AIBU To be angry that we can’t get critical illness cover

[ChubbyMoomin]

When we got our mortgage my DH was unable to get critical illness cover because of a pre- existing health condition. We tried several different alleys & managed to get life insurance but not critical illness cover. So if he dies, the mortgage is paid, but if he can’t work we are not covered. This has always been a worry for me.

Now we are having another health scare with him, completely unrelated to his original diagnosis, currently waiting for test results & I’m terrified it’s going to be bad news.

As well as the fear I’m also really angry that we now have the worry of maybe struggling to pay our mortgage. There’s no way my wage would cover it.
I understand why insurance companies don’t want to insure risky people, but I think it’s unfair to refuse to insure people for any other health problems they may develop as well. He was already dealt a bad hand.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it always a case of once you have one medical problem you’re screwed from an insurance perspective?

Critical illness cover isn't great anyway. It only pays out for very specific things. Have you looked into income protection insurance?

Try not to worry OP. We had critical illness cover and the company refused to pay out. It took us 9 years of complaints, the ombudsman etc to actually get it paid. It was an absolute nightmare.
This wasn’t a little company either. It was one of the big, well known companies.

Critical illness cover only generally covers 'the big 4' - cancer, heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest. Even then, they generally exclude 'cancers in situ', and cardiac arrest only tends be covered if a defibrillator is inserted. Stroke has to leave permanent disability, etc.

That aside, they only offer critical illness cover to people who are unlikely to become critically ill.

YANBU - I can't get critical illness or income protection cover because of a pre-existing condition. It seems to be an acceptable form of disability discrimination.

Some people will justify this by saying that I'm likely to cost the insurer more in payouts - but as a business owner I have to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled customers. I must fund the cost of those reasonable adjustments myself, and I cannot charge a disabled customer more because they've, for instance, used a ramp that cost £££.

Why is it that insurers can charge me, as a disabled person, more, or indeed refuse to serve me at all - but I can't do the same to my customers?

It's all a one way street it would seem - and as a disabled self employed person it's like being the piggy in the middle.

I wouldn't want to exclude disabled customers / charge more before anyone starts piling on - it just feels deeply unfair that people like me can't get income protection / critical illness cover.

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but in our union, they partner with an insurance company who offer income protection insurance. Not sure of costs etc., but if its the mortgage you're worried about maybe look at income protection rather than critical illness cover?

Ah x-post. Didn't realise income protection had the pre-existing clause - sorry.

I think you might be referring to income protection rather than critical illness cover. Critical illness as a few have pointed out covers specific listed medical conditions rather than paying you a portion of your salary when you are out of work.
Depending on the pre existing condition, a lot of pre existing condition preclude you from cover.

Do you get anything through work? Have you tried seeing an IFA?

In OP's defence, it's Critical Illness cover that banks push at you when getting a mortgage.

Dealthbywalkies - I really appreciate some of the points you have made there, that’s exactly what I was trying to get across, it’s feels like we are being discriminated against. Sorry to hear you have also struggled.
It is actually cancer that we are worried about, he has a mass found on a scan last week & we are currently waiting further results.

Thanks for mentioning this income protection, I’ll definitely look into that.

@ChubbyMoomin

Dealthbywalkies - I really appreciate some of the points you have made there, that’s exactly what I was trying to get across, it’s feels like we are being discriminated against. Sorry to hear you have also struggled. It is actually cancer that we are worried about, he has a mass found on a scan last week & we are currently waiting further results.

Thanks for mentioning this income protection, I’ll definitely look into that.

Most people will not have critical illness cover. It covers very little and is very expensive.

In people’s experience can you get income protection insurance when you have significant health problems?
When we got the mortgage we had an insurance specialist look into all our options for us, so I’m thinking between him & DH they would have considered that? I’ll ask him when we get home.

Did he have a mortgage advisor looking into it? And if so was it a bank one or a broker? Bank based mortgage advisors often have less protection products they can advise on. Even a broker might have a limited array. Tbh I’d consider and independent financial advisor

One of us has a listed condition and we have coverage through Royal London. Is more expensive though

Ours was through an independent broker

I had key hole surgery and I am finding it incredibly difficult to get critical illness cover. It's like I've had open heart surgery!

It was independent and the guy was a specialist in getting insurance for DH’s particular medical condition, he was recommended to us. That’s why I’m assuming all options were considered. I’m thinking now that he must have been turned down for the income protection insurance as well. I’m pretty sure DH would have looked into it, he’s pretty savvy.

Have a look at a company called MetLife. They offer specific mortgage protection products with no underwriting. So you can have a pre existing condition.

Many, many moons ago I worked for a company that sold these products. AFAIR, you could get Income Protection BUT if you have/had a pre-existing condition it excluded that and/or you’d have to pay a much higher monthly premium.

@ChubbyMoomin

In people’s experience can you get income protection insurance when you have significant health problems? When we got the mortgage we had an insurance specialist look into all our options for us, so I’m thinking between him & DH they would have considered that? I’ll ask him when we get home.

Yes you can, I’m a type one diabetic with limited spleen function and I have it, it does however make it more costly. I’m with Wesleyan, I’m covered for things that may be caused by my spleen, but not things covered my by diabetes as that would make me an incredibly high risk to my insurer.

I’ve checked with him. Apparently it was technically possible to get income protection insurance but was so expensive it’s was not viable.
I can understand why they won’t protect against your pre-existing condition but I feel it’s so unfair not to allow us to protect ourselves if he were to get ill with anything else.

@ChubbyMoomin

I’ve checked with him. Apparently it was technically possible to get income protection insurance but was so expensive it’s was not viable. I can understand why they won’t protect against your pre-existing condition but I feel it’s so unfair not to allow us to protect ourselves if he were to get ill with anything else.

Its because in many cases the pre-existing condition makes other periods of ill health more likely. So the process of processing a claim would also be costly and time consuming while it was worked out by the medical team if the new illness was actually caused by the pre-existing condition or not.

For insurance companies death is usually cheaper than serious illness or injury, so they of course protect themselves from that.