Postnatal Depression & Life Insurance

We appreciate that having postnatal depression can be very difficult for yourself and no two people experience this the same way. Talking about this isn’t always the easiest of things to do, but our advisers are trained to help you feel as comfortable as possible with applying for life insurance.

Things we need to know:

• When were you diagnosed with postnatal depression?
• Have you needed to take any medication?
• Have you had any treatment for this?
• Have you recovered from postnatal depression?

Life insurance when you have had postnatal depression can be available at normal terms, depending upon the strength of your symptoms and any medications that you may still be using.

When it comes to mental health insurers are mainly looking for what they feel are significant symptoms such as self-harm or hospital admissions. If you have not experienced these then many insurance providers will consider your application. Even if you have previously self-harmed or been in hospital, this does not mean that you cannot get life insurance, it just means that we need to make sure that we choose the right insurer for you.

If your postnatal depression is linked with other health conditions such as bipolar, PTSD or suicide, your policy premiums will more than likely be loaded (increased). Your GP will probably be asked to submit a report to show how your condition affected or continues to affect your life. Please do not worry about this, the insurer can only do this with your expressed permission, and it can often be a positive thing. By getting access to your medical records you can then feel confident that the insurer knows everything that is related to your postnatal depression, before they make their decision.

You might have been told in the past that your application for life insurance has been postponed or declined. Our advisers are trained to find the right insurer for you. Each insurer has a different underwriting system and the key thing is knowing which insurer matches your circumstances, which is what we are experts in.

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.

People who have had postnatal depression that is well controlled, with no recent episodes of self-harm or hospital admissions, may have access to critical illness cover at normal terms. The insurer that you approach will want to know how long it has been since you were diagnosed with postnatal depression, if you have been left with any lasting symptoms and the types of treatment that have been used to help you manage the condition.

Where symptoms and medications used have been mild it is possible that you could access critical illness cover at normal terms. If you required to take strong medication and/or still experience symptoms of postnatal depression, the insurer may ask to see a report from your GP to confirm your health. This could result in your application for critical illness cover being accepted at normal terms or you may be offered non-standard terms in the form of a premium increase.

In some cases you might find that your application for critical illness cover is postponed. This means that the insurer wants to wait a bit of time before they will accept your application. Our advisers are trained to help you find the right insurer for you, so that you can have critical illness cover.

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

Income protection for those who have had postnatal depression will be assessed on an individual basis, with key consideration given to how long you have lived with the condition, when you last experienced symptoms and the treatments that you have used. It is possible that you will have an exclusion placed on the claims set of the policy, for any inability to work due to depression.

You should aim to arrange the income protection policy on an own occupation definition, which will give you the strongest set of claims criteria for this policy type.

GET AN INCOME PROTECTION QUOTE

If you find that the terms of income protection that you are offered do not meet your expectations, then you may want to consider an accident, sickness and unemployment cover (ASU). This policy will pay you an income replacement of 12-24 months if you are unable to work due to disability, long-term injury or involuntary redundancy.

This cover is not medically underwritten and the premiums will not be affected by the history of postnatal depression. Any claims, however, will exclude postnatal depression on this policy.

GET AN ACCIDENT, SICKNESS AND UNEMPLOYMENT QUOTE

Are you planning on a holiday? We work with a specialist travel insurance broker that can arrange cover for people with most medical conditions. To access your no obligation quotation for postnatal depression travel insurance, click here.