4 Things to Know About Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis and Life Insurance 2023

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4 Things to Know About Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis and Life Insurance 2023

When it comes to arranging life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection, most insurers are going to ask questions about digestive conditions.

In the UK most insurers have specific questions that ask about if you have had Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis in the last 5 years. This then leads on to extra questions about your symptoms and how well controlled your condition is.

Many people living with Chrons and Ulcerative Colitis will have quite a few options for life insurance, but the key is making sure that you find the best insurer to specifically match you. This is where we standout as an adviser firm and here’s a rundown of some key bits for you.

1. First, let’s talk meds

Insurers will usually want to know about the types of medication that you take. It’s really handy to have to hand the name of your medication and dosage when you speak with us, as it makes our research even more accurate for you.

Medications are one of the main reasons that people with Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis can find getting good terms on life insurance tricky.

Taking immunosuppressants is something that insurers do look out for. Things like infliximab, methotrexate and prednisolone can affect which insurer will be the right one for you. Some insurers don’t ask about immunosuppressants, most will, which is why research is so important.

2. Second, we need to know about surgery

Insurers are really keen to know which part of your bowel is affected by the condition and if you’ve needed any surgery.

If you have had a bowel resection or you currently have stoma, please do not assume that this means insurance is a no go for you.

The main things the insurer wants to know is:

What surgery did you have?
Have you fully recovered?

When we are talking about fully recovered the insurer is wondering if you are back to work, or your usual day to day activities. Surgery is often a positive treatment for Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis, but it can potentially lead to complications such as difficulties with absorbing nutrients.

Assuming that you are fully recovered the insurers will be more interested in any recent flare ups that you’ve had and changes to medications.

3. Next, the underwriting

The underwriting is the main part where decisions are made. This is where the insurer is deciding if they can offer you insurance straight away or if they want to see a report from your GP. It’s also where they make that final decision about the insurance terms they can offer you.

There are times where life insurance, critical illness and income protection can be arranged without the insurer needing to see a report from your GP. But! There is a chance that they might want to so it can be best to prepare for it, then if they don’t want to it’s a bonus.

A report from your GP is paid for by the insurer and only done with your explicit permission for them to speak to your doctor. I personally like GP reports as it means that the insurer has a clear picture of your health and they can’t say that they didn’t have all the details about your Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis at a later date.

4. And finally the terms!

This is the thing that we’ve been waiting for, the terms. The options that you have for insurance will differ from insurer to insurer.

Let’s start with the positive. Life insurance is often available at standard terms for people that have well controlled Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis.

There’s also the chance that your life insurance could be rated, this would be in the form a premium increase. You would not usually seen an exclusion on a life insurance policy for Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis.

For critical illness cover there are some complicated technicalities to consider. Critical illness cover might come with an exclusion for claims relating to Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis. This is because some, not all, critical illness policies name Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis as a potentially claimable condition. If it’s named it will be excluded, if it isn’t on the claims list it won’t be excluded as it isn’t covered anyway. You might potentially see a premium increase here.

Income protection will usually come with an exclusion for claims relating to Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis. It is very common for income protection to exclude conditions that someone already has. There are some specific policies that won’t come with exclusions but these have strict eligibility criteria related to your employment and we will tell you if you can access this cover.

An important thing about income protection is that it is one of the most valuable insurances for you to consider. It can potentially protect your income right up to your retirement and whilst an exclusion is never a positive outcome, there are still many situations where you could claim on this policy.

Our award winning advisers are here to listen to your circumstances and provide you with a no obligation quotation. We will search the insurance market so that you don’t have to, and we will find the best insurer to give you peace of mind.

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Kathryn Knowles
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Categories: Life Insurance, Income Protection

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4 Things to Know About Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis and Life Insurance 2023

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