Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy & Life Insurance

We understand that having a heart condition, can make people wonder if life insurance can be available to them. We are here to take your concerns away.

There are so many options when it comes to life insurance. There are standard and specialist insurers, and policies that come with increased premiums or exclusions.

It is our job to find the right one for you. To help us, we need to know the following information from you.

• When were you diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
• What symptoms do you have?
• What medications do you use?
• Have you needed surgery?

Life insurance applications  for people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be applied for with a number of insurance providers. It will be really handy to know the measured thickness of the ventricular wall, before the research starts.

Most insurers will want to see a report from your GP to confirm your diagnosis, and how your health is overall. I quite like it when these are asked for, as you know that the insurer has an accurate record of your health, just in case you have missed anything.

Insurers will want to know if your diagnosis is classed as mild, moderate or severe, and will ask your GP to detail the results of any tests (e.g. electrocardiograms) that have been performed. A GP report is paid for by the insurer and only once you have given expressed permission for them do to so.

It is quite likely that most life insurance policies will be offered at a higher premium. If you have quite mild hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is, the insurers may increase the premium by a small amount. 

The stronger your condition is, the higher the premiums are likely to be. There may be some options where you can have a standard premium and an exclusion on the policy, but it is essential that you speak with an adviser about how this works.

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 when you have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is not easy to arrange at the moment. It can be available with specialist insurers, but it will exclude all claims related to your condition and have quite a limited claims set.

A really good option is to look and see if critical illness cover is offered by your employer. This is known as group cover, or an employer funded scheme. If you own your own company, this can be a positive option to look at, as they do not generally require medical underwriting.

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

There are currently no insurers able to offer personal income protection for people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

You could arrange an employer funded scheme known as Group Income Protection through your employer, or your own company. The beauty of this option is that these policies do not often require medical underwriting. Please get in contact with our specialist advisers if you want to explore this option.

Get an Income Protection Quote

Are you planning a holiday? We work alongside a specialist broker who can tell you what you need to know, when it comes to travel insurance and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. For more details visit our travel page, here.