World Menopause Day 2022 - Accessing insurance

World Menopause Day 2022 – Accessing insurance

The menopause is often something that people chose to not speak about, but it’s a natural thing that all women will go through at some points in their lives. For the purpose of this blog we are going to use the word women to refer to people that were born with female genitalia, we do fully appreciate that not every woman is born with these physical characteristics.

Cura’s managing director, Kathryn, chaired a live discussion all about the menopause and how it can play a role in a woman’s work life, and how employers can work towards providing the necessary support. This was then turned into an episode of the Practical Protection Podcast, Menopause, Breaking the tabboo. 

At Cura, we really understand the importance of knowing what the menopause is, and how we can make things easier for those who are experiencing it. Especially with us being a company with so many women! 

With that being said, our 2022 pledge for the Income Protection Taskforce is to do what we can to improve the options for women accessing insurance with women’s health conditions. There’s a great number of conditions which women can experience that men would usually not do and some of these can have an influence on the insurances that you might need. And a great example of this is women going through the menopause. 

Now, you might be thinking, ‘well the menopause isn’t a health condition?’, but it can really impact a woman’s day to day life and should be treated accordingly. And believe it or not, the menopause can play a role in your access to protection insurance. Let me explain how.

Access to insurance

When your experiencing the menopause, there’s usually three main options. Some chose to do nothing and to continue going through life as they normally would. Others might choose to have HRT (hormone replacement therapy), and the third option is to take medication often used for depression.

That’s not because the menopause is a direct cause of depression, and it could be that you’re experiencing absolutely zero symptoms of depression. It just so happens that this medication can help to relieve some of the symptoms you might get whilst going through the menopause.

Most insurance applications will not ask you about if you are going through menopause, many specifically say not to tell them about taking HRT as they don’t need to know about it. However, antidepressants will usually pop up towards the end of an application when you are asked about ‘any other medication that you are taking that hasn’t already been discussed’.

It’s the depression medication that can sometimes impact the terms you’re offered when applying for protection insurance. The reason behind this is because an insurer will see that you have medication often used for depression and automatically ask questions related to mental health. It doesn’t mean you will definitely see different terms, but as an example, taking medication associated with depression to alleviate symptoms of the menopause can trigger questions about mental health when applying for income protection, and this can lead to the policy having a mental health exclusion.

The important thing to be aware of here is that some insurers might do this, but not all of them will. It’s a good idea to challenge a decision if you are offered an increased premium due to you taking an antidepressant. From the black and white form, the insurer will not be able to understand exactly from the form what is going on, they need more context. This is where speaking to the insurer yourself or using an adviser like us can lead to a much more valuable policy for you.

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