Yes, you can get life insurance if you have Crohn’s disease, but there is more to the process than one for a typical application.
Many factors are affected by the specifics of Crohn’s disease including the monthly premium, which would have to be medically loaded and therefore higher per month depending on how much you suffer from the condition and how severe your symptoms are.
If your symptoms are minor enough to be controlled by medication or you are in remission and no longer show outward symptoms, then your premium is raised between 50 and 75 percent or medically loaded by 50-75 percent.
To present a real figure, a normal life insurance policy for someone without Crohn’s disease might cost £28 per monthly premium.
A policy for someone with Crohn’s at a 50 percent medical loading would amount to around a £42 monthly premium, and a policy at a 75 percent medical loading would amount to roughly a £49 monthly premium.
The numbers vary with each case, which is why these figures are merely estimates.
In order to determine your condition’s level of severity for the policy, you will have to go through a “tele-underwriting” process with a qualified nurse practitioner before your application can be approved.
During this process, the nurse discusses your condition with you over the phone, inquiring full information on any operations or medications you are taking or have taken. If you prefer, this interview can be conducted face-to-face at home or another preferable location.
Additionally, it is also likely your general practitioner will be written for specific medical details on your case to finish the process. It is possible the outcome of this process will be that they decide your condition is more serious than you originally thought, which would affect your monthly premium. So, it is safe to say that you should be prepared for any outcome at the end of the underwriting process.
What if I can’t afford life insurance with Crohn’s disease?
If the offered premium is outside of your budget, you can definitely ask for a reduced overall level of coverage to match your budget. Considering the additional expenses that come with Crohn’s disease, most companies understand the importance of meeting every individual’s needs, and for that reason there are solutions in place when it comes to issues with budgetary concerns.
For example, suppose that you have applied for £275,000 coverage and your maximum budget is £70 per month. A ‘normal’ premium might be £42 per month, and so with a 50 percent medical loading you would be on a budget at £62.
However, it’s possible that after the underwriting process in completed that the medical loading is placed at 150 percent based on the severity of your condition. This would increase your monthly premium to about £105, which is obviously much higher than you have stated that you can afford.
What you can do is ask for your coverage to be reduced to around £185,000, which would amount to around £70 per month. At the very least, you have some coverage rather than none, and it is still a considerable amount of money overall.
Just remember the reason the premium is being medically loaded is to cover the increased risk that you will actually make a claim. In the end, it is to your benefit to make sure that you and your loved ones receive adequate protection for later years.