Life Life Assurance and an abnormal smear in past

L

laobhise

Registered User
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45
Hey,
Just wondering if anyone can advise. I had an abnormal smear back in 2002/2003. It was a cin level 2. I was advised to have a colopscopy and at that time of this the consultant noticed some abnormal cell growth so did a lletz surgery there and then. I was advised to have repeat smears in 6 months and everything should be fine. I have a repeat smear as instructed which came back with a cin level 1 which means a repeat is done incase it is just the test and the next test came back clear. I have had 2 other smears done since then and both have been fine.

However, my husband and I are now buying a house and are meant to be closing on the 11th February. I went into AIB last week to purchase my life assurance thinking that it would be straightforward and it seemed to be. But they have come back to me now today to flag that they think there could be delays. They said that the underwriter will probably want to write to my doctors and get reports back etc and this could take a while. Does anyone have any idea how long these things take? It said in the form to put down cervical problems in the last 5 years but this stuff was about 8 years ago. It was only in the meeting that I was asked about cervical stuff and then I was told to fill in a separate gynacoligical form. I havent had a smear done since 2008 and wondering if this will be a problem. We started trying for a baby in 2009 so I couldnt get one done then and then we got pregnant and had a baby last sept and so I had to wait 3 months until after baby was born which is now. Will I have to wait until I have another test done or do you think they will be happy that I have had other clear smears. Sorry for rambling. Bit stressed about it as living with my mother and grandmother with dementia and baby and husband and it a bit of a nightmare-thought of getting own house before back to work in April was keeping me going.
Any advice really appreciated
 
Really surprised with the level of detail of the questioning. It would never occur to me to mention abnormal smear in insurnace interview

Possibly the easiest way to speed this up would be to call your doctor, ask him to keep an eye out for the letter and reply as soon as possible?
 
millieforbes said:
Really surprised with the level of detail of the questioning. It would never occur to me to mention abnormal smear in insurnace interview
Click to expand...

It depends on the proposal form, some will explicitly ask the question

"Have you had an abnormal smear test within the last 5 year" so there is no escaping it unless you want to fall guilty of non disclosure.

Back to the OP - as it's outside 5 years then I am surprised that AIB are asking for more information. Maybe try another insurer and see what they say. If you need a PMA then it depends how quickly your GP returns the medical history. In my experience you will be waiting for 10 days at least unless your GP (or their secretary) is really on the ball. Rare.
 
The gynaecological questionnaire would have asked for the result or medical diagnosis eg CIN I, CIN II or CIN III, you possible answered CIN I / CIN II with an explanation. The fact that there is a smear test due, they are likely to postpone cover until the results of this test are available.

I would talk to a broker (who specialises in protection cover) who can discuss the case with underwriters from a number of companies to see if any of them will have a different view to that of your current insurer and proceed with cover without the need for waiting for the results. Good luck.

Patrick
 
Thanks for the replies. I contacted a broker as suggested and they are going to call me back this afternoon. I have begun collecting information from the consultant and the doctors who did my smears since the op-even though AIB told me there was no point in doing this- why I dont know!!!! The consultant felt that it was unreasonable and he said that there was a 0% chance of any margin of error from op and that it was only a cin 2 and op was done as a precaution incase cells were to change. I mentioned all this to broker. Consultant secretary also said that she had similar problems with AIB and went with another company so fingers crossed.

My current GP has said that he will write me a letter to say that I couldnt get next smear done as I was pregnant and it turns out now that I may need to wait another couple of months to get it done as I am breastfeeding and this can cause an incorrect result. So what happens then-is house postponed until I stop breastfeeding-I wanted to breastfeed until baby was 1 or possibly longer (she is 4 months now) so do I have to wait for house until breastfeeding finished or stop breastfeeding to get test??????? I dont really want to stop as want to do what best for my baby!!!
I also spoke to someone in the bank and said that I was unhappy with the response and they are going to look into it.

So frustrated with AIB-I have had nothing but problems. Just found out that they have also lost my cover letter for the second time after delivering it by hand both times.
Fingers crossed this is sorted soon.
 
Check to see if your GP has your full medical records on file. Ask your GP if he could facilitate a quick turnaround on a possible PMA request from the insurer. If GP states you have been given the all clear with no follow up required you should be able to get cover pretty easily and without delay. Wishing you the best.
 
Well quick update. Broker was a great idea-they got back on and Calendonian are willing to take us on and at a better rate so all good. Consultant also brought me in as an emergency and did a colopscopy on me today as I cant have smears done and gave me a letter to state that all was fine. Have to scan letters to broker this evening and they are going to process it asap. Thanks so much for all the advice-was so frustrated with the whole thing!!!!
 
Well done. A broker can be of far greater help than I sometimes think they are given credit for. One can sometimes spend hours trawling the internet trying to find answers to the wrong questions (me included !).

Patrick

PS - the consultant felt it was unreasonable and said that there was 0% margin or error - that was the missing piece - the 1st insurance company didn't know that as they didn't have the information. The second insurance company will know that tomorrow because you, the broker, the gp & the consultant made it happen.
 
Thanks Pj.

I think the 1st insurance company may agree to it in hindsight now that they have lost the business, but at the time they queried the smear history I offered to get all the relevant letters and paperwork from the GP, consultant and my college health service but they told me there was no point and the the underwriters would have to write to all them directly and request their own forms be completed and returned by each. There would have been no chance of us having all that sorted out by our planned day for closing the house sale next week.

Anyhow it all seems to be on schedule again after todays day of dramatic dahses acorss the city and one very hasitly scheduled check up with the consultant!!
 
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