Critical illness cover - have I left it too late?

vonniee · 27/03/2023 20:52

Yes I believe it's too late as you'll be asked if you're undergoing any tests for diagnosis. Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

Oysterbabe · 27/03/2023 20:53

It would be excluded yes.
Hope it ends up being nothing.

User17865 · 27/03/2023 20:54

Sorry OP previous posters are correct. Most lumps are not cancerous though so try to hold on to that for now. I know that’s difficult. Wishing you luck 🍀

PickledPurplePickle · 27/03/2023 20:54

Fingers crossed it ends up being nothing. I had a scare last year and it turned out to be a cyst.

Yes it’s too late for insurance x

Original poster

Heydiddlelidl · 27/03/2023 21:02

Thank you so much for replying. Oh well that's that then, I guess. Thank you for your kind words they mean a lot xx

OP posts:

Original poster

Heydiddlelidl · 27/03/2023 21:07

Thank you, that's good to know. I'm dreading Thursday and feel sick with worry, I need to be ok to care for my child who has complex health issues. I stupidly googled it looking for information/advice and seem to have the worst kind of lump (hard/painless). Fingers crossed its just a cyst. I'm so glad yours turned out OK.

OP posts:

Tiredmum12389 · 27/03/2023 21:10

Just wanted to say I was recently in the same position as you. Was absolutely terrified, and it's turned out to be a solid fat mass. Mine was hard, painless, all the things Google explained were the worse. Try not to think about it, I'm sure your absolutely fine. Xx

Truestorypeeps · 27/03/2023 21:19

Thinking of you, sending love and prayers of hope

Original poster

Heydiddlelidl · 27/03/2023 21:24

Thank you xxx

OP posts:

mycoffeecup · 27/03/2023 21:27

Heydiddlelidl · 27/03/2023 20:50

I'm hoping there are some insurance agents/financial advisors (?) on here that might be able to help. This is my first thread on mumsnet (long time lurker) and I'm currently pretty terrified so please be gentle. I recently found a lump in my armpit. This Thursday I'm due to attend the breast clinic and should know the results by the end of the day. I'm hoping/praying it's not cancer but obviously it's a possibility. I took out life insurance 15 years ago, and I thought it included critical illness cover (my DH's does) but when I dug it out tonight I discovered it is life cover only to pay off the mortgage if I die. I'm kicking myself so hard right now. I gave up a successful career early on to care for my disabled child and we'd always prioritised protecting DH's income. As I don't have a diagnosis (just an advanced nursing practitioner's appointment followed by referral to the breast clinic) is it too late for me to take out critical illness cover? Would it exclude this lump if it turns out to be cancer? I've tried to find out online but can't find anything and I'm so worried I can't think straight. Obviously I want to above board about it all. Please can anyone advice. Thank you so much in advance x

Yes it would exclude anything for which you have seen a dr - many policies exclude diagnoses made in the first 3m after taking the policy out, because people do this sort of thing. Fingers crossed all is ok.

slowquickstep · 27/03/2023 21:31

Thoughts and prayers are with you

Daftasyoulike · 27/03/2023 21:32

I'm keeping everything crossed that the lump proves to be nothing to worry about OP, but I would seriously consider taking out the insurance now anyway, as while it won't cover anything to do with this lump, if anything else goes wrong, you will be covered, as long as it's not related. Wishing you all the best.

Doe2 · 28/03/2023 00:05

I'm sorry to hear about your your lump and the fact that you're so worried about it as others have said most lumps turn out to be not sinister . I hope the investigations go well and it's just theswollen gland etc.

And I'm replying because I've worked in insurance for a long time and as soon as you are aware and have had medical advice may be a problem i.e the first time you went to see your GP and mentioned a lump it is now classed as a pre-existing condition that is under investigation and that makes it exempt exempt from been either added to the policy or been able to to claim if it is something sinister.

With critical illness insurance cover you have to be very careful to know what you're buying.. Most of them will only pay out for cancer if it is terminal or if it it has spread it is spread to another part of the body and not just the lymph nodes. Before that time it is not what classed as a critical illness. The rules on that change probably about 12 years ago mainly because of the huge advances in cancer treatment and the fact that more cancers are curable.

Anyway, good luck I hope all goes well at your clinic appointment but also get your husband to check his critical illness cover carefully and see what he actually is covered for. You'll have to look in the small print for that if you can't find it just ring the insurance company and ask for for paper copy or email with the policy conditions.

Original poster

Heydiddlelidl · 28/03/2023 09:11

@Doe2 thank you that is really helpful, I will get him to check. I will look into it all properly, we've just been so bogged down in coping with our child's health issues it's hard to keep on top of other stuff in life.

Thank you all for reassuring me. I've got 2 lovely dear friends with breast cancer, one if which is in remission, the other had it return and heartbreakingly its now terminal, so its hard not to panic. I will take a deep breath and try to keep a lid on the worrying until I have more information. Hope you all have a lovely day xx

OP posts:

hban · 28/03/2023 09:26

This happened to me a few months ago. Luckily it wasn’t cancerous and well over 90% of lumps referred aren’t, can’t remember the actual figure. I bought critical illness insurance straight after I got the results.

Original poster

Heydiddlelidl · 01/04/2023 00:01

I know no one will be likely to come back to this post, but I just wanted to update and thank everyone so much for reassuring me. The lump has turned out to be benign. I am so, so relieved and thankful. Its also been a wakeup call to properly sort out my insurance (after researching the types of critical illness cover properly) and sorting some other important things out in my life that I've always put off. You are all so kind, thank you so much x

OP posts:

Felicity42 · 01/04/2023 00:04

That's great. What a relief!

Xmasbaby11 · 01/04/2023 00:12

Happy news - what a relief for you.

Nimbostratus100 · 01/04/2023 00:16

so glad to hear your good news

notgettinganyyounger · 01/04/2023 00:19

Excellent news!

Kay286 · 01/04/2023 00:20

I’m life/critical illness underwriter and unfortunately yes. We wouldn’t offer cover at all (even with an exclusion) until all investigations are compete and anything sinister ruled out. Good luck op, many lumps that are investigated are completely benign and nothing to worry about :)

VictorianBathroomTiles · 01/04/2023 00:23

Doe2 · 28/03/2023 00:05

I'm sorry to hear about your your lump and the fact that you're so worried about it as others have said most lumps turn out to be not sinister . I hope the investigations go well and it's just theswollen gland etc.

And I'm replying because I've worked in insurance for a long time and as soon as you are aware and have had medical advice may be a problem i.e the first time you went to see your GP and mentioned a lump it is now classed as a pre-existing condition that is under investigation and that makes it exempt exempt from been either added to the policy or been able to to claim if it is something sinister.

With critical illness insurance cover you have to be very careful to know what you're buying.. Most of them will only pay out for cancer if it is terminal or if it it has spread it is spread to another part of the body and not just the lymph nodes. Before that time it is not what classed as a critical illness. The rules on that change probably about 12 years ago mainly because of the huge advances in cancer treatment and the fact that more cancers are curable.

Anyway, good luck I hope all goes well at your clinic appointment but also get your husband to check his critical illness cover carefully and see what he actually is covered for. You'll have to look in the small print for that if you can't find it just ring the insurance company and ask for for paper copy or email with the policy conditions.

Are there any insurers that you’d particularly recommend for generous/wide coverage of critical illness @Doe2?

So pleased it is good news OP!

Kay286 · 01/04/2023 00:25

Kay286 · 01/04/2023 00:20

I’m life/critical illness underwriter and unfortunately yes. We wouldn’t offer cover at all (even with an exclusion) until all investigations are compete and anything sinister ruled out. Good luck op, many lumps that are investigated are completely benign and nothing to worry about :)

Obv I only read your first post ! I’m glad you’ve had results and all is ok :)

Kay286 · 01/04/2023 00:29

@VictorianBathroomTiles To follow on from this post poster it’s absolutely not true that most insurers require you to be terminal in order to pay out. It’s possible the poster is referring to life insurance instead, where it will actually pay out early (As it only covers death) however if you are confirmed as terminal they will pay the claim out early … as they know they will be paying on death anyway.
Critical illness is different that pays out in diagnosis of a critical illness , one of the bugs ones being cancer ! And it certainly does not require the cancer to be terminal.

Kay286 · 01/04/2023 00:32

*big ones not bug !