National Cholesterol Month 2021

National Cholesterol Month 2021

There’s a growing number of people being diagnosed with high cholesterol, which is why Heart UK runs the National Cholesterol Month each year. 

When it comes to high cholesterol, I think there’s a lot of people who are not fully aware of the potential dangers. Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in your blood, which is produced naturally by your body in order to remain healthy, but if there is too much it can be a problem.

Cholesterol also comes from the food we eat, and eating too much saturated fat and not being active enough, is a leading cause of high cholesterol. Other causes can be smoking, or things outside of a person’s control such as getting older, or health conditions such as familial hypercholesterolaemia.

Having high cholesterol can lead to other health conditions and increase the risk of you developing things such as vascular dementia, or having a heart attack or stroke.

It can be difficult to spot high cholesterol as there aren’t usually any symptoms, meaning people often only find out once they are at a point that they need medication to control it. If you’re between the ages of 40 and 74 you are able to have your cholesterol checked as part of a health check. Quite a few pharmacies now offer this service.

There are a number of things that can be done to lower your cholesterol such as eating a more healthily balanced diet, being more active and stopping smoking. For many people it’s the choice to make positive lifestyle changes.

Access to insurance

An application for life insurance if you have high cholesterol can potentially be considered with standard rates (no premium increase). This is dependent on your individual circumstances, and the insurers will have a few questions first. The insurers will be keen to know when you were diagnosed with having high cholesterol, what your latest reading was, what medication you may take and if you have ever had a heart attack or stroke. 

Though you may have a high cholesterol, if it is well controlled and back into normal ranges, some insurers might consider offering you insurance at normal terms. Having high cholesterol can lead to other conditions and because of this, if your cholesterol is higher than 6, there may start to be price increases. Increased premiums doesn’t necessarily mean that the premiums will be super expensive. Life insurance is incredibly cheap, so when a premium is increased we often assume it’s going to be unaffordable, but that often isn’t the case.

Let’s take a really basic example. If a life insurance policy has a basic premium of £5pm, we might see it increase to £7.50, £10, £12.50…it might even get close to £25 per month. That’s not to say that this is the pricing that everyone might see, as the basic premiums for insurance depend upon a lot of factors.

If you’re young and have high cholesterol, the insurer may request a medical report from your GP surgery, as they would do with many other health conditions. This is so that they can get a clear picture of your health and understand why your cholesterol is high, with you being young. Having high cholesterol is sometimes seen as quite a natural thing as we get older, and your application can usually be assessed without the need for further medical information if you are over the age of 40.

Applying for critical illness cover is very similar, but the application is often reviewed more strictly, as there are many more potential claims to be made. I mentioned earlier that high cholesterol is linked with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and these are two of the biggest claim areas for critical illness cover.

The insurer will have roughly the same questions as for life insurance, and it is sometimes possible to get critical illness cover with normal terms if the cholesterol is well controlled. Usually, the higher your cholesterol, the more likely it is that the insurers will increase the premium on the policy, or you might need to approach a specialist insurer if your readings are considered to be quite high. 

Having a protection adviser is very handy as they can easily explain exactly what it is that you’re covered for, so that there’s never any doubt. Our advisers will also make sure that you understand the questions being asked so that your application form is answered correctly.

Income protection can also be available with a number of insurers if your cholesterol is well controlled. Insurers will often like to know about any time you have had off work due to ill health, in recent years, before they consider offering you the policy.

Case studies

• A woman in her mid 40’s approached us needing life insurance. She had a raised cholesterol which had been diagnosed around 5 years prior, she was on medication to control this, with her last reading being 4.5. She now has a life insurance policy with a monthly premium of just over £26 per month, covering her for £120,000 for 20 years.

   

• A woman in her early 30’s needed protection insurance for her mortgage. She had been diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia a couple of years before and was on medication for this, her most recent reading was 5.2. Cura arranged a life and critical illness policy for her over a 25 year period. The monthly premium is just over £34 with a sum assured of £130,000.

   

• A woman in her mid 40’s needing protection insurance to ensure her mortgage could be paid off or to replace her income if she was to become ill. She was diagnosed with high cholesterol a few years before coming to Cura and had medication to treat this, with a recent reading of 7.7. She also had another health condition for the insurer to take into account. We arranged three policies for this client. One being income protection for less than £40 per month, covering her for around £650 per month. A life and critical illness policy over a period of 23 years for £27.37, covering her for £35,000. We also arranged another life insurance policy for 23 years, with a premium of less than £12 per month and sum assured of £130,000. This all combined to cover the mortgage liability.

   

Having high cholesterol doesn’t necessarily limit your options to access insurance. If you’re ever in doubt, speak with one of our protection advisers who will be able to do research for your specific circumstances, and let you know what your options could be.