Dystonia & Life Insurance
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Dystonia & Life Insurance
We understand that having dystonia can cause severe discomfort, affecting your ability to do day to day activities and work.
We are here to support you every step of the way on your insurance journey.
When you apply for insurance, you will be asked a few questions about your dystonia. This will include things like:
- When were you diagnosed with dystonia?
- What type of dystonia do you have?
- What are your symptoms?
- Do you take any medication?
- Have you required any surgery?
- Are you able to work?
Life Insurance for people living with dystonia will need to be reviewed by the insurer on a case by case basis.
Most insurance providers that you approach will want to see a report from your GP, only with your permission. This is to confirm the type of dystonia that you have, the treatments that you have had and how it affects your overall health.
Depending upon how strong your symptoms are of the dystonia, life insurance may be available at standard terms or non-standard terms (a price increase).
It is also possible that if you are due surgery that your application could be postponed until after this happened. You may also find that if the dystonia affects your ability to work and do what is considered to be normal day to day activities, that some insurers may decline your application.
Please do not worry if this has happened to you. We are specialist advisers and the whole purpose of our company is to help people that have had difficulty in getting insurance, to get the cover that they need.
Dystonia & Critical Illness Cover
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.
Critical illness cover for people living with dystonia, will typically require a report from your GP to confirm your health.
This is done so that the insurer can get a clear picture over the technical medical aspects of your dystonia and how the condition impacts upon your general health.
It is not possible to give a clear indication on what the potential underwriting terms could be for critical illness cover. It all comes down the to how much the condition affects you as an individual, so there is no one set rule for acceptance criteria.
It is likely that any critical illness cover that you are offered will be at non-standard terms (premium increase). This does not necessarily mean silly prices, but it is really important to research the market to find the best insurer for your specific needs.
Our advisers search the insurance market day in, day out, to support people with medical conditions to access the best insurer for them.
Dystonia & Income Protection
Income protection pays you a replacement of your monthly income, if you are unable to work due to ill health.
Income protection for people with dystonia will be reviewed on a case by case basis. Dystonia can vary so much person to person, that it’s not possible to give a generalised idea of what the terms might be.
The income protection insurer will be particularly interested in any time off work you have had, due to the dystonia.
Most insurers will want to see a report from your GP to establish the cause of the dystonia, the symptoms you display and any secondary conditions that you have. This is only done with your permission and is at the insurer’s expense.
It is likely that any offer of income protection that is available to you will be at special terms. This will be a premium increase and/or an exclusion for claims relating to the dystonia.
GET AN INCOME PROTECTION QUOTE
If you are declined income protection cover or the policy becomes unaffordable after underwriting, it can be worthwhile considering Accident, Sickness and Unemployment Cover.
This type of policy provides a monthly income replacement for between 12 and 24 months if you are unable to work due to disability, long-term injury or involuntary redundancy.
Accident, sickness and unemployment Cover is not medically underwritten at the time of application meaning that your diagnosis of dystonia will have no bearing on the policy impact terms. You should be fully aware though that the policy will exclude any claim that you place that is in relation to the dystonia.
Dystonia & Travel Insurance
Are you going on holiday? For anyone that is planning a holiday, having travel insurance is a good idea. Please visit our dedicated travel insurance page, where you can find details of a specialist broker to help you get the cover that you need.
What is Dystonia?
Dystonia is typically diagnosed as either cervical (affecting the neck) or as blephoraspasm (affecting the eyelid). The general cause of primary dystonia (hereditary/genetic) is thought to be in relation to a problem within the basal ganglia causing interruptions to the messages sent by neurotransmitters controlling muscle movement.
Secondary dystonia can be caused by a variety of conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis.
Also known as: Focal dystonia, segmental dystonia, multifocal dystonia, generalised dystonia, hemidystonia, dopa-responsive dystonia, late-onset dystonia, cervical dystonia, blepharospasm
Linked with: Stroke, encephalitis, Parkinsons disease, Huntington’s disease, Wilson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy, HIV, encephalitis, brain tumours, depression
Possible Effects on Lifestyle
Some potential problems experienced by individuals who have dystonia include:
- Hemifacial spasm
- Jerky movements
- Laryngeal dystonia
- Muscle spasms and contractions
- Myoclonus dystonia
- Oromandibular dystonia
- Paroxysmal dystonia
- Tremors
- Twisted posture
- Writers cramp (musicians, golfers and typists cramp)
Medications & Treatment
- Amantadine hydrochloride (Symmetrel)
- Anticholinergics
- Baclofen (Lioresal)
- Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox)
- Botulinum Toxin Type B (Neurobloc)
- Bromocriptine mesilate (Parlodel)
- Carbidopa Monohydrate/Levodopa (Caramet)
- Clonazepam
- Co-beneldopa
- Co-careldopa
- Dantrolene sodium (Dantrium)
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery
- Diazepam
- Dysport
- Madopar
- Orphenadrine hydrochloride
- Procyclidine hydrochloride (Kemadrin)
- Sinemet
- Trihexyphenidyl hydrochloride
Common Questions
This can be a bit tricky to answer, so please bare with me. It really depends upon how much the dystonia affects you, the type of dystonia that you have and if you are due to have any surgery.
If you are due to have surgery it is likely that most insurers will postpone your application, until after you have had and recovered from the operation. This does not mean that you have been declined life insurance, it means that the insurer just wants to wait before they make their final decision.
The main thing to be aware of, is that most income protection policies will exclude claims related to your dystonia. It’s important to have a talk with a trained adviser who can explain what the exclusion can mean, and potentially see if there are alternatives that will cover claims for dystonia.
Client Reviews
Cura Financial Services has been rated 5 out of 5 based on 808 reviews.
Review by Cameron on 16th May 2020
“Cura were just amazing. They were the perfect people to go to for finding the right insurance for my circumstances. They are a small company who really excel at that personal touch. I mainly interacted with Victoria and with Alan (one of the managing directors) and they were both wonderful to talk to. It was clear that Alan is really at the top of his game in specialist insurance with excellent contacts (and great powers of persuasion with them!) and amazing attention to detail. I would recommend Cura to anyone.” - 5
You can read more of our reviews here.
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Dr Kathryn Knowles Phd
Author
This page was written by Dr Kathryn Knowles Phd, an award-winning insurance adviser. To read more about Kathryn please see her bio here
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