Kidney Transplant & Life Insurance

When you give or receive a kidney transplant, there are many things that will be going through your mind. There can be a mix of excitement, hope and worry, all at once.

Sometimes people can find that when they give or receive an organ transplant, that they wonder what will happen to their family, if the operation and recovery doesn’t go to plan. 

We are here to help you decide if life insurance, is something that you need and want to have in place, just in case.

To help you make this decision, it’s handy for us to know these things:

• When did the transplant happen?
• Why did you need the transplant?
• Did you receive or donate a kidney?
• Have you fully recovered from the surgery?
• Is your kidney function now within normal ranges?

Life insurance for people that have undergone a kidney transplant, will likely need to be delayed until at least one year post surgery. There can be some specialist life insurance policies that you can put in place during this first year.

The insurance provider will want to see a report from your GP, just to confirm what happened, so that they know they have a clear picture of your health. This will include the reason why you needed a kidney transplant, the date of surgery and your response to ongoing treatment.

A big focus will be upon if your renal functioning is now stable/normal. They will also want to know if there is any scheduled dialysis, or signs of rejection of the new kidney. 

For people that have received a kidney donation, it is likely that most standard insurers will increase the policy premiums due to your health. You may even find that some insurers decline your application for life insurance. This is where our team of advisers can step in and do all of the research, to get you life insurance that is right for you.

If you received a kidney transplant from a living relative, are most likely to receive better terms for life insurance. People that received a kidney donation from a cadaver, may find that the pricing is increased further. Life insurance is incredibly cheap and whilst price increases will not sound or feel nice, they are not always as high as you think.

Life insurance for people that have donated a kidney, can be available at standard terms with most insurers, provided that there are no lasting complications.

Critical illness cover pays out a cash lump sum of money, if you are diagnosed with a medical condition that is listed in the insurer’s claims set e.g. cancer, heart attack, stroke.

Critical illness cover for people that have received a kidney transplant is not currently available, with standard insurers. There are some specialist policies that you can access, but it is important to clear that many of these will exclude claims relating to your kidney.

It is really important to speak to an adviser, who can discuss the pros and cons of these policies with you.

Critical illness cover for people that have donated a kidney for transplant surgery, may be available at normal premiums. This is most likely if there are no lasting complications from the surgery.

It is possible that the insurer will want you to wait a specific period of time post surgery, before they will consider your critical illness policy application.

Income protection pays you a replacement of your monthly income, if you are unable to work due to ill health.

Income Protection for people that have received a kidney transplant is currently unavailable, with standard insurers. There are some options that might be available through your employer, or your own company if you have one. These are more specialist policies and do need an adviser to arrange for you.

For people that have donated a kidney for transplant surgery, income protection might be available at normal terms. Again, the insurance provider may wish to wait on considering your application, until you have passed a certain amount of time post surgery.

GET AN INCOME PROTECTION QUOTE

Kidney transplant recipients may wish to consider Accident, Sickness and Unemployment Cover, if income protection is not available.

This type of policy will pay a short-term income replacement in the event of illness, disability or involuntary redundancy for between 12 and 24 months. The policy is not medically underwritten at the time of application, meaning that your kidney transplant will have no bearing on the acceptance terms.

The claims process for these policies are however medically underwritten, and most will not cover existing medical conditions at the time of a claim.

GET AN ACCIDENT, SICKNESS AND UNEMPLOYMENT QUOTE

Going abroad should be a time to escape and relax. Having the right travel insurance in place that supports your health, can help you to relax ever more. Take a look at our travel insurance page here.