Underwriting a plan well at outset makes a future claim easier

Applying for protection insurance isn't difficult for many people, but it can sometimes seem like a lengthy process, especially if underwriters see a need for things such as medical reports.

Here are the steps to applying for protection insurance...

Step 1 - Understanding options - Your adviser will have a thorough discussion with you, understanding you and your personal circumstances, advising what's in the market and what they recommend you consider. A decision is then made on what cover to apply for.

Step 2 - The application form - We will work with you to complete an application ensuring all appropriate information is disclosed fully. This enables the best outcome for underwriting and means in the event of claim the process is easier to navigate.

Applications can be lengthy, which is why we work with you to ensure accuracy of completion. Questions will be asked such as:

- Have you ever had a heart attack / stroke or Cancer
- Have you ever had a mental health condition that has caused you to see a psychiatrist, spend time as an inpatient in hospital, or attempted suicide.
- Are there any other health matters to disclose in maybe the last 3 to 5 years, and often some details about anything specific in the last few months.
- Finally, we will need to understand about any hazardous pastimes, extensive travel you do, and your occupation.

Step 3 - Assessment by the underwriters - There are some common questions asked by insurers, depending on your situation. For example, if you were diagnosed with cancer, the insurer would want to know what the diagnosis was, when you received the diagnosis, the stage and grading or TNM score, what treatment you have had, and when treatment ended or is due to end.

Similarly, there are other common questions you can expect for other health conditions, and possibly some more specific questions for your own circumstances.

Depending on the hobbies you participate in, there will again be some common questions to do with it.

Using motorbike riding as an example, the insurer will want to know the size of the engine of the motorbike, if you ever compete, if you ride the motorbike purely for commuting or leisure and how many hours you spend on your motorbike / or the mileage you do each year.

The questions asked for an occupation vary depending on your job role, as there's a huge range of things that can be done. There are common questions for most roles, even those which don't seem risky.

An office worker can expect to be asked how much business mileage they may do and how much of their work is manual, administrative and supervisory.

The places that you're travelling to and the reason behind your travels plays a big role in the questions that the insurer will ask you.

The insurer will be interested in how long you're going to be out of the UK for, they will ask if you're going to be away for more than 30 days for a holiday or more than 1 week for business trips. Some countries are also seen as being riskier, so the insurer may ask what country you're visiting, and maybe even the region too.

Step 4

If further information is required

If further information has been requested from a medical professional, this could take a couple of weeks to a few months to be returned to the insurer. So, the more information we can disclose to minimise this need the better.

Once the insurer has all the information they require, their underwriters will look at your application alongside the further information to make their decision.

OR

When a decision is made

You will receive terms. If you're happy with these then your policy can be started on an agreed date once you have provided direct debit details.

You may be asking - ‘Are all of these questions necessary?'

It might seem like the insurers are asking a lot from you, and you may think that it's not all completely necessary. But asking more questions during the application process can actually end up more beneficial for you if you were ever to claim on your policy.

If you're taking out critical illness cover or income protection, there are sometimes terms with your policy, such as the policy cannot be claimed on for a pre-existing condition (a condition that you had before applying), or you may have a policy which excludes certain conditions that you have experienced in the past. These are more common with income protection policies but can apply for either policy type. It is unusual to get exclusions on life insurance policies.

For critical illness cover potential exclusions can include:

- Breast Cancer
- Multiple sclerosis
- High risk activities e.g. occupation exclusion for military work

For income protection exclusions can often be focused on:

- Mental health
- Back pain
- Chronic conditions e.g. Parkinson's

If an insurer has a lot of information about you and your health from outset, if a claim was then to be made on any aspect of your policy, there are less likely to be issues regarding things such as dates or details surrounding any health conditions you may have.

It could be that you find an insurer that has a shorter application form with many fewer questions.

An issue with shorter application forms is that the policies aren't always quite as good and may have terms with them that mean they come with certain exclusions. For example, an insurer may not cover you until a certain number of years has passed since your recovery or treatment has ended for a certain condition.

If you have had an acute condition then the exclusion may disappear after a while, whereas it may be permanent for a chronic condition.

Claims

The insurance industry in the UK gets bad press from policies not paying out or not going to plan, but thankfully Protection Insurance has much better statistics. You can think of insurance as having two departments: general insurance, things like Home Insurance, and protection insurance covering things like Life Cover, Critical illness Cover & Income Protection.

We are focusing here on protection insurance.

Strong, thorough underwriting can help when it comes to protection insurance because if there has been a medical report or information requested, then there's very little chance that you've missed something off your application.

In our eyes, the insurer having all the details surrounding your health right from the start is a bonus. You shouldn't have to ever feel concerned that the insurer will say that you didn't tell them something relevant, so they are voiding your claim. It can ultimately mean the difference between your loved ones receiving the money from a claim in a matter of days, rather than having to wait months.

When addressing an application, if you're unsettled about some of the questions asked, we are on hand to answer questions and work with you to run through the application.

Our advisers, as always, are here to make sure that you and your loved ones have the peace of mind that comes with insurance.

Please get in touch with us at Merrigan-Reis, your local Bristol Insurance Adviser based in Portishead and supporting clients nationwide.