Marfan Syndrome & Life Insurance

I have hypermobility syndrome and whilst I do not have Marfan Syndrome, I was checked for it and told that I have marfanoid features. I am 6ft and have long arms and legs! When it comes to arranging insurances, I personally know how a physical medical condition can make things seem stressful and trickier to arrange. Having Marfan Syndrome will mean that insurance companies want to ask you about your health and how the condition affects you. We are here to help you find the best insurer to support your insurance application and do all the donkey work for you.

Things we need to know:

• When were you diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome?
• What are your symptoms e.g. scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, dural ectasia?
• Have you had your heart checked?
• Have you had any surgeries, or do you have any planned?

When you apply for Life Insurance, marfan syndrome will need to be fully detailed to the insurance underwriters, the people that make the decision on whether you can have the insurance or not. Many insurers will want to see a report from your GP in regards to your diagnosis and overall health. The main time that insurers are cautious is if you haven’t had your heart checked or you have and tests have shown that your aortic walls are weaker than average. If you have had tests that show that the condition has had no impact to your heart structure or functioning, this will allow you to see more options for life insurance on the standard market.

Where the Marfans syndrome has caused some cardiovascular involvement or you have symptoms that significantly affect you from completing day to day activities, you may find that we need to place your Life Insurance application with a specialist insurer.

Hypermobility Syndromes Association (HMSA)

 Members of the Hypermobility Syndromes Association (HMSA) often contact us to ask us whether we know where they can get affordable insurance cover for travel abroad. It is always shocking to hear of the high costs being quoted to members who have Marfan syndrome or Osteogenesis Imperfecta or the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome subtypes. Cura offers a comprehensive cover without penalising members of the HMSA for having genetic conditions. This is why the HMSA confidently directs members to Cura Insurance.

Donna Wicks, CEO HMSA

 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.

When you have marfan syndrome Critical Illness Cover is unlikely to not straightforward to arrange with many insurance providers. To consider the application the insurer would need to be able to see that extensive tests of your heart have been completed and that there were no signs that you have any heart related symptoms. The insurer will also want to know if you have had any eye problems, spinal implications, chest structure and impact on the lungs. Even with all of this information to hand, critical illness on the standard market will not be simple to arrange, but that is what we are here for. We will keep all the arrangements and to-ing and fro-ing away from you, to keep the application process as stress free as possible.

Specialist insurance providers can offer Critical Illness cover to you, but many come with exclusions for pre-existing medical conditions. This will mean that any claimable condition that can be linked to the Mafans, will probably not be covered e.g. heart attack, heart transplant. It is important that you speak with an adviser that can fully explain the terms and conditions of these policies to you.

There is also the option of what is known as group critical illness cover. This is a policy that is arranged by your employer, or yourself if you own your own company, for the employees of the organisation. There are specific requirements for a business to be able to arrange this type of policy and it is something that you access through a broker, such as ourselves. The policies come with certain levels of cover that don’t require medical underwriting, but again it will exclude any claimable condition that is linked to your Mafans.

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

Income Protection for those with marfan syndrome may be available with more specialist options for cover. Group income protection arranged through your employer, or your own company, can be a potential option. This is a company funded Income Protection scheme that we can look at for you, depending upon the size and structure of your organisation.

As an alternative to income protection you could consider Accident, Sickness and/or Unemployment Cover (ASU) that will provide 12-24 months of income replacement in the event that you are unable to work due to disability, injury or redundancy. An ASU policy does not take into account medical history when accepting a clients application, meaning that marfan syndrome will have no impact on setting up your policy.

You need to be fully aware that whilst this is the case, any claim that you make will exclude any inability to work as a result of marfan syndrome. This means that whilst the acceptance terms of the policy and not medically underwritten, the claims process is.

Escaping the UK weather? It is always a good idea to make sure that you have good travel insurance in place. If you would like to get some quotations please visit our dedicated travel page here.