Life insurance application - problems with health history

[dubbyoo]

How long does it usually take insurance companies to sort out the admin side of applications?

We are trying to sort out more life insurance to cover an extra mortgage that we've taken out for an extension. It seems so much more complicated than last time around 8 years ago! Our current insurer said we had to do an extra application for the additional amount as it's over a different term. Fair enough. The insurer has requested we give permission for access to health records and they have written to our GP. I don't remember this being an issue last time around but my partner has had some health problems and investigations over the last few years which has complicated things possibly. It's nothing major, just high cholesterol, fatty liver etc.

I'm a bit shocked at the timescales and delays in getting cover sorted. Should I be chasing my GP to write the report? Do most people make a GP appointment when they know the request will have arrived to get their GP to do their side of the admin? Should I expect to be charged for this? Is this pretty normal when applying for mortgage life insurance? Sorry if it's obvious questions but I'm not very experienced with insurance and it does feel odd to have a gap of months with no cover god forbid something happened to one of us.

How long did it take you to sort your insurance start to finish? Maybe I should be looking at a different provider..

Yes, it can take a few weeks to sort out underwriting if they go for a GP's report. It's not high on the GP's priority to-do list, though they will get paid for it by the insurance company. No harm in you chasing the GP if you know they will have received the request. No need to make an appointment to see the GP unless the insurer requests it or you've not been seen for some years. Yes, high cholesterol and fatty liver may be cause for concern to the underwriters. You are both 8 years older than you were last time round.... you present a different level of risk than you did last time round.

Yes, I suppose we fall into a different age and risk category now. I hadn't thought about how the GP might be being paid for the report

It took me months to sort mine out and I consider myself fairly healthy with minimal health history.

GP spent ages getting back to the insurer and then they quibbled over something that happened a few years ago and it had to go to the underwriters.

Guessing you're dealing direct with the insurer. One big advantage of using a broker is that they do all the chasing on your behalf which can save you a great deal of time and aggravation.