Hepatitis C & Life Insurance

We understand that most people that have had hepatitis C make a full recovery, with no lasting complications or impact to the liver. And we’ve made it our business to help people who have had hepatitis C, to get fair access to life insurance cover.

In order to help you to get the right policy, we’ll need to know a few key things. These include:

• Have you fully recovered from hepatitis C?
• Were you diagnosed with hepatitis C in the UK?
• Do you know the date of HCV infection?
• What is your current viral load?
• If you’re not fully recovered, is the infection well controlled and treated?
• What, if any, on going medication and treatment are you receiving?

If you’ve fully recovered from hepatitis C, then many insurers will be able to offer you life insurance on normal terms.

It is possible to get hepatitis C from drug use, many life insurance applications ask you if you have used recreational drugs. If you have used drugs in the past, you may find that life insurance is offered at a higher premium. Some insurers may decline your application for life insurance. 

The important this is that this is some insurers, not all. There are a lot of life insurance providers within the UK and it’s just a matter of finding the right one for you. This is where our expert advisers can help.

For people that still have hepatitis C or chronic Hepatitis, you may still be able to get life insurance with some insurers. This will be most likely available if the hepatitis is under control and well treated. In this case, life insurance will probably be offered at a higher premium.

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 that have had hepatitis C could may be available on normal terms. This means at the standard premiums, if you’ve recovered fully and have not left with any lasting damage to your liver.

You’re likely to be asked the same sort of questions as for life insurance. And again, a key factor is likely to be in how you contracted hepatitis C. If this was through drug use, you are likely to be offered critical illness cover on non-standard terms (a premium increase), or potentially even declined cover.

If you have ongoing hepatitis C or chronic hepatitis C, you will probably need to take out cover through a specialist insurer. This doesn’t mean that it’s going to cost a silly amount, it just means that we will need to be very specific over who you apply to.

No matter the situation, our experienced advisers will talk you through all of the options available to you.

Income protection pays you a replacement of your monthly income, if you are unable to work due to ill health.

You might be able to get income protection at standard terms through some insurers. Income protection is quite a flexible policy that can be tailored to your needs.

The income protection application will probably ask you for details of any time off work you have had, due to the hepatitis. This is more focused towards weeks and months off work, but it’s important to tell the insurer about any time off work, even if it was just a few days.

You could find that if you have a history of drug use, that we will need to look at specific insurers for your income protection. 

If you still have hepatitis C, you might find that a policy called Accident, Sickness and Unemployment cover, is worth looking at.

This policy can replace part of your income for 12-24 months if you are able to work due to disability, long-term injury of involuntary redundancy.

You having hepatitis will have no bearing on the premium or your eligibility for the policy. But, it is important to be clear that most policies will not cover claims relating to the hepatitis C.

If you’re planning a holiday, then be sure to take out travel insurance from a provider specialising in policies for travellers who have had or have hepatitis C. Find out more by visiting our travel page here.