Life Insurance With a Neurological Condition

What Underwriters Look At

Wondering what an insurer will want to know about your condition, and why it matters?

Knowing the questions ahead of time gives you the chance to gather your records and apply prepared.

We’ll go through the questions an insurer may ask about your condition before any application is made.

An insurer’s underwriter reviews each application and decides whether cover is offered, and on what terms. With a neurological condition, the questions can cover its type and course, treatment, the time since any last episode and any work you do. Scan results and letters from a neurologist, sleep physician or other specialist can answer what a form cannot. Approaches differ between insurers, so we start by understanding your situation.

What an insurer may ask about, condition by condition:

• Epilepsy: whether a cause is known, the seizure type, how well seizures are controlled and the last one’s date
• Stroke history: the event itself, the extent of any brain injury, recovery since and any ongoing symptoms
• Multiple sclerosis: the type and course of MS, any relapses, treatment and reports from the treating doctor
• Bell’s palsy: the date of diagnosis, the cause, any recurrence and any time off work
• Paralysis after an injury, with a report from your treating doctor on function and day-to-day life
• Medication for a neurological condition, including how many medicines are taken and any recent change
• Narcolepsy: the type, any medication, sleep study results and any effect of daytime sleepiness on your work
• Occupation, including work that relies on driving, a licence, machinery or heights

Life Insurance

If something happened to you, would the people you love be looked after?

Life insurance can pay a lump sum to your beneficiaries, to help look after the people you love.

We can explain what a life insurance application asks about your condition, and why each detail matters.

Life insurance can pay a lump sum if you pass away. With a neurological condition, a life application can ask about the cause and type of seizures, the course of MS, or the event and risk factors behind a stroke. The insurer considers those details with your health as a whole and makes the decision.

What we go through with you for life cover:

• Seizure type and any known cause of epilepsy, both questions a life application can ask
• Blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking status after a stroke, set out from recent readings
• The course of multiple sclerosis to date, described from your treating doctor’s reports
• Any epilepsy surgery and the time since, which an application may treat as a separate question
• The sum insured you need, worked out from debts, income and anyone relying on you
• Life cover inside super, and whether any default cover there already meets part of the need
• A life policy taken out before your diagnosis, and the terms that policy was written on
• Policy ownership and beneficiary nominations for a new life policy, advised on before you apply

Learn more about Life Insurance

TPD Insurance

How could daily life be looked after if you couldn’t work again?

If you can’t work again, as the policy defines it, a TPD lump sum can help with what comes next.

We can compare TPD definitions with your occupation, and explain how your condition history may be read.

TPD insurance pays a lump sum if illness or injury means you’re unlikely to work again, as the policy defines it. An own-occupation definition looks at your usual work, while any-occupation looks at work suited to your education, training or experience. For work that relies on a licence, machinery or heights, the difference can matter.

What we look at with you for TPD:

• Own-occupation and any-occupation TPD definitions, read against your occupation and training
• Work that relies on a driver licence, which an insurer considers alongside your condition
• Jobs involving machinery or heights, and how a history of seizures is weighed for TPD
• A history of MS relapses, and what an insurer may ask about permanent incapacity
• Recovery after a stroke, including any return to work, set out for a TPD application
• TPD inside super, and the definition the fund’s policy uses, which can differ from cover held outside
• Any TPD cover already in your name, and whether its definition still suits your occupation
• Cover amounts for TPD, sized against debts, ongoing costs and care you may need

Learn more about TPD Insurance

Income Protection

What could help your savings last if illness or injury meant time away from work?

Income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period, so there’s less to draw from savings.

We’ll set out the income protection terms an insurer may offer, and what each one would mean for you.

Income protection can replace part of your income if illness or injury stops you working, subject to its waiting period, definitions and exclusions. With a neurological condition, an insurer may offer alternative terms, such as an exclusion for the condition or a higher premium. An exclusion’s wording decides what the policy still pays for.

What we work through on income protection:

• A higher premium offered with a seizure, relapse or stroke history, and its cost over the years ahead
• Seizures or relapses returning after you’re back at work, and the policy’s wording on a recurring claim
• An exclusion for seizures, relapses or stroke, and exactly what its wording leaves covered
• Licence-dependent work such as professional driving, part of what an insurer considers for income protection
• Sick leave and any other income during time off, considered alongside the waiting period you choose
• Premiums on cover held outside super and paid by you, generally tax deductible, with an accountant confirming
• Part-time work after a relapse or stroke, and whether the policy pays a partial benefit
• Narcolepsy with shift, night or alertness-critical duties, described accurately for an insurer’s occupation questions

Learn more about Income Protection

Trauma Insurance

After a serious illness, would you have the money to focus on your health rather than the bills?

A trauma lump sum, for a listed condition that meets the policy’s definition and isn’t excluded, can help cover the bills.

We can read the neurological definitions in a trauma policy with you, and what each one requires.

Trauma insurance pays a lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a condition the policy lists and meet its definition. A trauma list can include stroke, multiple sclerosis, major head trauma and paralysis, each with its own severity wording. A condition you already have may be excluded, which limits cover for that condition and related claims according to the exclusion’s wording.

What we check in a trauma policy with you:

• Stroke definitions requiring a lasting neurological deficit, and the medical evidence a claim would need
• Multiple sclerosis definitions, which can require more than one episode and persisting neurological signs
• Major head trauma and permanent paralysis, each defined by separate severity wording in the policy
• Encephalitis, meningitis and benign brain or spinal cord tumours, where listed in the policy
• An existing-condition exclusion, and the related claims the exclusion may also rule out
• New trauma cover can’t be held inside super, which has been the rule for policies written since 1 July 2014
• Trauma cover from before a diagnosis, and the definitions in that older policy
• Severity wording in each definition, which decides whether a diagnosis meets the policy’s terms

Learn more about Trauma Insurance

Answering the Health Questions

Want to answer the health questions with care, and leave nothing important out?

Careful answers now can help your cover work as intended if you ever need to claim.

Together, we’ll go through each health question, with your records, dates and details to hand.

Since 5 October 2021, the duty when applying for consumer life cover is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation, which means answering the questions asked with reasonable care. If you leave out important details, the insurer may change or cancel your cover or refuse a claim (Moneysmart).

What we go through together before anything is lodged:

• The date of any last seizure, relapse or stroke, confirmed from your medical records
• Medication changes for a neurological condition, listed with dates and the reason for each change
• Scans and specialist appointments, with the results and dates an application form asks for
• Relapses with multiple sclerosis, set out in order with any treatment that followed
• Unclear questions on a form, raised with us before an answer is written
• Family history questions about epilepsy, MS or another neurological condition, answered from what you know
• Seizure diaries or symptom logs you keep, used to check the dates and frequency a form asks for
• Answers checked against your records again before the application is signed and lodged

Applying With Help

Would it help to know the steps that can come before a formal application?

Where an insurer offers a pre-assessment, it can give you an early sense of the terms, before you commit.

We’ll prepare an application with you, and look at the steps that can come before a formal one.

Some insurers offer pre-assessment, which gives an indication before a formal application is lodged. A condition questionnaire may also let an underwriter decide without further medical evidence. If alternative terms are offered, they can be discussed with your financial adviser before you accept.

The steps we take with you on an application:

• Pre-assessment where an insurer offers one, ahead of a formal application being lodged
• A condition questionnaire for epilepsy, where an insurer offers one, which may save requesting a medical report
• Reports from a treating doctor or neurologist, gathered with your consent for the underwriter
• Timing an application after a recent seizure, relapse or stroke, where a deferral is possible
• Alternative terms explained in full before you accept, including a loading or an exclusion
• Applying to more than one insurer, and how to answer if a previous application was declined
• Sleep study reports for narcolepsy, and any sleep physician’s findings, gathered with your consent
• Changes in your health before the cover starts, and what the application asks you to update

Cover You May Already Hold

If you already hold cover, what could you give up by replacing it?

Reviewing what you hold first can show which cover is worth keeping as you add to it.

Together, we’ll check any cover in your name or your super before anything is replaced or cancelled.

Cover you already hold was issued on its own terms, and the policy wording sets when they can change, so it’s worth reading before you change or replace it. Default cover inside super can usually be issued without medical checks, though it may carry pre-existing condition rules set out in the fund’s PDS, and increasing it is usually underwritten like any other application.

What we confirm with you:

• The policy document that applied when cover was bought, requested from the insurer if needed
• A super statement that reads nil cover today, and whether there was cover when work stopped
• Disability benefits in some funds, which can be lost if a job ends for a reason other than disability
• Leaving a job, talked through with us first so cover attached to the role is understood
• Trauma and TPD definitions in an older policy, compared with the wording of newer cover
• Life and TPD cover inside each super account, checked before any rollover or consolidation
• Rising premiums on an older policy, and the options to consider before any cancellation
• Cover for a partner, reviewed alongside your own as part of the household’s protection

Learn more about Life Cover With a Health Condition