Gestational Diabetes & Life Insurance

When you have children it’s quite common to start thinking about insurances and making sure that they will be safe if something happens to you.

When you apply for life insurance, gestational diabetes will need to be disclosed with most protection insurers.

• When did you develop gestational diabetes?
• How many times have you had the condition?
• What is your current weight?
• What was your pre-pregnancy weight?
• What are your symptoms?
• What medication have you needed?
• If you have had your baby, are you now fully recovered?

Your application for life insurance will be looked at on a case by case basis. Everyone is individual, so it is not possible to say for definite what the insurer might say.

Arranging life insurance after you have had gestational diabetes should be quite simple to arrange, once you are fully recovered.

Once you no longer have gestational diabetes, your blood sugar readings are back to normal and you have no lasting complications. then life insurance could be offered at normal terms.

If you continue to have diabetes after the birth of your child, life insurance will most likely be offered in a similar way to a type 2 diabetic.

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.

Getting critical illness cover when you have gestational diabetes is unlikely to be available with most insurers. This is because it’s not easy to get critical illness cover when you are diabetic.

There are specialist critical illness policies that you can apply for, but eligibility is quite strict. This means that there are critical illness policies out there, but it’s really important to get advice so you know exactly what you are and are not getting.

Once your pregnancy has finished and you no longer have gestational diabetes you should be able to get a critical illness policy with most insurance providers.

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 gestational diabetes is unavailable on the standard market. This is because of the increased risk of you being unable to work due to the diabetes.

There are some specialist income protection policies that can be arranged, but these are dependent upon quite specific circumstances.  

It’s important to know that if you are pregnant and want this policy that is fine, but you will be paying for a policy that you will not be able to claim on whilst you are on maternity leave. That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t take it out, but there are a lot of things to consider before you do.

Once you have returned to work from maternity leave and have recovered fully from the gestational diabetes you should be able to secure an income protection policy easily.

If you have any ongoing symptoms or complications after your pregnancy, then your application may be reviewed in a similar way to a type 2 diabetic.

For some people income protection may not be available, or you may simply not like the terms that you are being offered. If you are in this situation you may wish to consider Accident, Sickness and Unemployment cover instead.

This policy type can replace your income fore 12-24 months if you are unable to work due to long-term injury, disability or involuntary redundancy.

Accident, sickness and unemployment cover is not medically underwritten, which means that your diabetes will have no bearing on you getting the cover. But, most policies will not cover claims relating to pre-existing conditions.

Are you travelling abroad? We have teamed up with a specialist broker who can answer your questions about diabetes and travel insurance. Please visit our dedicated travel page here.