Epilepsy life insurance

Epilepsy is a growing illness in the UK, with more than half a million people being diagnosed as epileptic.

It's a neurological condition which causes seizures and 87 new people are diagnosed daily with having epilepsy^[1].

The good news is that over 50% of sufferers now live seizure-free due to being medicated.

Epilepsy can affect anyone at any age and 5% of us will experience a seizure at some point in our lifetime.

Unfortunately, epilepsy brings added health risks, making it even more important for sufferers to protect their loved ones with life insurance.

The good news is yes.

It's possible to arrange life insurance if you suffer from epilepsy and in some instances, you don’t even require specialist cover.

Suffers from Petit Mal epilepsy (no loss of consciousness) who control their condition through medication and haven't experienced a seizure in the past 5 years are likely to be able to arrange standard cover.

Those who suffer from Grand Mal epilepsy (loss of consciousness), or those who experience Petit Mal attacks more than once a week, are likely to be able to arrange standard cover but will experience loaded premiums.

Any other medical conditions will also be taken into account and may affect the cost of your premiums or ability to be accepted.

For those who have recently been diagnosed with epilepsy, it's usually required that stabilisation of your condition is achieved before cover is accepted.

Sufferers of highly frequent or uncontrollable epilepsy, or those who have required hospitalisation/emergency treatment, may find it more difficult to find cover.

So even if you're concerned about getting cover, contact us to see what options are available.

The best life insurance for epilepsy will depend on what it is you're looking to protect and your available budget.

All of the various types of life insurance will be available to you even if you have epilepsy.

Although, different types of cover are better suited to covering different aspects of your life.

For example, if you're on a tight budget and only want to cover your repayment mortgage, decreasing term cover may be best suited.

Whereas, if you're aged over 60 and simply wish to cover the cost of your funeral, an over 50s plan may make more sense.

Similar to level term, whole of life insurance provides your loved ones with a fixed lump sum, making it ideal for protecting similar aspects of your life.

However, unlike term-based insurance it doesn’t expire, meaning that a pay out is guaranteed.

Whole of life insurance is well suited to those in later life who are in good health.

Because this type of insurance lasts for the rest of your life, it's possible that you can pay more into the policy than the sum assured. (Hence being best suited to the older generation).

Whole of life tends to be more expensive when compared to term life insurance for the same cover amount.

Applications with pre-existing conditions alongside epilepsy, particularly if directly linked, may require manual underwriting from a specialist.

Strokes, TIA/CVA and tumours are very common amongst those who suffer from epilepsy.

As a result, experiencing any of these could affect your ability to obtain standard cover.

At Reassured, our impaired risk team can help you arrange life insurance if you've otherwise found it difficult.

Simply get in touch to make the most of our award-winning (and free) brokerage service.

Previously being declined life insurance doesn’t necessarily mean cover is impossible to obtain.

The options available to you will depend on why you were declined.

If the severity of your condition is what caused you to be declined, it may be that you can get cover with a specialist insurer.

This is something our in-house impaired risk team can help with.

If you were declined because your condition is not yet stable, it may be that an insurer requires your epilepsy to be stabilised for a period of time before they'll provide you with cover.

As a result, once this time period has passed (5 years with no seizures), you'll be able to reapply for cover on standard terms.

Adding critical illness to your epilepsy life insurance means that if you were to be diagnosed with a serious, yet not terminal, illness, you could make a claim on your policy.

Once a claim has been made your cover will expire and will need to rearrange your life insurance.

Due to your epilepsy and the health implications, you may experience loaded premiums or exclusions.

Epilepsy-related illnesses may also be added as an exclusion to your policy, meaning if you're diagnosed with a critical illness, i.e. a stroke due to your condition, your policy won't pay out.

In severe cases all neurological conditions will be excluded in the disability section of your policy, meaning that if you become disabled as a result of a neurological malfunction, a pay out won't be issued.

The pay out from a critical illness policy can be used to pay for private medical treatment, replace a lost income or simply to enjoy with your loved ones.

As discussed, arranging life insurance as an epilepsy sufferer will vary depending on the severity and type of condition.

However, in most circumstances, arranging some form of cover is possible.

And provided you have Petit Mal epilepsy and haven't experienced an attack for 5 years or more, standard cover may be an option.

For those who are finding things harder, contacting our impaired team will help you to acquire all the information required.

[1] https://www.the-insurance-surgery.co.uk/medical-conditions-life-insurance/epilepsy-life-insurance-2/