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Original poster

Insurance Company has asked me to have a HIV test - Not happy and quite offended.

42 replies

wotdouthink · 19/05/2006 12:01

Dh and I are applying for critical illness insurance etc to go with our mortgage, we expected intrusive questions etc, but I am really upset this morning to recieve a letter asking me to take a HIV test Shock, to be honest I find this quite insulting, also, I am having gynae problems and they want and in depth report on what is wrong

Has anyone else experienced this? What do you think about it, or am I being touchy, I last had my blood tested when I was pregnant with dd2, apparantly it is procedure now when pregnant to test for HIV.

OP posts:
marthamoo · 19/05/2006 15:39

Yep, I was. It was Winterthur Life, when we applied for insurance cover about 5 years ago. I put that I'd had treatment for PND, they contacted my GP asking for details (she told me about it and said she'd made it quite clear that this was a pregnancy related depressive period - and that after treatment I was fully recovered)...and they turned me down flat. Apparently 'mental illness' (which in an insurer's mind seems to cover everything from full blown bipolar manic depression to a little bit of PMT) means you're too bad a risk for suicide/prolonged inability to work etc. I have the most bog-standard life insurance package - the absolute minimum that you have to have to get a mortgage - that's all they'd give me.

I guess I could have told them to stuff it and shopped around for someone who would cover me (like I've advised the OP Grin) but at the time we didn't want to hold up mortgage approval in case we lost the house we wanted.

It stinks though Angry

zippitippitoes · 19/05/2006 15:41

I was shocked at the pnd i've been offered insurance and do have bipolar..got a mortgage last year and was offered cover

zippitippitoes · 19/05/2006 15:43

with Legal and general

marthamoo · 19/05/2006 15:45

I probably should have shopped around, zippi. My GP offered to appeal it for me but I think we would have lost the house if we'd held up proceedings at that stage.

edam · 19/05/2006 15:47

I think it's unethical. Taking an HIV test can change someone's life and certainly affect their ability to get insurance from anyone else in the future (whatever the result). Medical procedures should only be carried out when your doctor or you think they are necessary for your healthcare, not at the whim of some actuary.

I'd go with another company, if I were you. And complain (in writing, to the chief executive), if you have the energy. And I'd contact Which? who may well be interested in this (formerly known as the Consumers' Association).

zippitippitoes · 19/05/2006 15:51

at that rate no one would get insurance..I was surprised I was offered it but i managed not to have seen the doctor for 5 years Shockmostly to avoid the insurance scenario. I also had a self certified mortgage

LeahE · 19/05/2006 16:02

It often happens if you are getting insurance more than [a certain value] with one company e.g. with Legal & General I think if you are taking out more than £500K total life insurance for one person they want that person to have an HIV test no reflection on lifestyle, it's just automatic. It is odd that they are asking you and not your DH, though, assuming you're getting the same level of cover.

LeahE · 19/05/2006 16:06

Having read whole thread, one thing that occurs to me is that someone at the insurance company has made an error transcribing your application forms onto their system and has you down as having visited the clap clinic, not your DH -- that might well be an easy slip to have made.

Coolmama · 19/05/2006 20:46

I needed to apply for a multiple entry visa for Russia and one of the requirements for the application was an HIV test - I have had 5 in the last 2 years - 2 while pregnant, 2 when I donated breastmilk and 1 for blood donation - I actually can't be bothered to be offended - they seem to be part of life now -

GarfieldsGirl · 19/05/2006 21:25

If you're offended now, were you offended when you had the test with dd2?

I had the test when pg with ds1, but still had it when pg with ds2.

Earlybird · 19/05/2006 21:44

I wouldn't be offended. As I understand it, it's policy. They offer critical illness cover to people based on their current health, so they need to know if you have any illness or disease in order to evaluate your application. It's not simply a matter of who can pay. And it is most definitely not a judgement/statement about promiscuity - quite simply if you've got HIV, you're probably going to cost them a great deal in future so they might decline to take you on. However, if you're taken on when healthy, and then develop a condition/disease/illness, they're obliged to pay.

I must say I was mightily offended/bewildered when I was refused private health insurance when I was pregnant - even though I was completely healthy and my medical records showed that. I reapplied after dd's birth, and was granted coverage, but with the clause that all future pregnancies were excluded as I'd had a caesarian which they considered too high risk. Angry

HelloMama · 19/05/2006 21:58

It is actually bad practice for insurance policies to ask if people have EVER had an HIV text, purely because they are so commonplace now - in pregnancy, for certain travel visas etc. They can and do ask if you have ever had a POSITIVE test which is obviously a whole different story, and you are under obligation to tell them if you are HIV+. If you have ever had an HIV test or any other sexual health screening in GU medicine setting, you do not have to declare this and it is up to you whether you wish to share this information. You can deny ever having tested because it is completely confidential. And frankly, it is none of the insurance companies business and it should not make any impact on the insurance you are offered.

If you have ever had the test via GP then it is a whole different story and you will have to declare the test regardless as the GP will also be obliged to pass this information on for the company to draw their own conclusions, this is because it is on your medical record, which the company can see (with your permission). GU records are never released to anyone, for any reason, unless you specifically write and ask them to.

Earlybird · 19/05/2006 22:12

What is GU medicine?

edam · 19/05/2006 22:13

Genito-urinary medicine

SHHHH · 20/05/2006 08:28

I thought that insurance companies asked if you'd had a HIV test in the last x years....if answered yes they wanted more details or refussed to insure you BUT never heard of them asking you to take a test...

When we took out life ins they asked if we'd had a test (other than during pregnancy), answered no and that was it....

BTW if you have kids, did you have one while pregnant..? I did (although I knew I wasn't at risk)...can't you include that iykwim..??

AllieBongo · 20/05/2006 08:31

I used to be an underwriter for Standard Life. These were usually requested for:
(a) Large sum assured
(b) Visiting areas of high risk (certain areas of Africa etc)
(c) Having "relations" with a person from these areas or of a certain sexual orientation

I know it's a nasty thought, but was a standard pratice so please don't take it personally..You must obviously be buying a nice big house Grin

Radley · 26/05/2006 12:52

Just rung the insurance company and it was requested in error, they are sending out a letter of apology.

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