Income Protection for Diabetics 2025

Income Protection for Diabetics 2025

Income protection is one of the most valuable purchases a working person can make. You pay a little of your income each month to the insurer, so that if you are ill and can never work again, they will replace your income for you.

In the UK we do currently have a state benefit system that is designed to help people who are ill and cannot work. It is great that we have this, but, the benefits that you can receive nowhere near match what you can get from being employed. If you can avoid relying on state benefits that often change that is absolutely worth the cost of income protection.

The type of diabetes that you have will have a big influence in the best insurer for your income protection.

Some insurers may auto decline your application for income protection purely on the basis of the types of diabetes that you have, which can feel quite intense if it happens to you.

Insurers look at decades worth of data to make these kinds of decisions. The need of this data can mean that insurers seem a bit out of date when compared to medical advances and modern working environments. It might feel like this, but, diabetes is an area that insurers do spend a lot of focus on and there are a lot of developments in this area.

Your Diabetes Type

The following summaries are based upon whether insurers can consider application for income protection from diabetics, not whether you are eligible based upon your specific circumstances. I will give some insight into how your readings and health can alter options for income protection later in this blog.

Income protection availability:

• Type 1 Diabetes – limited options, but potentially available
• Type 2 Diabetes – available with most insurers
• Gestational Diabetes – this depends upon if you’re currently pregnant or have already had your baby. Income protection is likely available, however, if you are on maternity leave you might not be able to arrange this policy until you are back at work
• Diabetes Insipidus – limited options, but potentially available

These options are based upon you taking out income protection personally. That means that you are setting up the income protection policy for yourself and paying for it yourself. There are sometimes more options for income protection if your employer arranges it for you.

What do Insurers want to know?

There are a few things about your diabetes that the insurers will want to know and there can be some extra questions depending on the type of diabetes that you have:

• When were you diagnosed with diabetes?
• What type of diabetes do you have?
• What was your latest HbA1C reading?
• Has it been this level for quite a while?
• Do you experience any retinopathy (eye difficulties)?
• Do you experience any neuropathy (pins and needles, numbness)

These are the core bits of information that most insurers are going to ask for when you have diabetes. It is not possible to get you an accurate quotation or know which insurer will be right for you, without this information. It is complete guesswork without it.

Your options for income protection will reduce if you do have any retinopathy and neuropathy, but that doesn’t mean that there are no options. It’s just very important to go through the products that are available to you and any restrictions that are on the policy claims set.

What happens during the application?

During the application process you will be asked questions about your diabetes and your overall health, which is standard for anyone applying for income protection. The key thing that the insurer is wanting to know is does your diabetes affect your ability to do day to day tasks, or to work.

Depending upon the amount of insurance that you want and the type of diabetes that you have, your application might be accepted straight away, or the insurer might ask to speak with your GP to confirm your medical history. This happens a lot so please don’t be worried if you’re asked to do this. The insurer pays for this and both them and your GP are upheld to strict data protection laws. 

Will Income Protection cover claims relating to diabetes?

It depends on the type of income protection policy that you arrange. In general, income protection policies do not cover claims relating to pre-existing conditions. I like to use Parkinsons as an example for this, as my dad has the condition and it’s often at the front of my mind. 

If someone is living with Parkinsons it would not be possible for most insurers to offer them an income protection policy, that covered claims relating to this condition. This is because the person could potentially claim on the first day of the policy, without having paid any premiums. This would really quickly lead to the insurer running out of money. Ultimately they are a business and money needs to come in, to be able to honour the payout of claims.

When you have diabetes you tend to find that instead of there being an exclusion, that the insurer charges you a higher price for your insurance, due to you having the condition. A higher price never sounds great, but it is far better than an exclusion. 

When people hear about there being an increased price it can make you feel like there is no point in getting a quotation. Our advice is no obligation and we will do the research for you, so that you can see the potential price for income protection before you even go through the application process. This means you can walk away early on in the conversation if the pricing doesn’t feel right to you. 

Our award winning advisers arrange income protection insurance every day and know the best ways to protect you.

Get in touch with us for a no obligation quotation today.

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