Ulcerative Colitis & Life Insurance

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Ulcerative Colitis & Life InsuranceWe know that having ulcerative colitis can be uncomfortable, but having it doesn’t mean that you can’t live to the full. It is our job to listen to you, listen to how you manage your health, and find an insurer that matches your needs.

Things we need to know:

  • When were you diagnosed with ulcerative colitis?
  • How regular are your flare ups?
  • When was your last flare up?
  • Do you take any medication to control your symptoms?
  • Are you able to work?
  • Are you due to have or have you had surgery (e.g. colectomy)?

Ulcerative colitis Life Insurance applications can be accepted by many insurers. For those who have a few flare-ups a year and are otherwise symptom free, ordinary rates can be secured for Life Insurance provided that only mild medications are in use. When you apply for Life Insurance, ulcerative colitis that causes regular symptoms combined with stronger medication/treatment (eg immunosuppressants), may result in your cover being accepted at non-standard terms (premium increase).

Where the ulcerative colitis has been combined with liver disease, there has been recent surgery or surgery is scheduled for the future e.g. colectomy or ileostomy, it is possible that the insurers on the standard market may postpone or decline your application for Life Insurance. You may also have your Life Insurance postponed by insurers on the standard market if you have been admitted to hospital in the last year, due to your ulcerative colitis, or are newly diagnosed with the condition.

If you find that you are unable to get Life Insurance on the standard market, there are specialist insurers that will be able to offer you the cover.

When you apply for Critical Illness Cover, ulcerative colitis will need to be detailed to the insurer in the same way as you would do for Life Insurance. The insurer is going to want to when you were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, details of medications and treatments you take, information regarding any surgery that has been performed or is planned, and how many flare ups you have each year. Where mild medication is in use, it is possible that Critical Illness Cover will be available at either normal terms. or with a premium increase depending upon the insurer that you choose.

Where the ulcerative colitis is controlled with stronger medication or treatments, it is likely that any offer of Critical Illness Cover that you have will be at non-standard rates. This could be a premium increase or possibly an exclusion for any claim related to the ulcerative colitis. In severe cases it is possible that your application will be postponed or declined.

As with Life Insurance, your Critical Illness Cover application may be postponed or declined by insure on the standard market, if you take strong medication to control the ulcerative colitis, there have been recent or upcoming surgeries planned, or hospital admission within the last 12 months. There are specialist insurers that can offer you Critical Illness Cover if this is the case.

When you apply for Income Protection, ulcerative colitis will result in your application being looked at quite thoroughly by insurance underwriters. You may find that the insurer wants to see a report from your GP, detailing how the ulcerative colitis affects you on a regular basis, and to get a general picture of your health. If you have few flare-ups per year and take mild medication, Income Protection will probably be accepted with a premium increase or an exclusion for ulcerative colitis related claims. Where strong medications are in use, regardless of the number of flare-ups a year, Income Protection may be available with a premium increase, an ulcerative colitis exclusion, or be declined.

Get an Income Protection Quote

If the price of the Income Protection policy you are offered is not suitable, or you are declined cover, it is worth considering Accident, Sickness and Unemployment cover. This is a short term income protection policy that provides a monthly income replacement for 12 to 24 months, if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. Accident, Sickness and Unemployment policies are not medically underwritten, so the policy will be accepted regardless of your ulcerative colitis, but you should be fully prepared that the policy will exclude any claims related to your condition.

Are you going on holiday? It can be worthwhile speaking with a specialist travel insurance broker, to find out exactly what you are and are not covered for, when it comes to the ulcerative colitis. For more details, please see our travel page here.

Hi and welcome to episode U of the CuraVision ABCs series. And today I’m going to be talking to you about Ursula.

Ursula came to us along with her husband needing some life and critical illness insurance to protect the liability of their mortgage that they had just arranged. They were both in their late 20s, non smokers, both BMI was fine, and the reason that they came to us was because Ursula had ulcerative colitis. So for Ursula, she had, the ulcerative colitis had originally started off as mild proctitis in her teenage years, and it had eventually developed into the full blown ulcerative colitis.

She’d not had any surgery, but she did need to take daily medication to control the condition. Her last flareup had been a couple of years ago, she had been hospitalized at some stages, and it had caused her to have some time off work as well. Having the ulcerative colitis had also led her to start to develop a few anxiety issues which she was also taking treatment for.

I’m pleased to say that our advisor was able to chat to Ursula and her husband. They’d had a decreasing mortgage, so capital and repayment mortgage of £200,000 over 25 years, and we were able to match that with a life and critical illness policy that came to a total value to, for the both of them of around £58 per month.

What is Ulcerative Colitis?

Ulcerative colitis occurs when an individual experiences inflammation of the colon combined with ulcers in the area. It is believed that ulcerative colitis and resultant flare ups can be triggered by a genetic predisposition, the immune system remaining active after fighting a viral or bacterial infection, gastroenteritis or other environmental factors.

Also: UC

Linked with: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease, bowel cancer, osteoporosis, depression, sacroiliitis, ankylosing spondylitis, anaemia, colon cancer

Some potential problems experienced by individuals who have ulcerative colitis include:

  • Bloody diarrhoea with mucus
  • Dehydration
  • Eye inflammations (episcleritis, anterior uveitis)
  • Fatigue
  • Fever
  • Inflammation of the bile ducts (primary sclerosing cholangitis)
  • Inflammation of the rectum (proctitis)
  • Itchy skin
  • Jaundice
  • Leg rash (erythema nodosum)
  • Mouth ulcers (aphthous ulcers)
  • Painful joints (acute arthropathy)
  • Pyoderma gangrenosum
  • Toxic megacolon
  • Wanting to empty the bowels regularly (tenesmus)
  • Weight loss
  • 5-ASAs
  • Adalimumab (Humira)
  • Aminosalicylates
  • Asacol
  • Balsalazide disodium (Colazide)
  • Beclometasone dipropionate
  • Budesonide (Entocort, Pulmicort, Rhinocort)
  • Ciclosporin
  • Colectomy
  • Corticosteroids
  • Dexamethasone sodium phosphate
  • Golimumab
  • Hydrocortisone acetate (Colifoan)
  • Hydrocortisone Sodium Succinate (Solu-Cortef)
  • Ileo-anal pouch (J-pouch)
  • Ileostomy
  • Immunosuppressants
  • Infliximab
  • Maintenance therapy
  • Mesalazine (Ipocol, Mesren, Pentasa, Salofalk)
  • Methylcellulose (Celevac Tablets)
  • Methylprednisolone (Medrone)
  • Methylprednisolone acetate (Depo-Medrone)
  • Methylprednisolone sodium succinate (Solu-Medrone)
  • Olsalazine sodium (Dipentum)
  • Prednisolone (Deltacortril)
  • Prednisolone acetate
  • Prednisolone sodium metasulphobenzoate (Predfoam)
  • Prednisolone Sodium Phosphate (Predsol)
  • Remicade
  • Sulfasalazine (Salazopyrin)
  • Vedolizumab

Common Questions

Yes we can. Your diagnosis of ulcerative colitis is pretty new, when it comes to insurance applications. For many conditions, insurers like you to have been diagnosed for a bit longer, so that they can see that your health is stable and that you are responding well to medication and treatment. Don’t worry though. There are life insurance options for you, you just may need to speak with a specialist insurer for the time being, who can consider applications from people with recently diagnosed ulcerative colitis.

You should speak to a specialist insurance adviser. It would be highly unusual for any insurer on the standard market, to be able to offer you Life Insurance when you have surgery planned. It’s one thing saying that you may have surgery in the future, because it may never happen, but to have surgery booked is a whole different situation. Any surgery has a risk of complications, and most insurers will decline Life Insurance until you have had the surgery and fully recovered. You may be able to get Life Insurance with a specialist insurer that can offer you the cover at the moment, but it is worth noting that any claims relating the surgery will be excluded from the policy claims set.

Client Reviews

Cura Financial Services has been rated 5 out of 5 based on 739 reviews.

Review by James on 15th September 2017

I have unusual circumstances. While some other agents may have come up with the solution it was the efficiency of Cura's operation that impressed me. - 5 

You can read more of our reviews here.

Ulcerative Colitis & Life Insurance

Dr Kathryn Knowles Phd

Author
This page was written by Dr Kathryn Knowles Phd, an award-winning insurance adviser. To read more about Kathryn please see her bio here

Ulcerative Colitis & Life Insurance

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Ulcerative Colitis & Life Insurance

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