Life Insurance with Outstanding Medical Appointments

When you apply for life insurance, you will usually be asked questions about your current health and medical history. Your family medical history is often asked about too!

Many insurers will ask whether you have any outstanding medical appointments, investigations or referrals.

This can be worrying if you are currently waiting to see a specialist or have an appointment coming up.

So, does having an outstanding medical appointment mean your life insurance will be postponed?

Not necessarily.

There is an important difference between a routine medical review and an appointment that is investigating a new or potentially significant health condition.

Routine medical appointments and life insurance

Many people have regular appointments with their GP or healthcare team.

For example, you may have routine reviews for:

• Diabetes
• Thyroid problems
• Mental health
• High blood pressure
• Other ongoing medical conditions

Having a routine appointment coming up does not typically mean that your life insurance application will automatically be postponed or declined.

If you have a condition that is already known to your insurer and you are simply attending your usual review, there may be enough information available for the insurer to make their underwriting decision.

Of course, every application is assessed on its individual circumstances and different insurers can take different approaches. But, generally if you’ve had a check up in the last 12 months and your results were in normal ranges, insurers can often accept this without extra medical evidence.

When can an outstanding appointment cause a postponement?

The situation can be different when you are waiting for an appointment because you have a new symptom, have been referred for further investigation or are waiting for a specialist assessment.

In these circumstances, the insurer may decide that they do not yet have enough information to understand your health fully.

If it’s something new, it’s likely that the insurer will postpone the application until the appointment or investigation has taken place. 

This does not necessarily mean that the insurer thinks something serious is wrong.

It is more about making sure that they have the information they need before deciding whether to offer cover and on what terms.

However, this can be a real pain when trying to arrange life insurance, as we are still seeing the knock on effects of outstanding referrals since the covid pandemic. To make it even harder, we are seeing GP reports where there is a mention of a potential referral being needed during that time, and the person applying for cover has no idea that anything is outstanding!

ADHD referrals

An outstanding referral for ADHD is one example that can commonly result in a life insurance application being postponed.

The reason is not necessarily the possibility that ADHD itself will affect your life insurance. Once you have an ADHD diagnosis the process of arranging life insurance, is generally quite straightforward.

The postponement comes from the insurer wanting to make sure that the assessment does not identify another underlying condition or issue that could be causing your symptoms. Other conditions can affect the underwriting decision in different ways.

Until the assessment has taken place and the insurer has the relevant information, they may decide that it is too early to make a final decision. Not all insurers will postpone your application for life insurance, but most will, so if you’ve been knocked back don’t worry, there might be options with someone else.

Tinnitus referrals

Tinnitus is another example where an outstanding referral can cause an application to be postponed.

You might think that ringing in your ears is unlikely to have anything to do with life insurance.

However, most insurers will want to make sure that the symptoms have been properly investigated and that there is not another underlying cause.

Some insurers will want you to have had an MRI or CT scan to fully confirm that there is nothing else causing your symptoms, so they can make a decision based on complete information.

Cancer investigations and referrals

An outstanding appointment relating to cancer can be particularly significant for life insurance underwriting.

If you are waiting for the results of investigations, scans, biopsies or a specialist appointment, an insurer will usually want to know the outcome before making a decision. If you are offered life insurance whilst in this situation, please triple check the terms and conditions, as it’s likely that there will be an exclusion on the policy for pre-existing conditions. This would include anything that is found from the investigations that you are having.

A postponement does not mean that you have cancer or that the insurer expects you to receive a serious diagnosis. They are just tied by very specific rules within their own systems and with the reinsurers that they work with, to only offer life insurance when they fully understand a person’s health.

It simply means that the insurer wants to wait until they know what is happening.

Fibromyalgia

An outstanding referral or investigation relating to fibromyalgia can also cause a life insurance application to be postponed.

This can be frustrating, particularly if you have already been experiencing symptoms for some time.

The insurer may want to understand what is causing the symptoms, what investigations have taken place and whether any other medical conditions have been identified. Again, the symptoms of fibromyalgia can be caused by different medical conditions and the insurer just wants to make sure that they fully understand your health at the moment.

Once the assessment has been completed and a potential treatment schedule has been planned, insurers should be able to consider your application. 

Multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is another condition where an outstanding investigation or referral can be important.

If you are waiting for a specialist assessment because of symptoms that could potentially relate to multiple sclerosis, the insurer may want to wait for the outcome before deciding whether they can offer life insurance.

Again, this does not mean that the insurer believes you have multiple sclerosis.

It is about making sure that the application is assessed using the most accurate and up-to-date medical information.

Why don’t insurers just offer the life insurance and see what happens?

It can sometimes feel frustrating when an insurer says they want to wait.

You may feel perfectly well, or you may already have been told by your GP that they do not expect anything particularly concerning to be found.

However, insurers need to make their decision based on the information available to them. We are often asked why can’t the insurer just exclude claims relating to this. The answer is that some can, but there are specific rules to this. Life insurance that excludes claims to pre-existing conditions can be available, but they often set the amount of insurance to a maximum limit e.g. £100,000, which might not be enough for your needs.

You may also find that you arrange a policy with an exclusion and actually after your appointment the more mainstream insurers can offer you cover at standard rates. This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to review your life insurance policies every now and then, especially if you were previously given cover at an increased premium.

Waiting for the outcome means they can make the decision with more information. You might decide to put a life insurance policy in place with an exclusion as a temporary option, until the more traditional life insurance policies become available. 

You can see the types of options that you can arrange for life insurance with a permanent pre-existing condition exclusion (Guaranteed Life) or temporary exclusion (Over 50s) with our online buy now option.

Does an outstanding appointment always mean I can’t get life insurance?

No.

This is one of the most important things to understand.

There are circumstances where an outstanding appointment will not prevent you from arranging life insurance.

A routine review for an existing condition is very different from an investigation into a new or unexplained symptom.

There can also be differences between insurers.

One insurer may be prepared to proceed, while another may want to wait.

This is why it can be useful to speak to an adviser who understands how different insurers approach medical underwriting.

What happens if my application is postponed?

If an insurer postpones your application, it does not necessarily mean that you have been declined.

A postponement usually means that the insurer wants to wait for further information.

Once your appointment or investigation has been completed, you may be able to make a new application or ask the insurer to reconsider the decision, depending on the circumstances.

The eventual outcome will depend on what the investigation finds and how the insurer assesses the information.

What if I have several medical appointments?

It is important to explain exactly what the appointments are for.

For example, there is a big difference between:

“I have my annual diabetes review next month.”

and:

“I have been referred to a specialist because of new symptoms and I am waiting for an appointment.”

Both involve an appointment, but they can be viewed very differently by an insurer.

This is why simply answering “yes” to a question about outstanding appointments does not tell the whole story.

The details matter.

Speak to Cura Insurance

Having an outstanding medical appointment does not automatically mean that you cannot get life insurance.

However, outstanding investigations and referrals can be more complicated.

At Cura Insurance, we can help you understand how your individual circumstances may affect your life insurance application and whether there are insurers who may be able to consider your application while you are waiting for an appointment.

If you have an outstanding medical appointment and want to know how it could affect your life insurance, ask us.