HIV Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover 2023

Request a Callback

By clicking on submit I / We give consent for you to call me / us on the number provided to discuss my / our financial requirements.

Caring - Understanding - Reliable - Advice

Home » Guides & News » HIV Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover 2023

HIV Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover 2023

The insurance world has taken quite a bit of time to get up to speed with the medical world, it’s not completely there but it’s getting close!

Going back only 3 or 4 years there were still a lot of restrictions for life insurance for people living with HIV. Now in 2023 we are at a point where it’s possible for some people living with HIV to get standard terms for life insurance.

We are now also at a time where we can look at options for income protection and critical illness cover too, for people living with HIV. Here is what you need to know.

HIV Income Protection

Over the last few years we have been involved in trials with some insurers, to offer income protection to people living with HIV. These have now led to full income protection policies now being available, a huge change to what the insurance world used to have on offer.

Each insurer has their own set of rules as to how they will assess your health. Here are some common ways:

CD4 – insurers quite like to see that your CD4 is above 300-350, to accept your application
Viral load – most insurers will want to see that your viral load is undetectable

The CD4 count is quite a tricky one that we are seeing can delay applications at the moment. BHIVA has stated that if a person’s viral load is undetectable then there is no need to do a CD4 test.

This is absolutely fine in the medical world, but the insurance world is taking a bit of time to adjust to this. You might find that some insurers will not consider your application if you have not had your CD4 checked in the last 12 months.

If you are offered income protection from an insurer there should be no exclusions for claims relating to your HIV diagnosis. We are now also able to offer options that can protect your income right up to your retirement age, something that wasn’t available a couple of years ago.

You can find out more about what insurers will want to know about your HIV diagnosis at our dedicated HIV page.

HIV Critical Illness Cover

Critical illness cover has quite a history with HIV. The Association of British Insurers used to include HIV as a condition that they felt should be included in a critical illness policy claims set. This is no longer the case.

A few years ago the ABI looked at HIV, the treatments and medical advances, and decided that HIV was no longer a critical illness. People can now live a long and healthy life when living with HIV.

Critical illness policies that are now available no longer list HIV as a claimable condition. But, it’s only in the last year or so that critical illness cover has started to become available to people living with HIV, in the standard UK insurance market.

There are a few insurers that are able to consider your application for critical illness cover, when you have HIV, and the acceptance criteria is quite strict. Our expert advisers will be able to speak with you about your medical history and give you a clear picture of your insurance options.

Medical Evidence

With many medical conditions insurers like to see a report from a person’s GP to confirm their health. Insurers will ask this for people living with HIV and they will also ask your HIV specialist for some details.

But, it’s possible that your GP is not aware of your diagnosis. We have built specific measures with insurers to ensure that your HIV diagnosis is not mentioned to your GP, if they do not know about this.

When you give insurers permission to speak with your GP about your medical history, they will automatically ask about your HIV diagnosis. It’s really important to make sure that the insurer knows quickly if your GP is not aware, so that your confidentiality can be kept.

One way to potentially avoid this is to share recent letters from your specialist with the insurer to support your application. With details of your CD4 and viral load from a specialist letter, the insurer can potentially avoid speaking to your GP. This will mean that you get your insurance in place much more quickly.

Our award winning advisers are here to make sure that you get the best income protection and critical illness cover available to you. You are under no obligation to take out the options we show you, so why not get in touch to discover what we can do for you today.

Best life insurance for people living with health conditions 2023

Protection insurance – what you need and how to get it

Kathryn Knowles
May 14, 2023

Categories: Life Insurance, Income Protection

Client Reviews

HIV Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover 2023

"Alan and his team were great! Alan helped get me cover where my own company could not (I work in financial services too!) Would highly recommend and will come back in the future."

"Krystle was fantastic throughout and managed to knock almost 50% off my current life insurance premium."

"Leanne couldn't have been more helpful and thoughtful with her questions and work on my enquiry."

"Kathryn and her colleagues were very helpful because of my recent illness."

"Nick was my advisor, Excellent knowledge of products and what I needed, not just pushing me into a sale/policy, will always refer to him in the future."

"I would like to say a very big thank you especially to Amy you really went above and beyond."

"Annaliese was absolutely fantastic, making us both feel at ease and helping us navigate issues that had caused us problems with previous attempts to obtain insurance."