When applying for personal risk insurance, it is extremely important that you disclose to the insurer every matter that you are aware of as this will impact the insurer’s decision to accept the risk of insurance and issue you a policy. Remember they will have access to your medical records. Even if they do issue the policy, at crunch time when you need to claim, if it is discovered that you did not disclose accurate and full information, your claim may be denied.
What is important to the insurer?
This list of examples might help:
- Health – have you had a serious injury in the past?
- Family history – do you parents or siblings suffer from any illnesses that seem to run in the family?
- Occupation duties – does your role involve any manual work or work at heights?
- Financial details – your annual salary and benefits included at minimum.
- Pastimes – do you partake in any hobbies the insurer would consider risky, for example scuba diving, motor cycle riding?
- Travel plans – do you have any definite plans to travel overseas? And where will you go?
In all cases, you should disclose all information you are aware of or could be reasonably be expected to know so that at claim time, when you have relied on this insurance in the event of sickness or injury, you do not have to face the devastating consequences of not receiving the support for which you have paid.
Importantly, your duty to disclose all matters begins at the policy application stage and continues until the policy is entered into and you have paid your first premium.
This information should not deter you from considering personal risk insurance should you have a medical condition or illness. Insurers are often still willing to offer you a policy with terms which means that that a specific condition or illness may attract a loading (increase) to your premium or be excluded from any claims.
Is insurance still valuable?
Definitely – an exclusion on your policy doesn’t necessarily mean you cannot claim on your insurance in the event of injury or illness. A recent example is a client of Morrows who suffered a sudden heart condition requiring surgery. She was able to claim on her Trauma insurance policy of $380,000 which Morrows put in place for her two years prior. Originally when applying for the cover, she disclosed a severe injury to her back and so back injuries were excluded from the cover. Her heart condition, however, was covered so she was still able to claim on her policy, enabling her husband to take time off work to care for her and their two children.
Morrows Private Wealth specialises in personal risk insurance and can assist you with your insurance needs and any queries you may have. We have experts in the area and we have relationships with the underwriters of the policies that will help you achieve favourable results.