Neurological Disorders & Life Insurance

Things we need to know to get started:

• When were you diagnosed with having a neurological disorder?
• Do you take any medication for this?
• What are your symptoms?
• How does your condition affect your ability to work and do day to day tasks?
• Are you awaiting any upcoming tests or surgery?

Your application with most insurers is likely to need the support of a report from your GP. This is a normal process and something that I quite like to happen. It means that the insurance provider has a clear understanding of your diagnosis early on, so there is no queries about you answering the questions rightly or wrongly.

For conditions like Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis you are likely to receive a “loaded” premium due to your medical condition. This means that the premium is increased, so it will be higher than the price that you see through online quotations. It is really important if you speak with anyone, including advisers and insurers, that you ask for the expected premium after medical underwriting.

Other conditions such as epilepsy and migraines can sometimes be accepted at normal terms (no price increase) if symptoms are well controlled. The use of medications and the impact that the condition has on your ability to work, will also be reviewed by the insurer when making their decision.

It is possible that if you have any additional medical conditions or your symptoms are particularly strong, that your application for life insurance might be declined by some insurers. This is where we step in and find you the right insurer for you, from the start.

Some conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and motor neurone disease can be difficult to obtain life cover for. Please do get in contact with us, even if you have not had success in the past. Even if life cover with standard life insurers cannot be offered, many people are able to cover funeral costs through Guaranteed Over 50s Life Cover that does not go into medical questions.

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 apply for critical illness cover, it can seem to be trickier as quite a few of the claimable conditions are linked to neurological disorders. People that are living with mild versions of epilepsy and Parkinson’s might be able to get critical illness cover with some insurers. 

If the critical illness cover is available, it will could come with exclusions linked to your diagnosis. For example, being diagnosed with Parkinson’s is usually a claimable condition on critical illness contracts. If you have Parkinson’s, the insurers would exclude Parkinson’s from the claims set, as you already have it.

There are times when critical illness cover is not available on the standard market.  There are some specialist routes that we can look at for you, if this is case. Please contact our advisers to help you find the right insurer for you.

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

Similarly to critical illness insurance, an application for income protection will need more research to find the right insurer for you. Income protection is a type of policy where pre-existing health complaints, are often excluded from the policy claims. as an example, if someone had a broken wrist a year ago, some back pain, a bit of anxiety, these can all become exclusions with many personal income protection options.

The same happens with neurological conditions. It is likely that your inability to work due to your pre-existing health will be excluded from the policy, and there could be an increase to the premium too.

There are some more specialised routes that we can look at for income protection, that will not have exclusions, but there are quite strict requirements to get them. Our advisers will talk you through the options that will be available to you.

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Are you planning on going abroad? When you have a neurological disorder, it is important that you know what your travel insurance covers you for. Please visit our dedicated travel insurance page for more details.