Denied life insurance because of PND

Another vote for a broker. I was sectioned with post partum psychosis after DS(10). I needed a specialist broker and there were exclusions for MH related claims within 1 year of policy starting. I pay approx £25 pcm for around 300,000 of decreasing term life cover.

I think it got harder in the pandemic - may be worth finding a broker.

I’m so sorry for your loss and this experience. But I’m really, really pleased the insurer did the right thing in this instance.

Decreasing term assurance is different to fixed term or whole of life assurance, so I suspect the criteria might be different.

That does surprise me

Mainly as dh1 took our life insurance when we got the house

He was honest. Said he suffers from depression and anxiety. Was on antid etx

He got it for around £30 a month for £70k

This was taken out in 1999

There were exclusions - wouldn't pay out for suicide - hand gliding or think bungee jumping

Sadly dh took his own life. I was told insurance wouldn't pay - fair enough

But my Ifa went back to them and said had 4yrs left on mortgage - he didn't kill his self for the money but due to his depression

They paid out. I was in shock but they said as admitted he had depression - he was honest so they paid

Try diff companies

I got refused due to Osteoarthritis ( wear and tear ) in my BIG FUCKING TOE.

I have life insurance with LV even with mental health problems similar to those you’ve described. No point escalating, their exclusion criteria is what it is. They don’t have to offer cover.

This is untrue.

You can, after the policy has been active for 12 months. (Not that I'm advocating for it at all, I'm just pointing out that this is incorrect)

Which is why ratings / postpones / declines happen with MH issues.

I had a fairly extensive mental health history from aged 19 to around 22 (self-harm, suicide attempts), then had a one-off relapse around 12 years later (self-harm only). I can't get critical illness cover for love nor money. I used a specialist broker (who, it turns out, somehow falsified information, got a life policy for me, then tried to get a critical illness policy, used the same false information, resulting in the original policy being voided and no doubt me going onto some blacklist or another).

I am a solicitor, working full time. I had a total of 5 days' off work as a result of depression. I paid every bill on time. I own a house, have a healthy salary, am willing to pay high premiums but I've got absolutely nowhere.

In the end I got cover through my work's blanket policy, thank god. Before this, I'd had a policy with ESMI who covered for around 12 specific diagnoses (cancer, MND etc) without needing any medical history, which was better than nothing.

I have insurance through LV despite major PND requiring hospitalisation. I don't understand why it is such an issue with MH given you can't claim for suicide anyway.

I've got a MH history which includes being admitted. I got life, critical illness and self employed income protection with British Friendly. They just flat out excluded any pay outs as a result of mental health.

I had a flat out refusal too. I

I would see an independent financial advisor. They will be able to look at a whole range of providers, and will probably know which ones are likely to accept you

If you go through a broker, they normally can do a 'pre application' (we do anyway) with someone with complex medical history to gauge whether they can accept or at least underwrite the application before offering terms. Only a handful of insurers accept pre applications though, but it can save time.

If the pre app is accepted as an indication of terms, the full application will need to be completed though. But can be easier doing this with one or two insurers than doing lengthy applications for all insurers then getting turned down!

They all tend to be lumped together but they're different. An IFA is an independent financial advisor. Most brokers can't give advice and work on a 'non-advisory' basis, but some brokers can offer advice, and if they can offer advice they shouldn't charge you, and also should offer a free trust service too.

The only thing you should pay for is your policy, no additional fees or anything like that if you're going through an IFA / Broker.

The IFA / broker take a chunk of commission from the insurer, so customers never need to pay more. In fact going through a broker or IFA they have more scope to price match / beat going direct due to wanting your business.

Happy to help via PM if needed! But ill say it again as I don't want to be flamed, I'm not in sales or a targeted role so won't try and sell something, but can help point you in the right direction.

@BorisJohnsonsWigGlue is a broker the same as an ifa?

In terms of time, it's my time rather than behind the scenes stuff. An hour meeting with ifa to discuss the amount of protection I need, medical details etc. he went away and suggested an insurer who was likely to accept. Another hour phone call to go through medical details with the insurer, application declined on the basis of suicide attempt 26 years ago. It's not reasonable to spend that amount of time on every application until I find an insurer who will offer cover. Is there an easier way?

I have life insurance with L&G too. Severe mh issues including history of suicide attempts and under the care of community mh team, years of psychotherapy on NHS. More expensive, for less cover than someone else who didn't have that history, but at least I was able to get it.

Thank you hotapples!

They sent my gp a form with lots of questions and request for further info for some areas

For those who know about this, when an insurer writes to the GP what happens next?

Sorry it was critical illness cover we purchased

https://pure-protection.co.uk/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR20oZDAe7W4eas7HWOBm5Wlyhy1bFPrPxx0jGg-_K_6EsyaiIcCiHIDzpU_aem_xDlsecosA6xsTQ0-Zy-_KA

This company helped us find our life insurance

I do this for a living

Unless you've got a specific rating on your policy, or have applied for CIC (critical illness cover) they don't normally offer exclusions. Sometimes you'll get a 'per mille loading' so for every 1k of cover you'll get a rating. The per Mille loadings tend to drop off after X amount of years. This is something some insurers offer with previous MH disclosures. The only exclusion is suicide in the first 12 months which is the same on all term assurance plans. Exclusions on term life insurance without CIC don't really happen.
There is a company called the Exeter that underwrite customers with more complex medical conditions so have a look at them.

If you shop around you'll need to do the health and lifestyle application for each company. If you go through a broker it can save some time as they can send a 'pre application' to insurers to see if they'll cover you. Posters on here have complained about the amount of time it takes. That's because in most cases the insurer will write to your GP and as it's not NHS work this can take a couple of months.

Good luck, and feel free to PM me if you want a hand with any of it. (I'm not in sales so I'm not trying to 'sell' anything here by the way)

It worried me as I’d never considered the fact that anyone presenting at an and e can give the wrong details ! I can’t believe I didn’t know for so long as well and I’d never have known if I hadn’t wanted to get life insurance 😔

It actually made me so stressed I was unwell. I had multiple meetings with the practice manager we went over my notes they had to contact my old surgery as there were other bits missing and then more surfaced. The GP kept telling me ‘it’s nothing to be ashamed of - the notes say your name and dob so it can’t be disputed’ I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. I said to them ‘ look I haven’t got one scar ! ‘ they wouldn’t take it off my notes would only add a letter I wrote saying I disputed it.