Suicide Attempt & Life Insurance

We know that there are many reasons that can cause someone to attempt suicide and that no matter the circumstances, it is important that you are listened to, when you apply for insurance. We take the time to discuss your situation with you and speak to insurers on your behalf, to make sure that you get access to the best insurance that you can have.

Things we need to know:

• How many times have you tried to attempt suicide?
• When did you try to attempt suicide?
• Details of any underlying mental health condition.

Life Insurance after a suicide attempt is possible. There a number of factors that will affect the type of insurance policy you can go for. It can be useful to explain to the insurer if there was a specific trigger for your actions e.g. traumatic event, mental health, etc.

It is important to note that most standard Life Insurance policies in the UK will pay a claim for suicide after the policy has been in place for 12 months. With that in mind, combined with a history of suicide attempts, in many circumstances any offer of Life Insurance that you receive will be at non-standard rates. This means that the insurer will increase the monthly premium that you pay for Life Insurance, to offset the perceived added risk of there being a claim.

If your suicide attempt was recent (within the last few years), standard insurers may postpone your application, and you may find that you need to speak with specialist insurers for Life Insurance who can offer cover with an full term exclusion on suicide.

Critical Illness Cover can be available after a suicide attempt, depending upon the amount of time since the event occurred. The insurer will want to know if there was a trigger that caused the event, such as a mental health condition (bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia) or a traumatic situation, and how many times you have tried to attempt suicide. As with Life Insurance, Critical Illness Cover after a suicide attempt will typically be offered at an increased premium, however rates do become more favourable the more time that has passed.

Recent suicide attempts will generally lead insurers to postpone your application for Critical Illness Cover, at which point specialist insurers will need to be applied to.

Income Protection after a suicide attempt may be available, if the event was a number of years ago. Again, insurers will want to know how many times you have attempted suicide and if there was specific trigger. If you have a mental health condition that led to you attempting suicide, the insurer is more likely to assess your Income Protection claim based upon your specific mental health diagnosis. Income Protection may be available with a mental health exclusion to the policy, this is more likely than a premium increase.

If the suicide attempt was isolated and there are no ongoing mental health conditions, you may find that after a number of years, Income Protection could be available at standard rates.

Are you going on holiday? It is important that you arrange travel insurance before you go. We would suggest that you speak with a specialist travel insurance broker, who can find the right policy for you, with your history of suicide attempts. For more details, click here.