Hi

does anyone know of any Life insurance that will cover me even with exemptions

Can anyone offer any advice i have enquired with a number of life insurance providers and have been told in a nutshell i will have to wait 3 years or 5 years after my treatment has ended to apply for life insurance while i understand i am very high risk client given my age etc (mouth cancer 2005/6) i am thinking about my daughters (age 2) security i took a policy out a before i was diagnosed when i advised them i was diagnosed they cancelled the policy which is fare enough as well

Mel

Good afternoon Melanie,
I think it is going to be difficult getting life insurance for the sort of problem that you and I have.The British association of insurers should be able to point you in the right direction. I would be wary of policies with exemptions because insurers will cover themselves against any eventuality,you really need someone you can trust and is familiar with insurance policies to guide you. Yes I am sceptical!!!
Your experience with taking out a policy before you were diagnosed which was promptly cancelled when you were diagnosed strikes me as being rather suspicious. Unless the policy contained a clause allowing this if you were diagnosed with specific complaints which would be a rather watered down affair,a bit like saying an accident cover policy does not cover you if you happen to have an accident.
On saturday evening I will be having a beer with a friend who may be able to throw some light on this matter I will have a chat about this cancelled policy .
Keep Smiling
John

Thank you so much that would be great it was with a national bank (A)
I am under no doubt it will be difficult i am trying to cover my daughter not myself

i dont know whats going to happen when i try and get a mortgage in the future

Mel

Melanie,

I also share a concern that your last life policy was cancelled. This is most unusual. I can understand that if your condition could be proved to be existing prior to inception of the policy (even if unknown to you) the underwriters could avoid claims for death arising from the pre existing illness but it is not terminal, at least I pray that your condition is not terminal and you could without me intending to be morbid about it die from any number of other complaints which were covered by the policy terms. I would take this case to the Insurance Ombudsman for a ruling you needed cover before you were diagnosed and you need cover even more now. To be frank, unless as I said your policy was relatively new and it could be reasonably argued that the condition existed but was undiagnosed and could have been discovered at a life insurance medical it seems unlikely that the policy could be rescinded it is a contract and I would never have even thought of telling the underwriters in your position. A Whole of Life Policy or Term Policy are just what they are described as and can only normally be cancelled on failure to pay premiums or non disclosure of material facts and Melanie you cant disclose what you do not know!!

Additional insurance is of course a different matter and I last year was declined life insurance to protect a new mortgage, not because of my cancer of the larynx diagnosed and treated in 1995 and from which I was discharged from follow up care in 2000, but for a Heart Bypass Operation in 1991. I appealed via my GP who sent a very supportive letter on my behalf to the Insurers Chief Medical Officer but to no avail. I am OK as long as I have my job but if I lost it and should I pre-decease my wife she would be thrown out of our house.

You have very young family Melanie and are duty bound as a parent to take every precaution you can to ensure their welfare should you die, and I would not accept the cancellation of the insurance policy as fair and reasonable. Stories like yours give the insurance market a bad name and need to be challenged in every case. The Underwriters (who may not be the bank you procured the cover through) may very well have the law on their side when all said and done but the adverse publicity you could create for them and the bank by making your story public should be sufficient for them to reconsider even if they were in the right. But if they acted illegally then there can be no excuse for such action and they need to be exposed the policy resinstated and the Underwriters punished to the full extent of the law by the appropriate regulatory body.

I pray in any event melanie for your full recovery and that you see your family grow to maturity and independence, best wishes DWR

Thank you for your replies

(John I will reply to your post need to locate documents I hope it is not too late for some help)
I have looked into getting cover and the major insurers will jot touch me with a barge pole to put it bluntly until 2009
I am very concerned I will look into getting letter from all my medical team at the hospital and GP extra to try and get a policy

I also am concerned about the cancel policy now I have had more objective views I did not mention that they also returned all the money I had paid into the policy.....
I will also retrieve all the details for this and look into it at the time I was in the depths of treatment and recovery and did not have the focus time or energy to consume myself with the small print I suppose you could say I was just relieved to be living everyday after radiotherapy and surgery etc but I will take this matter forward as it is a issue and my obligations to my daughter are first and
foremost I need to obtain cover from a reputable firm
I value all your adivice DWR/John

Thank you

Mel x

Hi Melanie,

Don't worry about the refund of premiums this the insurer was obliged to do if cancelling the policy. The question is was the insurer permitted by the terms of the policy to do this and did they inform you of the provisions within the policy on which they were relying to cancel the policy. It is not too late to get reinstatement (you would have to pay all premiums returned and due from date of the illegal cnacellation so need to ensure you have the funds to do this) if the insurer breached the terms of the insurance contract.

I wish you luck I must caustion that if the cancelled policy was relatively new there may be a prima facie case for termination if your condition was existing on actual inception of cover even if you were not aware of the problem, it really depends on the terms. But if it was a long standing policy I really can't see why your diagnosis could have triggered cancellation.

You are under a great deal of pressure just now it may therefore be a help if you could use your local Citizens Advise Bureau to act as a mediator on your behlaf there should be no charge for this and it may avoid undue and unnecessary distress if an independent third party can tell you your rights in the matter having sight of the relevant documentation which you should take with you.

I pray for God's blessing on you and your family and that that your treatment will be successful. Diagnosis Cancer is like being struck by a lightening bolt it disorientates you and leaves you shell shocked that is natural recovery from the shock alone will take time let alone from the illness, but you are not alone Melanie and this is not your fault, continue to be positive and brave for yourself and your family. with best wishes DWR

I haven't been on the boards for a long time, but I have just come across this one and hope that maybe you have got this sorted out now.

My late husband & I took out new insurance policies 3 months before he was diagnosed as we moved house and changed mortgage.

They did try to wriggle out of paying on his critical illness policy saying that the policy wasn't mature enough.......absolute codswallop.

Thankfully we had an excellent financial advisor who got it all sorted and we weren't actually made aware of the problem until after the event.

I do think sometimes even reputable companies will try to get out of paying out or maintaining cover if they can, but as soon as they are challenged then everything is sorted.

I second the advice to get your paperwork together and speak to the CAB if you have not already done so.

Kezia