Life insurance pays out a lump sum if you die during your policy term. This means that when insurers are considering your life insurance application, what they’re really doing is weighing up how likely you are to die during the life of your policy. If it’s likely, they’ll think of you as high risk; if it’s unlikely, as low risk. It’s this level of risk that’ll determine whether or not you’re eligible for cover and, if so, how much they’ll expect you to pay each month to be insured – the higher the risk to them, the higher the premiums for you, and vice versa.

If you’ve already got a health condition, it’s very important to declare it when applying for life insurance. The most common reason for policies not paying out is people not being accurate and honest in their application. Having a health condition might make it more expensive to get covered – or difficult to get covered at all (as it would if you had a risky job or hobby) – but it depends on a number of factors about your condition.

Getting help from an adviser is highly recommended if you’re trying to buy life insurance but have an existing medical condition. They’ll have the tools and know-how to point you towards the insurers most likely to cover you – so you won’t waste time on applications that won’t be accepted.

At Anorak, our team of advisers is here to help you find the most suitable insurers and policies for you, whatever your circumstances. If you’ve got a health condition, they’ll guide you to getting the right cover in place – as quickly and simply as possible.

What’s underwriting?

Every life insurance application goes through a ‘risk assessment’. This helps determine how eligible you are for the cover (i.e. how much of a risk you are) and how much you should pay to be insured (i.e. the higher the risk, the higher the premiums). This process, knowing as ‘underwriting’, usually involves the insurer asking questions about your:

  • Personal health history
  • Family health history
  • Height and weight (BMI)
  • Smoking status
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Job and hobbies
  • International travel

If you apply for life insurance online – as you can with Anorak – part of the underwriting process happens straight away, in the health and lifestyle questions you answer when you apply. In a straightforward case (e.g. for someone who’s young and healthy), this level of underwriting usually suffices, and an insurer will accept the application based on those questions and answers alone. For more complicated cases (e.g. someone older or with a pre-existing condition medical condition), the application will usually be handed over to an underwriter for further review.


What insurers want to know about pre-existing health conditions

If your life insurance application gets handed over to an underwriter because you’ve stated that you’ve got a health condition, these are the kinds of things they’d need to know before making a decision:

  • When you were diagnosed
  • What your symptoms are and how often you have them
  • How severe your condition is
  • What treatment you have (or have had)
  • Whether it’s led to you claiming benefits/allowances
  • Whether it’s caused you to take time off work
  • Whether it’s caused you to retire early

Throughout this process, insurers will also take timings into account – i.e. being hospitalised for your condition once, eight years ago, might be deemed less of risk than if you were hospitalised this year, for example, or have been hospitalised several times. The specifics of what they need to know will also vary according to what the condition is – but whatever the condition, it’s very important to disclose it during the application process, as not doing so could invalidate your policy and lead to it not paying out in the future.


Life insurance for people with asthma

Having asthma could affect you when applying for life insurance, but it very much depends on the severity of your condition. Mild asthma might not affect your application at all; moderate asthma could lead to it being more expensive; and severe asthma could lead to it being more expensive, or you being ineligible. Insurers will want to know about the frequency of your symptoms and hospital stays, what medication you're on, and how your asthma affects your working and daily life.

Read our guide to life insurance for people with asthma

Life insurance for people with a low or high BMI

Having a low or high BMI could make you higher risk to insure – because being underweight or overweight can increase the likelihood of you developing other health conditions and affect your life expectancy. You should be able to buy cover, but the success of your application will depend on how low or how high your BMI is (all insurers have different thresholds for what they will and won't cover, and how much it'll cost) and whether or not you have any other health conditions at the same time.

Read our guide to life insurance for people with a low or high BMI

Life insurance for people with cancer

If you try to apply for life insurance while you have cancer, it’s likely that insurers will postpone making a decision about your application until your treatment is completed (or even longer, until a certain amount of time has passed). If you’ve had cancer in the past, insurers will seek extra information from you during the underwriting process. This is likely to include what type of cancer you had, how long ago you had treatment, whether you were told you were in remission, whether the cancer spread to any other part of the body – and other details, depending on the type of cancer you had.

Read our guide to life insurance for people with cancer

Life insurance for people with Crohn's disease

If you disclose that you've got Crohn's disease when you apply for life insurance, you'll be required to provide extra information about your condition. This is so the insurer can weigh up how severe your condition is and how much of a risk you are to insure. You should be able to get life insurance, but it might be more expensive than someone of a similar profile without your condition.

Read our guide to life insurance for people with Crohn's disease

Life insurance for people with diabetes

If you have diabetes, insurers will need to know about your diagnosis, however long ago it was. In many cases, if your diabetes is well-controlled, a decision can be made about your application based on a quick online assessment. In other cases, where the diabetes is less controlled or causing other complications, insurers may require extra information from your GP in order to make a decision.

Read our guide to life insurance for people with diabetes

Life insurance for people with epilepsy

If you disclose that you have epilepsy when applying for life insurance, you'll be required to provide extra information about your condition and its severity. Insurers will decide whether or not to insure you and how much it should cost based on the detail you provide – including when you were diagnosed; what type of epilepsy you have; what treatment you receive; how frequent your epileptic fits are; and more.

Read our guide to life insurance for people with epilepsy

Life insurance for people with heart conditions

Having a heart condition – e.g. having angina or having had a heart attack – will make it more expensive to get covered and may even affect how eligible you are for cover with certain insurers. During the underwriting process, insurers will try to ascertain the extent of your underlying condition. This includes how old you were when you were diagnosed, what treatment you’re having, how frequently you experience symptoms, whether you’re making any lifestyle changes to manage your condition, and whether it’s causing or related to any other conditions (like high blood pressure or diabetes).

Read our guide to life insurance for people with heart conditions

Life insurance for people who've had hepatitis B or C

A previous hepatitis B or C diagnosis in your health history could affect you when applying for life insurance. It depends on how well you've recovered from the infection, whether you've been diagnosed with chronic hepatitis, and how well your condition is managed. Insurers will require further medical information regarding your diagnosis during the application process.

Read our guide to life insurance for people who've had hepatitis B or C

Life insurance for people living with HIV

You can still buy life insurance if you’ve been diagnosed with HIV, though as with many pre-existing conditions, it could make getting covered more expensive and you may be ineligible for some products. During the underwriting process, insurers will simply be looking to ascertain how well you’ve responded to HIV treatment and whether any other medical complications have been caused by your condition.

Read our guide to life insurance for people living with HIV

Life insurance for people with multiple sclerosis

You should be able to buy life insurance if you've been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but it will make it more expensive to get covered. The success of your application will depend on whether you've got relapsing-remitting MS or progressive MS, and on the current pattern of your condition – i.e. whether you're symptom-free, or your symptoms are intermittent, continuous or worsening.

Read our guide to life insurance for people with multiple sclerosis

Life insurance for people with stress, anxiety or depression

If you have a mental health condition – such as experiencing stress, anxiety or depression – it’s likely that insurers will require extra information before making a decision about your application. This is because mental health conditions can affect your motivation or ability to lead a healthy lifestyle, and may be accompanied by a propensity towards self-harm or suicide. During underwriting, insurers will look to ascertain things like the frequency and severity of your symptoms, what treatment you have (or have had), and what affect the condition has on your daily life.

Read our guide to life insurance for people with stress, anxiety or depression and our guide to life insurance and suicide


How a pre-existing condition could affect your application

Depending on what the insurer discovers about your condition during the underwriting process, there are four things that could happen:

  1. Your application will be accepted as normal, with standard pricing rates (i.e. the same as they’d be for someone without your condition)
  2. Your application will be accepted but with a ‘loading’ on the price (i.e. your rates will be between 50% and 200% higher than they would be for someone without your condition)
  3. Your application decision will be postponed (this happens if the insurer thinks your condition poses too much of a risk right now, but has the potential to improve in the future)
  4. Your application will be declined (this happens if the insurer thinks your condition means you'll always be too high risk to insure)

Medical information required during underwriting

Extra medical information is often requested during the underwriting process if you’ve disclosed a pre-existing condition during the application process. Other times it’ll be automatically requested, if the applicant is over a certain age, for example, or buying a large amount of cover. This information could be gathered through means like:

  • GP report
  • In-person mini-screening (with a nurse)
  • Video call screening (with a nurse)
  • Medical examination (with a doctor)
  • HIV test
  • Urine test
  • Lipid profile test
  • Blood test
  • Electrocardiograph (ECG)

How to buy the right life cover for your health

Having a health condition means there's more to think about and explore when buying life insurance. You'll want to make sure you're buying sufficient cover while also getting the best, most suitable deal for your circumstances. You'll also want to be fully aware of all the policy details, including any possible exclusions.

Delving into all of this by yourself can be daunting, time-consuming, and often ends up in guesswork. This certainly isn't ideal, especially if you've got a health condition – after all, no-one wants to make a wrong decision that could leave their family under-protected in case the worst happens.

All of this is why Anorak exists. We've built a simple, convenient way to get independent advice and buy the right cover for you. You can use Anorak online to start with, but you can also speak to an adviser over the phone, which is highly recommended if you've got a health condition. We'll provide:

  • Free advice about what cover you need (if any) and which insurer is most suitable given your health history
  • Help choosing the right cover for you from the whole market, at the best price for your circumstances
  • Peace of mind that you're doing the right thing for you, your health and your family
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  • You can apply for life insurance even if you have an existing health condition
  • You should always disclose pre-existing conditions during the application process, otherwise you risk invalidating your policy in the future
  • Extra medical information may be required during the underwriting process if you disclose a pre-existing condition
  • Depending on the nature of your condition, insurers may accept your application as normal; accept it but charge a higher premium; or postpone or decline it