier than other providers I had approached.
Shelley Jenkins
Fantastic!
Approved immediately. Process was so fast and a lot cheaper than I thought. Highly recommended.