Sickle Cell Anaemia & Life Insurance
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Sickle Cell Anaemia & Life Insurance
When you are applying for insurance, the last thing that you want is to be faced with hassle and jargon. Having sickle cell disease does mean that you will need to answer some specific questions about your health, to get the insurances in place. This is something that we do day in, day out, and we are here to help you get the insurance that you need.
Things we need to know:
- When were you diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia?
- Do you need to take any regular medication?
- Do you require blood transfusions?
- Have you been hospitalised due to the sickle cell anaemia?
- Have you had any sickle cell crises?
Once we have this information it means that we can start searching for the right insurer, to support your needs. Life insurance for people living with sickle cell anaemia can be available with some insurers in the UK. It isn’t possible to say which life insurance companies will be best for someone living with sickle cell anaemia. The treatment that is taken and the number of crises (if any) you have had, play a big part in which insurer will be right for you.
When you apply for life insurance with sickle cell anaemia, it is quite likely that insurers will increase the policy premiums, this is known as non-standard terms. You will probably find that the insurer you approach for life insurance cover, will want to see a report from your GP to confirm your diagnosis and how your health generally is. This is often just a simple paper report based upon your medical records, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a medical examination will need to take place. If you are wanting a high amount of life insurance, then just like anyone else, you may be asked to undergo some medical screening by the insurer, usually at their own expense.
Please do not worry if you have been declined for life insurance in the past. We have access to many insurers within the UK and internationally, and have built specific routes to provide you access to specialist insurers too.
If you have sickle cell anaemia trait, please visit our dedicated page here.
Sickle Cell Anaemia & Critical Illness Cover
Critical Illness Cover for people living with sickle cell anaemia is slightly more tricky to arrange than life insurance, but that doesn’t mean it is not possible!.It just means we may need to look at some more specialist options. One option involves arranging the insurance with an insurer that can accept your application without any medical evidence, but it is incredibly important that you speak with an adviser that can explain the exclusions on this type of policy to you.
There is also the option of arranging critical illness cover through your own business if you have one, or through your employer. Your employer would need to be willing to consider this option in order for this to be possible., it is ultimately up to them if they want to offer this employment benefit. Known as group critical illness cover, the policy is arranged by your employer for the benefit of some or all of the company employees, it is something that can be quite complicated when it comes to taxation and does require the support of trained advisers, like ourselves.
Sickle Cell Anaemia & Income Protection
Income Protection for people living with sickle cell anaemia can also be arranged via a group insurance option. Again, your employer would need to be willing to offer this option to employees, as it is not something that can be arranged as an individual. We know that this can sometimes be a tricky conversation, you may not want your employer to know about your health, or you may be in such a large organisation that you are not sure if anyone will listen to you. We are happy to discuss different options and approaches you can take, to potentially start this conversation with your employer.
As an alternative to Income Protection you could consider Accident, Sickness and Unemployment Cover for your short-term needs. Accident, Sickness and Unemployment cover pays a monthly income replacement to you, if you are unable to work due to ill health or experience involuntary redundancy. Health claims are focused upon situations where you develop a long-term disability or illness that prevents you from working. These policies can be a good option as they are not medically underwritten. This means that you can take them out without your health affecting the premium or acceptance terms. It is important to note though, that any claim will be subject to medical underwriting and exclude claims relating to the sickle cell anaemia.
Sickle Cell Anaemia & Travel Insurance
Are you going abroad? It is always a good idea to have have travel insurance in place, just in case. Please see our dedicated travel insurance page here.
What is Sickle Cell Anaemia?
Sickle cell disease is named for the distinctive shape of the red blood cells that develop with the condition: a rigid crescent (sickle) shape. The haemoglobin in someone with the condition (HbS) can become blocked within blood vessels due to the abnormal rigid structure of the cells, causing severe pain and damage to body tissue and organs (known as sickle cell crisis or vaso-occlusive crisis). Sickle cell anaemia is an inherited condition that mainly affects those of an African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Eastern Mediterranean or Asian heritage.
Also: SCA, SCD, HbSS, HbSC, HbSB
Linked with: Stroke, pulmonary hypertension, Acute Chest Syndrome (ACS), aplastic crisis, pneumonia, osteomyelitis, meningitis, Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)
Possible Effects on Lifestyle
Some potential problems experienced by individuals who have sickle cell anaemia include:
- Avascular necrosis (AVN)
- Care whilst exercising to avoid over exertion
- Fatigue
- Gallstones
- Heart palpitations
- Jaundice
- Leg ulcers
- Maintaining fluid intake
- Priapism
- Shortness in breath
- Vision problems
Medications and Treatments
- Blood transfusions
- Bone marrow transplant
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
- Hydroxycarbamide
- Pneumovax
Further Reading and Research
By clicking on the link(s) above you will be departing from the regulatory site of Cura Financial Services. Cura Financial Services is not responsible for the accuracy of the information contained within the linked site(s).
Common Questions
Hi! It’s lovely to hear from you and thank you for approaching us. We need to know a bit more information about your health before I can say what options we can look at for you. It would be brilliant if we could say straight away that Insurer X is right for you, but there are a lot of things that will determine which insurer is going to support you the best. Please send me an email kathrynknowles@curainsurance.co.uk and we can arrange a time to chat.
That has to be one of the biggest issues that many people wonder, how on Earth do you now who to trust. You can search for the names of the Managing Directors, Kathryn Knowles and Alan Knowles and the word ‘insurance’ on google, and you should see the outreach and projects that we are involved with to better our industry. The main things you want to check when you are engaging with someone in financial services, is that they are on the FCA register (we are!), that the company is registered in England and Wales, or Scotland (if you are a UK resident) and establish if you are getting an advised (that’s us) or non-advised service.
Client Reviews
Cura Financial Services has been rated 5 out of 5 based on 808 reviews.
Review by Christopher on 27th February 2020
“I dealt with Krystle Skelton regarding arranging life cover with pre-existing conditions. She was very professional and the service offered throughout the whole process was excellent. Ultimately, satisfactory cover was obtained at a fair price. Based on my experience I would thoroughly recommend dealing with this company.” - 5
You can read more of our reviews here.
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Dr Kathryn Knowles Phd
Author
This page was written by Dr Kathryn Knowles Phd, an award-winning insurance adviser. To read more about Kathryn please see her bio here
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