Tinnitus & Life Insurance

Tinnitus can be a really unpleasant condition and it is one that you’ll need to disclose on most life insurance applications. My mother has the condition and she often describes it as being like listening to sea waves, or the banging of pots and pans. Either way it makes her want to rip her ears off at times!

The important thing to bear in mind here, is that with any application for life insurance with tinnitus, insurers are looking predominantly at any underlying cause of the condition. They’ll want to know:

• How frequently you experience symptoms?
• When you were first diagnosed?
• If any underlying condition has caused the tinnitus?
• If the tinnitus affects your daily living, or ability to work?

If you have tinnitus, and no other medical conditions, you may be able to obtain life insurance at normal terms. If however, there are other medical conditions that are causing or contributing to your tinnitus, an insurer will typically obtain a medical report from your GP to establish details about your general health.

If your medical history shows other notable health conditions, then it may be that the insurer can offer you life insurance at non-standard terms.

As with life insurance the insurer you apply to for critical illness cover will want to know as much as possible about your experience of tinnitus. This will include your specific symptoms, when you were first diagnosed, if any underlying condition has been identified as the cause of the tinnitus and the severity of your symptoms.

Again, if your symptoms are severe and/or a particular underlying condition has been identified as the cause of the condition, the insurer may want to see a report from your GP. In some cases cover may be available at standard terms, but it is possible that the insurer might want to exclude deafness from the policy claims set.

In the event that your tinnitus is caused by other conditions, it’s likely that these other conditions will be a focus of assessment in terms of your application. So do take advantage of our health condition finder and find out more about how other conditions might affect your application for critical illness cover.

Like the other types of insurance above, insurers will want to know how much the condition impacts upon your life, the severity of your symptoms and any underlying cause. In particular they will want to know as much as possible about how much, if any, time you have had to have off work due to the condition or any associated conditions. It is highly likely any policy available will exclude claims in respect of an inability to work due to deafness or severe tinnitus.

Tinnitus is a condition you’ll need to disclose on your travel insurance application. But it needn’t be a hassle. If you are planning a holiday or a getaway any time soon, speak to a specialist travel insurance broker who can help you to get the right cover based on your condition. Find out more by visiting our travel page here.