Life Does Viral Meningitis Affect Insurance Premium?

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Nutso

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Hi All,

I'm looking at changing our mortgage protection and home insurance policies.

However, earlier this year, my husband suffered from a bout of viral meningitis, which he has now recovered from.

I have been in touch with a few companies who have said they cannot say if this illness will affect the premium, so I was wondering if anyone has any direct experience before I go to the bother of filling out all the application forms?

I presume if there is a problem with it, I would be better off sticking with the insurer I'm currently with?

TIA
Nutso
 
" would be better off sticking with the insurer I'm currently with"

Nutso, a Doctor's report may be required. The condition doesn't warrent completing many application forms. If the base premium of the policy you already have is cheaper than the base premium of a new policy then you may be better of sticking with your current insurer.
 
Thanks for replies - and for pointing out it won't affect my house insurance, I hadn't thought that through :).

We are thinking of changing cover as we think there are savings to be made. We went with life & home cover with our lender as it was the quickest way at the time but always meant to look into other options afterwards and only getting around to it now two years later!
 
SeanK said:
The best way to find out is to apply for the cover. The application process is quite fast and it wont cost anything to find out and as sumantra pointed out they may look for a medical report from your husbands GP (you dont have to do anything).

If they are not satisfied with the report they may request an independent medical exam (which they will pay for) and that usually only takes 20-40 minutes to complete. At that stage, you will know if accepted.

Your existing plan can stay in force throughout the application and worse case scenario - if it is more expensive or declined cover with new insurer, you do not go ahead with it and simply keep the cover you already have.

How come you are thinking of changing your cover?

Obviously, the above will have no bearing on your house insurance policy! :)

Thanks,
Sean

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There is a possible downside in applying for a policy in these circumstances. If you do get declined cover, then every time you apply for insurance in future, you will be answering 'yes' to the 'have you ever been declined or loaded' question. This will obviously trigger alarm bells.

It would be helpful to have an off-the-record chat with a good broker to understand the likely impacts before you proceed.
 
I agree with Complainer, my partner was declined medical insurance once and it always causes problems with new applications and makes it more difficult to switch.

I would always fill out an insurance form with as much detail as possible. I heard on the radio this week that someone had a payout declined because they did not state on the form for previous illnesses that they had acne in their youth. This was the US but some insurance companies will do anything to get out of paying so be very careful with the form filling.
 
The legal doctrine which covers insurance contracts is Uberrima fides (utmost good faith) by this the proposer has a duty to disclose all material facts to the insurer. This applies not only to the proposal form (application form) but right up until the first premium is paid and the policy is issued. So eg if you apply for cover and after you have sent in your application you visit the Doctor and your policy hasn't issued then you must tell the insurer. The duty of disclosure continues right up until contracts are issued. Also you cannot withold a material fact because no specific question was asked on the proposal.
 
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just having a nose on the net [broken link removed]
from the decription, viral meningitis appears very common - would it be specifically mentioned on an insurance form? I know that these forms are detailed but surely they don't go into whether you've had flu or how many colds you've had??
 
"surely they don't go into whether you've had flu or how many colds you've had?? "

Most declarations state something along the lines "If you are in any doubt as to whether certain facts are material, such facts should be disclosed." Some will specifically state "Colds, influenza and minor injuries may be excluded".
 
Most declarations state something along the lines "If you are in any doubt as to whether certain facts are material, such facts should be disclosed." Some will specifically state "Colds, influenza and minor injuries may be excluded".
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Hadn't got a clue that the forms were SO detailed. Only completed one ever and that was 5 years ago; Nutso apologies if my post misled you.
 
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