Life insurance

[Bomber99]

Hi all not sure if this is in the right place or if this question has been asked before but here goes.

my wife’s life policy is up for renewal in December and she had a phone call from her insurance company. They asked if she would like to take out another life insurance policy with them and proceed to ask various medical questions. When the wife explained she was diagnosed with type two diabetes 10 years ago, angina 6years ago and had 3 stents put in, the agent asking the questions said they would not be able to insure her.
So the wife asked the rep if due to her present conditions would her present day policy pay out if anything was to happen to her between now and December. The rep said no because they were not informed of the existing health conditions and would probably not paid out from the time the wife was diagnosed with diabetes as the wife had not informed them of this condition.

So the question is; the wife has been paying £40 per month over the last 10 years for a policy that would not pay out, therefore no risk that I can see to the insurance company. As there was not going to be a pay out if there was something to happen to my wife, would my wife have any claim to ask for her money back or would it be a case you didn’t inform us of any new health conditions and therefore your not entitled to a refund.
cheers
bomber99

[Sam101]

If your wife did not have these recently declared conditions when she originally started her life policy, then the policy should pay out on death. However, if the problems were not declared to the insurance company when taking out the policy, they would not pay out.

When any life policy is applied for, medical questions have to be answered fully, otherwise the company would not be able to know the risk to cover. Were the medical problems present at the beginning of the policy? It looks like the Angina and stents were possibly later, but what about the type 2 diabetes?

[des8]

Hi
There is no one answer to your question.
A lot will depend on the exact date that your wife completed her proposal form as the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 came into force 6th April 2013.

This Act t removed the duty on consumers to disclose any facts that a prudent underwriter would consider material, and replaced it with a duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation.

When did your wife take out her policy which is presumably a 10 year whole life policy, with unchanging premiums throughout)
Did she know she had type 2 diabetes at the time?
If she did know, why did she not inform the insurers?
How was the proposal form worded?
If it was a 10 year policy the Angina would not have been a reason to decline paying a claim

[Bomber99]

Hi all thanks for your replies

the policy was taken out some 15years ago
diabetes 2 was diagnosed 10 years ago

there’s no surrender value.

only has until December to run its course when the wive becomes 60

wife was told they would not extend policy because of her ongoing medical conditions.

wife was told because she never informed the company when each medical problem arose they wouldn’t have paid out in the event of a claim.

they also informed her they will not pay out between now and December in the event of a claim for the same reasons above

[Bomber99]

Forgot to mention angina was diagnosed 6 years ago leading to 3 stents being put in place

[Sam101]

The policy is valid. At the time of application the problems did not exist and the insurers would be liable in the event of death before expiry of the policy.

[des8]

would need to see the whole of the policy wording before commenting further