Can I get life insurance with Crohn’s disease?

The good news is yes! You can take out life insurance even if you have Crohn’s Disease.

Many think that due to their Crohn’s they can't take out life insurance, but that's not true.

Reassured can find quotes on your behalf to help you secure the most suitable family life insurance.

What’s more, we’re FCA regulated and don’t charge a fee for our quotes.

Read on to find out about securing life insurance with Crohn’s Disease...

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Does Crohn’s Disease affect life insurance?

Crohn’s Disease may have an impact on the price you pay for your life insurance.

If you live a healthy lifestyle and your condition is mild, it’s likely you’ll be able to secure cover on standard terms.

However, you may experience higher life insurance premiums if your condition is severe or if you’ve only recently been diagnosed.

This is due to the greater risk you’ll pose to the insurer. The higher the risk, the higher the premium.

In some cases, if your diagnosis is recent, your application may even be postponed so that insurers can get a better understanding of your condition and a better understanding of the risk involved.

If you’re diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease during the term of your policy, your cover won’t be affected by your condition and there’s no need to inform your insurer of the diagnosis.

How much will life insurance with Crohn’s Disease cost?

How much you’ll pay for your cover is very much personal to you and your unique circumstances.

When calculating your premium insurers will look at factors that may pose a risk to them (and therefore, make a life insurance pay out more likely).

These factors include:

  • Age
  • Smoking status
  • Type of policy
  • Term length
  • Sum assured (cover amount)
  • Medical wellbeing

As someone with Crohn’s Disease, an insurer will also take into consideration the personal circumstances of your condition.

As mentioned previously, if your form of Crohn’s is mild it’s likely that you'll be able to secure standard premiums.

However, if your form of Crohn’s is more severe and you experience regular flare-ups, it’s likely that your premiums will be loaded.

The exception to this is an over 50s plan where medical information won’t be considered when determining your premium.

The cost of life insurance will vary due to your own unique circumstances and the prices between providers differ significantly so it’s important to compare your options.

How much life insurance do you need?

Enter your financial commitments to understand the level of life insurance cover you require.

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£121,687 is the estimated average outstanding mortgage per household in the UK.

Our property is generally the largest financial commitment any of us will make.

Your life insurance should cover this significant debt should you no longer be around.
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According to Money Advice Service, full-time childcare in the UK now costs £242 a week.

The loss of a parent could result in the need for additional childcare whilst the surviving parent increases their hours to account for lost income.

Your life insurance cover should factor in this additional required outgoing.
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The average level of debt (minus a mortgage) in the UK is £15,385.

Factoring in any outstanding debts in your name when arranging life insurance ensures this burden is not passed to loved ones.
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You may wish to leave your loved ones an inheritance or lump sum gift upon your passing.

Factoring in the gift amount when arranging your cover will ensure the pay out amount will be sufficient to provide your loved ones with this selfless gesture.
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According to SunLife, the average cost of a UK funeral is now £4,417, whilst the total cost of dying is £9,493.

This is a 130% increase over the past 16 years and shows no signs of slowing down.

A significant cost which should be factored into the amount of life insurance you secure.
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If you are one of the 65% of the UK who are lucky enough to have savings, this could be used as protection if you were to pass away.

Any pay outs from existing life insurance policies and investments can also be used as financial protection for your loved ones if you were no longer around.

Factor this into your required cover amount.
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Your total cover estimate

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Let us find your best available quotes.

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Getting life insurance with Crohn’s Disease

Getting life insurance with Crohn’s Disease doesn’t have to be a difficult endeavour.

As the condition will vary from person to person, so will the type of cover you take out and the price it will cost.

As well as the usual information (age, smoking status, type of cover, sum assured, etc.) insurers will also need to know the following information about your condition:

  • How long ago you were diagnosed?
  • What medication do you take?
  • What your symptoms are?
  • Have you had surgery?
  • Have you had to have time off work?
  • Have you ever been hospitalised?
  • How many episodes you have had since being diagnosed?

This will give insurers an idea of what your condition is like and what risk you will pose to them.

Keeping a diary of all your symptoms, doctors/hospital visits, as well as medication and treatments, is really beneficial if you're looking to take out life insurance.

Once insurers have a good idea of what your health and wellbeing is like, they‘ll be able to start your quote.

There are a few different cover options available to you:

Term life insurance

Term life insurance provides cover for a specified period of time (the term) and if you pass away during this time, a pay out is made.

Typically you can obtain cover on level or decreasing terms.

Level term life insurance provides a fixed sum assured (pay out amount), meaning the amount your loved ones will receive remains the same throughout your policy.

In contrast, with decreasing term life insurance your sum assured will reduce over time.

You’ll pay a monthly premium and the price you pay will be calculated using your unique circumstances. You’ll need to provide information on:

  • Your age 
  • Your medical history
  • Smoking status

As you’ll need to provide medical information, it’s likely you’ll experience higher premiums due to your Crohn’s disease (depending on the severity of your condition).

A pay out from term life insurance can help to pay off the mortgage, pay other large debts, cover family living costs as well as paying for your funeral.

Whole of life insurance

A whole of life insurance policy provides life-time cover, ensuring your loved ones receive a payout when you pass away.

You’ll pay a monthly premium and you’ll need to pay your premiums for the rest of your life to keep your cover in place.

As a result, this could be a costly option for someone with Crohn’s Disease.

It’s likely you’ll experience higher premiums due to having to provide medical information at the point of application.

Plus, if you take this type of cover out at a young age, you could end up paying more into the policy than it will pay out.

This type of cover is usually best suited to those later on in life who’re still in good health.

Over 50s plan

An over 50s plan guarantees acceptance to all UK residents aged 50 – 85.

This type of cover will last you for the rest of your life and guarantees a pay out after you’ve passed away.

What makes an over 50s plan different to most polices is that you don’t need to provide any medical information.

Due to this, it’s a good option for those who’re in this age bracket and suffer from Crohn’s disease.

However, due to the unknown risk you pose to the insurer, they often implement a waiting period (usually 12 or 24 months after taking out the policy).

This means that if you pass away due to natural causes during this time period you won’t be covered and no pay out will be made.

However, the premiums you’ve paid will be refunded.

The premiums you pay may also be slightly higher with this type of policy and your sum assured will be lower than with any other type of policy.

Joint life insurance

If you and your partner are considering taking out joint life insurance but one of you has Crohn’s Disease this can impact the premium that you both pay.

Joint life insurance protects two policyholders simultaneously, meaning there is only one contract and one premium to be paid each month.

There will be only one application which will take into consideration information about both parties.

These will be factors such as your age, smoking status as well as your health and wellbeing.

If one of you suffers from Crohn’s Disease this can lead to inflated premiums that you both will have to pay, meaning the partner in more favourable health could end up paying more than they need to.

Joint life insurance provides only one pay out, usually after the first death.

Once the pay out has been made the policy expires and the remaining partner will need to find new cover.

By using an FCA-regulated broker, like Reassured, you can compare joint and single policies.

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Life insurance with terminal illness cover

All term policies taken out through Reassured will come with terminal illness cover as standard.

Terminal illness cover allows you to make an early claim if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness and are predicted to pass away within 12 months (during the term of your policy).

A terminal illness pay out can help to:

  • Pay for private medical treatment
  • Pay for carers/make adaptations to your home 
  • Give peace of mind that your affairs are in order 
  • Pay off the remaining mortgage balance
  • Cover family living costs

While Crohn’s won’t be covered under terminal illness cover, you’ll be protected in the event you develop a terminal illness in the future.

Critical illness cover

Critical illness cover can be added to a life insurance policy for an extra cost.

It'll cover you for a specific period of time (the term) and will pay out if you're diagnosed with a serious, but not life-threatening, illness (such as heart attack, stroke and cancer).

This is beneficial if you cannot work due to your illness. A claim can be made and your pay out can be used to cover lost income.

However, once you've made a claim your cover expiries, (this includes your life insurance).

Like with life insurance, if your Crohn’s Disease is mild you'll be able to take out critical illness cover at standard rates.

If your Crohn’s Disease is more severe, you may see inflated premiums.

Is Crohn’s Disease classed as a critical illness?

Crohn’s Disease is usually one of the illnesses covered by critical illness cover.

If you’re diagnosed with Crohn’s during the term of your policy, and it meets the definition listed within your policy, you’ll be able to make a claim.

However, with critical illness cover, you won’t be covered for any pre-existing conditions.

So if you have Crohn’s Disease at the point of application, it’s likely an exclusion for Crohn’s will be added to your policy.

This means you won’t be able to claim for Crohn’s Disease or any related illnesses.

It’s also important to note that not all providers include Crohn’s Disease under critical illness cover, as what’s covered varies between providers.

This is why it’s important to compare the policies that are available.

Do I need to tell the insurer about my Crohn’s Disease?

If you have Crohn’s Disease you must tell insurers on your application.

To be dishonest on your life insurance application is called non-disclosure.

Some think that by lying on their application they can obtain a more favourable premium, but this can result in your policy becoming invalid and a claim being declined.

This means that even if you were to pass away from an unrelated illness if your insurer finds the non-disclosure, they can deny your pay out.

Honesty is always the best policy and you can secure cover for cheaper than you may think.

However, if you’ve an existing life insurance policy, and you’re diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease during the term, you don’t have to inform your insurer of the condition.

As long as all the information you provided at the point of application was correct, you don’t need to tell your provider about the condition and this won’t invalidate your cover.

What if you have been declined before?

If you've been declined for life insurance before due to Crohn’s Disease, it’s still possible to secure cover.

You may have been refused life insurance for one of the following reasons:

  • You had only recently been diagnosed
  • You had recently just had surgery related to your condition

If you had only just been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease it would be hard to paint a full picture of your symptoms and as a result, it would be hard for insurers to calculate the risk of insuring you.

If you had just undergone surgery that was as a result of your condition, such as the fitting of a colonoscopy bag or a fistula removal, insurers are unlikely to provide cover until you have made a full recovery.

We offer a specialist impaired life insurance team who have helped to find cover for 45% of customers declined elsewhere.

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Life insurance in trust

Most life insurance policies taken out through Reassured can be written in trust, free of charge.

Writing your life insurance in trust involves placing someone you trust in charge of your policy upon your death.

This means they’ll be responsible for ensuring your pay out is distributed as per your wishes.

The main benefit of this is that your loved ones will receive a larger sum from your pay out as it won’t be subject to 40% inheritance tax.

It also helps to avoid the probate process which can take up to 9 months.

Crohn’s Disease in the UK

Crohn’s Disease is one of the main inflammatory bowel diseases affecting over 300,000 people across the UK[1].

Although the disease is often not fatal, it can have some associated health implications.

These implications make it even more important to have the right cover in place.

For more information and support on Crohn’s Disease, please see the following resources:

If you're looking to take out life insurance, it’s wise to look at the different cover options that are available to you and compare quotes.

Life insurance quotes for Crohn’s Disease sufferers

Securing affordable cover with Crohn’s Disease is completely possible.

Quotes will vary between different providers so to secure the highest cover for the lowest price you need to compare.

At Reassured we’ll compare quotes for you to ensure you are getting the cover you need for the best price.

Get in touch and get your free, no-obligation quotes today.

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Sources:

[1] https://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/about-crohns-and-colitis

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