Can I get income protection with a pre-existing condition?

Yes, it could be possible to take out income protection if you have a pre-existing medical condition.

Income protection could pay out up to 70% of your usual earnings if you’re unable to work due to illness or injury.

Providers will need to assess the risk level of your condition (how likely it is for a claim to be made).

Please note, whether you qualify for income protection insurance and how much you pay for cover will depend on the nature and severity of your pre-existing medical condition.

Applicants with pre-existing conditions may experience premium loadings (increased premiums), policy exclusions or even have their application declined. While those with mild conditions, that don’t have a great impact on daily life, may find it easier to secure cover.

Those with mild conditions, that don’t have a great impact on daily life, may find it easier to secure cover than those who experience more regular and severe symptoms/flare ups.

By using a broker, like Reassured, you can compare quotes from the whole of the market.

Through our advised team you can compare quotes from leading providers, as well as smaller specialists, to find the most favourable policy for your personal circumstances.

Simply get in touch for your free quotes.

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What is classified as a pre-existing condition?

A pre-existing medical condition is a condition that exists at, or existed prior to, the point of application.

The term ‘pre-existing condition’ can cover a wide spectrum of conditions, from regular muscle or joint pain to Crohn’s disease, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure and much more.

It can also cover mental health conditions such as stress, depression and anxiety.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition, and are worried about how it may affect your income protection application, why not contact Reassured?

Our friendly team can help you through every step of the application to ensure you get the cover you need.

Do I need to declare any pre-existing conditions?

Yes, you’ll need to declare any pre-existing medical conditions during the application process.

During the application you’ll need to answer a health questionnaire, where you’ll be asked about the state of your health (both present and past).

When taking out income protection, honesty is always the best policy.

Providers are used to offering cover to those from all walks of life and they aren’t here to judge.

Ensuring you provide the most relevant and accurate information is essential, otherwise your policy may not be valid when the time comes.

Failing to tell the truth, or providing false information, on an income protection application is known as non-disclosure.

This is a form of insurance fraud and, if found, it can invalidate your policy and prevent you from receiving your monthly payments.

Why do I need income protection with a pre-existing condition?

A pre-existing condition can highlight the need for having the right protection in place for you and your loved ones.

Due to your pre-existing condition, you may have had to take time off work in the past, which could have impacted your earnings.

Income protection can pay out to you while you’re unable to work, as a result of illness and injury.

Often, up to 70% of your income could be paid out, in monthly (tax-free) instalments, to help you cover key financial commitments.

Monthly payments from income protection could help you to cover:

  • Rent or mortgage payments
  • Household bills and utilities
  • Childcare
  • Transportation
  • Debt or loan payments
  • Leisure costs
  • Daily living costs

Please note, on occasions an insurer may add an exclusion, meaning that you would not be able to successfully claim on your policy due to your pre-existing medical condition.

Contact Reassured today to compare income protection quotes, free of charge.

All quotes are personalised to your needs and are completely without obligation.

How much income protection do you need with a pre-existing condition?

Input your monthly financial commitments to understand how much cover you would need to protect these costs.

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£723 a month is the average monthly mortgage payment in the UK, with the average monthly rental price coming in at £700.

The majority of our monthly income will go towards rental or mortgage payments.

For this reason, it’s essential to have precautions in place to ensure you could keep up to date with your payments if you weren’t receiving your usual income.

Monthly income protection payments can help to cover this large expense and ensure you can stay in your home.
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According to the Money Advice Service, the average household spends £340 a month on household bills.

This includes electricity, gas, TV and broadband.
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Childcare costs are on the rise with it now costing £137.69 per week for part-time nursery for a child under the age of two.

That’s over £550 per month - is this an amount you’d be able to keep up with if you were unable to work?

Becoming ill could also result in the need for additional childcare while you attend doctors’ appointments or medical treatment.
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The average household in the UK spends around £97 a week on their food shop, totaling £388 a month.

While this may seem like a small amount in comparison to some of the other expenses mentioned, the food shop is often where we try to scrimp and save when we fall on hard times.

Income protection can take care of the cost of your weekly food shop, as well as many other essential costs.
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At the beginning of 2020, credit card debt in the UK was at £2.1 billion, with almost 27 million UK residents in some kind of debt.

Becoming unable to work could make it hard to keep up with credit card or loan payments (including car finance or other financed goods).

Failure to keep up with payments could result in additional interest being incurred or late fees issues - resulting in a higher total needing to be paid.
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The average spent on public transport each month comes to an average of £94.

This includes the cost of public transport, as well as petrol and diesel vehicles.

While this amount may reduce while you’re unable to work as you won’t need to commute there may be additional spending on public transportation if your illness or injury leaves you unable to drive.
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Your total cover estimate

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Will my pre-existing condition be covered by income protection?

It could be possible for your condition to be covered under your income protection policy.

However, this will depend on the terms and conditions offered by your chosen provider and the severity of your condition.

If your condition is deemed as high-risk by providers (for example, in the past you’ve had to take a lot of time off work), they may choose to add exclusions to your policy to compensate for the increased risk.

An exclusion being added to your policy means you won’t be able to make a claim for this reason.

However, if your condition is mild and doesn’t impact your daily life, it may be possible for your policy to cover your condition.

Ultimately, it will depend on the provider and the terms they offer as to whether they’ll cover your condition or not.

Why not compare quotes from the whole of the market through Reassured to find the most suitable policy to meet your needs?

How will having a pre-existing condition affect my application?

The type and severity of your condition, as well as the underwriting process used by the provider are factors which will determine how much your condition affects your application.

It’s likely that one of the following scenarios will happen when applying for income protection with a pre-existing medical condition:

  • Your application is accepted - Some pre-existing medical conditions can have a very small impact on your daily life. In circumstances like this, it could be possible for an application to be accepted on standard terms (no price increase) or with only a small increase to your premiums
  • Your application is accepted but exclusions are added - It can be possible for your application to be accepted with standard pricing but for exclusions to be added to your policy. This means you won’t be able to claim on your policy if you’re unable to work due to your condition. Some providers may also include exclusions for additional conditions that are related to your current condition
  • Your application is accepted with a premium loading - If providers deem there to be a risk involved with offering you cover, due to your condition, they can mitigate this risk by adding a loading (an increase in price) to your premiums. How much your premiums are increased by will depend on the type and severity of your condition. There could also be exclusions added to your policy which mean you can’t claim for your condition
  • Your application is postponed - Sometimes providers will postpone your application if you’ve only recently received a diagnosis or if you have recently had surgery (or are scheduled for surgery) because of your condition. If your diagnosis is new, providers will often postpone your application to get a better idea of how the condition affects you. If you’ve had surgery or will be having surgery, you’ll need to have made a full recovery before you’ll be accepted for cover
  • Your application is declined - In some cases it’s possible for an application to be declined. While this outcome is rare, it could happen in cases of severe medical conditions where the risk to the provider is too great

If you’re worried about how your condition will affect your income protection application, get in touch with Reassured.

A dedicated member of the team can talk you through your options and help you find the provider who can offer the most suitable cover.

Rest assured, only in rare circumstances will an application be declined.

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What questions will I be asked during the application?

As well as providing standard information about your age, smoking status and occupation, you’ll also have to answer a health questionnaire.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition, it’s likely providers will ask further questions.

This is so they can get a better idea of your personal circumstances, the severity of your condition and how it affects your daily life.

This is likely to include questions such as:

  • When were you diagnosed with your condition?
  • How frequently do you experience symptoms/flare ups?
  • Does your condition require you to take any medication?
  • If so, which medications are you on?
  • Have you ever been hospitalised due to your condition?
  • Are you actively receiving treatment for your condition?
  • If so, which treatments?
  • Has your condition meant that you needed to take time off work?
  • If you have recovered, how long have you been in recovery for?

While this list offers an idea of what information you’ll need to provide, the application process will vary between providers, as will the questions you’ll be asked.

It’s wise to have any helpful documents to hand, such as doctors’ notes and medical reports, to allow you to answer these questions as accurately as possible.

This could also reduce the need for providers to gain your permission to gather this information themselves.

What’s the best income protection with pre-existing conditions?

The best income protection policy for someone with a pre-existing medical condition will be the policy that offers the right terms and conditions to meet your needs, while being at an affordable price.

When taking out income protection, there are some key policy terms and conditions you should be aware of to ensure you’re taking out the right policy for you:

Benefit Amount

Benefit amount - This is how much will be paid out to you. This could be up to 70% of your usual income, paid out in monthly instalments.
Definition of Incapacity

Definition of incapacity - This defines what makes you eligible to claim on your policy. Typical definitions include ‘own occupation’ (which will allow you to claim if you’re unable to do your own job). ‘Suited occupation’ (which will allow you to claim if you can’t do your own job, as well as other jobs related to your skills and experience), and ‘any occupation’ (which will allow you to claim if you’re unable to work at any job).
Policy Term

Policy term - This is how long your cover will last for. It’s wise to consider your personal circumstances when setting your policy term. You may wish to have this align with when you retire. However most providers will require that your cover ceases by age 70.
Payment Period

Payment period - This is how long your policy will pay out for. You can opt for long-term income protection (has the potential to pay out until retirement if you’re unable to work again) or short-term income protection (can pay out for a maximum of 1 - 2 years).
Deferred Period clock

Deferred period - This is the time in between a claim being made and receiving payments. Common deferred periods are from 4 - 52 weeks. You must still be unable to work once this period has come to an end in order for your payments to commence.
Premium Type

Premium type - This is how you’ll pay for your cover. Premiums can be guaranteed (stay the same), reviewable (change over time due to certain criteria) or age-banded (increase as you age).

Being aware of these policy details is particularly important when applying for cover with a pre-existing medical condition, as they may be affected by your condition.

For example, depending on the severity of your condition, it may be that some providers are unable to offer you the maximum amount of cover due to the increased risk.

You may also wish to look for policies which have guaranteed premiums so the price you pay doesn’t change over time.

A policy with reviewable premiums could be costly in the long run as, if your condition declines, this could be reflected in your new premium when it’s reviewed.

If you’re paying inflated premiums due to your condition you could set a longer deferred period to help bring down some of the cost.

Reassured can help those with pre-existing medical conditions find the right policy to meet their needs. Simply get in touch.

Consider securing income protection through a specialist provider

It’s possible to secure income protection through specialist providers.

These are providers who specialise in providing cover to non-standard applicants, who could be considered high-risk by mainstream providers.

The Exeter are one of the UK’s leading specialist providers, offering the ‘Income First’ policy.

Why not use the services of Reassured to compare The Exeter income protection with all other policies on the market?

This way a friendly member of the team can help to find you the most suitable income protection policy. Simply get in touch today.

How much is income protection with a pre-existing condition?

The price you pay for income protection with a pre-existing medical condition will vary.

This is because your premium will be calculated based on your personal circumstances, including the severity of your condition.

The answers you give will allow providers to determine the level of risk involved with offering you cover and your premiums will be calculated accordingly.

You’ll need to provide details about yourself, including:

As well as details about your chosen policy, such as:

  • Policy term
  • Deferred period
  • Definition of incapacity
  • Payment period

You’ll also likely be required to answer additional questions about your medical condition so that providers can gain a greater understanding of how it affects your day-to-day life, as well as the severity and frequency of your symptoms/flare ups.

In cases where the medical condition is mild, a small loading (or sometimes no loading at all) will be added to the policy.

Whereas in more severe cases, a greater loading could be added to premiums to allow providers to mitigate their risk.

It could still be possible to secure affordable income protection if you have a pre-existing medical condition.

Simply get in touch with Reassured to compare quotes from the whole of the market, free of charge.

Can I be declined due to having a pre-existing condition?

It could be possible for an income protection application to be declined due to a pre-existing medical condition.

However, it’s generally more likely for providers to charge higher premiums and/or include exclusions within the terms and conditions of your policy to mitigate the risk.

Will I need to undergo a medical exam?

Depending on your personal circumstances, you may be asked to undergo a medical exam when applying for income protection.

If providers need to gather more information about your condition, they’re more likely to ask for a medical report from your GP (they can only obtain this with your permission, and you’ll be able to see the report before it’s sent off).

However, it’s important to note that if providers deem it necessary, they have the right to ask you to undergo a medical exam.

The exam will be paid for by the provider and it will be arranged for a time and date that suits you.

Compare income protection quotes to find the best deal for pre-existing conditions

When it comes to applying for income protection with a pre-existing medical condition, it’s essential to compare quotes.

This is because the affect your condition will have on your application and how much you’ll pay for your premiums will vary between providers.

Reassured can help you compare quotes from the whole of the market, helping you to you to find the most suitable policy for your personal circumstances.

This includes policies from specialist insurers, such as The Exeter, who specialise in providing cover to those with pre-existing conditions.

Simply get in touch for your personalised, fee-free and no-obligation quotes.

Compare Income Protection with Pre-existing Conditions »

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