Nearly 350 million people suffer from diabetes in the world and it is a disease that affects the whole family. Websites such as diabetes.org provide information and resources regarding medical care costs, how to manage diabetes to help families adjust to living with diabetes. When it comes to life cover though, it is not that straightforward to arrange the life insurance for a diabetic that is best for you at affordable costs.
People take out a life insurance policy for a variety of reasons, the most common one being to provide financial cover for their loved ones in the event of their death. This could also be when acquiring a property under mortgage, protection against inheritance tax and to lessen the burden of their funeral on their loved ones.
On diagnosis of a long term or chronic illness or due to other health related worries, some people may also decide to take out life cover. Under these circumstances, however, in a majority of the cases people are denied life cover, or are asked to pay higher than usual premiums.
Life insurance for diabetics is indeed a complicated matter, and this article will cover some of the misconceptions about diabetes and life cover, why diabetes affects life insurance and how to avoid complications in getting cover as a diabetic.
Misconceptions about Diabetics and Life Insurance
A lot of people mistakenly believe that diabetics can't get life insurance cover. Diabetes is a precursor to a variety of other health ailments such as heart disease, blood circulation problems and conditions affecting your sight.
All the above diabetes associated risks lead to insurers treading carefully when offering life cover to diabetics. If your diabetes is well managed then it should be eligible for life insurance cover. The insurance company may require you to undergo a medical and provide details of your treatment through your Doctor or Diabetes specialist. Your premiums may end up being slightly higher, but cover is available.
Why diabetes affects life insurance cover
Poorly controlled diabetes, type 1 or type 2, has the potential to lead to serious health complications. Some of the complications are:
Circulation problems - you have to be careful of any injuries to hands and feet as they may not heal properly, and risk turning septic or gangrenous.
Hyperglycaemic coma - too much sugar - can lead to death due to poor sugar management.
Hypoglycaemic coma - too little sugar - can also lead to death if sugar is poorly managed.
It is because of the above risks that insurers drill down into the management of diabetes by the applicant, and why if you are managing your condition properly you should not worry about not getting life cover.
How to avoid complications getting life insurance for diabetics
Insurance companies need information from you when you apply for life cover. You must be fastidious in providing the requested information and overcome the temptation to be conservative with the information you divulge. It is a big mistake to conceal information such as your weight and whether you smoke or not. This is your opportunity for a complete disclosure as the insurer will have access to your medical history once you make the application. You do not want to take the chance of having your policy invalidated at a time when your family need it.
What factors considered when assessing life insurance for diabetics
Insurance companies look into a number of factors when assessing cover life cover for a diabetic. Some of these factors are given below:
How well you manage your diabetes is the most important factor taken into consideration. This is accomplished by looking at your HBA1C reading over a period of time, and a low consistent reading will be ideal.
How long your diabetes has been diagnosed
Your lifestyle
Body Mass Index - related to your weight
Other health issues such as high blood pressure
With so many factors affecting the outcome of your life insurance application, make sure the cover you intend to apply for provides adequate cover and you fully understand its conditions. This is important because being rejected for cover by one insurer will have a negative impact on applications to other insurers as you would have to declare you had been refused cover.
To end on a positive note, this article displays that it is possible to obtain life insurance cover for diabetics and lays out all the important aspects insurance companies take into account when deciding your application.
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