If you’ve had an application for Life Insurance refused, you might feel confused, disappointed, even angry at a decision which has left the people closest to you without protection in the event of your death. Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be the end of the road. This handy guide explains what might have gone wrong, why you might have been declined, and what your options might be from now on.
Why were you refused Life Insurance?
Beagle Street responds to Life Insurance applications by either:
- Accepting an application
- Turning it down (in cases where circumstances make us unable to insure someone)
- Referring it to our underwriters
Sometimes, if you’ve declared a health condition in your application, it may be that we would require a medical report to insure you. As this is something that we’re not able to offer, unfortunately we can’t provide you with life cover.
A referral involves a manual underwriting review, performed by a specialist, which usually takes about 2 working days.
No matter how a Life Insurance application gets denied, it can’t hurt to contact the insurer and request more information. If it’s possible for them to clue you in, that could inform your next steps and make it easier to get cover next time, but even if they can’t give you specifics, it’s still possible to make some educated guesses…
Reasons for declining Life Insurance applications
The specific reasons for denying a Life Insurance application could vary from company to company. Different insurers have different speciality areas and processes, meaning there are multiple reasons why a Life Insurance application might have been refused. Sometimes, it’s a combination of different health and lifestyle factors which lead to a decision.
Bear in mind that the art of assessing insurance applications is as much about knowing how different factors stack up and interact. Someone who smokes (usually a major factor) but who is otherwise in good health could be seen as less of a risk than someone with multiple smaller but connected issues.
If the insurer is able to give you more details about why your application was rejected, it may help you to find a more specialist insurer for your circumstances.
Which medical conditions affect Life Insurance decisions?
Whether your chosen Life Insurance company needs to see the results of a full medical exam before approving your application, or whether they offer Life Insurance with no medical, you’ll still need to answer some questions about your health which will most likely factor into their decision to insure you or not.
It’s important to bear in mind that decision about whether to offer you Life Insurance is based on the information you provide. Pre-existing conditions and family medical history are often taken into account, but developing a condition after a policy has been set up shouldn’t invalidate your cover.
A few common examples of medical conditions which could be seen as a risk by Life Insurance companies include:
- Obesity
- High glucose or blood sugar
- History of cancer
- HIV and AIDS
- Hepatitis
- Blood or protein in the urine
- Elevated Liver Function
- High cholesterol, lipids and triglycerides
- Alcohol lifestyle factors
Lifestyle factors affecting a Life Insurance application
Along with diagnosed medical conditions and your family medical history, Life Insurance applications are also affected by lifestyle choices. Anything which might elevate your risk of untimely death could be seen by insurers as reasons to raise premiums or, in extreme cases or where multiple factors are concerned, reasons to decline an application.
Just like medical factors, applications are more likely to be denied if a combination of these lifestyle factors are in play at the time of your application. Often, there’s some direct link between medical and lifestyle issues (such as with smoking’s effect on cardiovascular health), but even if, for example, a dangerous job doesn’t have any link to a family history of cancer, both could form part of the decision.
Non-medical issues that impact a Life Insurance policy can include (but are definitely not limited to) the following:
Income limitations.
Some insurers (not us, we hasten to add) will take into consideration your income when deciding on a Life Insurance application. Obviously, insurers need to know that applicants will be able to keep up their premium payments, and if someone is in temporary employment, working a zero-hours contract or on a low income, that might not be as sure a bet as they’d like.
Alcoholism, smoking and drug use.
These three things can all affect your eligibility for Life Insurance, depending on the length and severity of use and the time since you quit. Check out our guide to Life Insurance for smokers. Regarding drug use, see our page on Life Insurance for drug users for more details.
Hazardous occupations.
At its core, Life Insurance is all about assessing the risk of you dying and leaving your loved ones unprotected. So, if your occupation elevates that risk, then insurers might need to take that into account. Jobs which could be seen by insurers as high-risk might include things like:
- logging workers
- fishers and related fishing workers
- airline pilots and flight engineers
- roofers
- structural iron and steel workers
- refuse and recyclable material collectors
- electrical power-line installers and repairers
- drivers (depending on what you drive)
- farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
- construction workers.
Dangerous hobbies:
As with your job, hobbies you enjoy doing in your spare time could be classed as dangerous. Those that carry a risk of injury or death might contribute to a life insurance application getting denied if an insurer decides it puts you at too great a risk.
Hobbies that we ask about in our application include:
- armed forces
- scuba diving
- private flying, gliding or parachuting
- motor car or motorcycle sport
- sailing at sea or powerboat racing
- off piste snow sports
- mountaineering (inc rock climbing)
Obviously with each hobby listed there can be varying degrees of risk associated with it, so an insurer will just need to ask you some questions to fully understand this and factor it into making a decision about your application.
Driving record.
Insurers will also often look at a person’s driving record to help them understand the level of risk associated with that person. For example, a clean license with no points can indicate that you’re a responsible driver, but if you have been banned from driving for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs for example, this could indicate that you’re a greater insurance risk and affect the decision on your life insurance application.
Previous declines.
Obviously, if you’ve had Life Insurance declined by one insurer, the next one you apply could want to know why. A large number of refusals is likely to mark you as a high-risk candidate, increasing premiums or making it much more difficult to find any cover.
Refused Life Insurance – what are your options?
If you don’t know exactly why you were turned down for Life Insurance, it can be hard to plan out your next steps.
If you do decide to apply for Life Insurance after being declined elsewhere; take your time and do your homework. As mentioned above, multiple refusals on your record aren’t going to look good, so be extra careful when it comes to researching the kind of insurers who might be able to help you the second time around. It might be that a specialist insurer will have the expertise needed to offer the right cover to people in your situation, it’s just a case of doing the legwork to find them.
What not to do when you’ve been refused
If you’ve been denied Life Insurance due to the information you provided to the insurer, it can be tempting to go to another insurer and provide different information in order to boost your chances of being accepted: Don’t do this.
If it ever emerges that the information you provided when applying for Life Insurance wasn’t totally honest (to the best of your knowledge), it could risk voiding the entire policy, wasting your premiums and denying your loves ones a payout upon your death. That could, in turn, mean leaving those closest to you in severe financial jeopardy having been denied the cash sum they were expecting.
Similarly, if you’ve been refused cover with a company, don’t change your answers on another application with them to see if you’ll be accepted. Even if initially accepted, you may later have the application declined or the policy voided because of the differences between the two applications.
Of course, there’s a difference between getting your weight wrong on one application, then correcting it on the next one, and deliberately giving untrue or misleading details to try and affect a decision. Just use common sense and answer all questions with complete honesty to ensure you get the Life Insurance cover that’s right for you.
Let’s recap: your options after being declined
As we’ve explored, being refused Life Insurance isn’t the outcome you wanted, but it’s not the end of the story unless you decide it is. By taking stock of your position and playing it smart, you could secure yourself a better outcome next time by taking steps like:
Working with your prospective insurer for details of why you were declined.
Ensuring all the medical information you provided is correct and up to date.
Exploring the different factors affecting the decision and seeing what lifestyle changes you can make.
Researching specialist insurers with experience of insuring people in your position.
Resisting the temptation to bend the truth on your next application.
Securing the right Life Insurance, the Beagle Street way
Beagle Street is committed to helping as many people as possible find peace of mind and protect their loved ones with the right Life Insurance at the right price. If it’s at all possible to insure you, we want to find a way to do it that works for everyone.
If you’ve been turned down for Life Insurance in the past, or if you’re in any doubt at all about whether or not you might be able to get covered, it’s a good idea to give us a call.
So, to take the first step towards sorting out your Life Insurance needs, contact Beagle Street today or get a Life Insurance quote online.