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You may be aware of the Consumer Duty, which was introduced by our regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), on 31st July 2023.

The Consumer Duty places new obligations on financial services firms to take positive actions to ensure they deliver good outcomes for their clients.

One of the main things the FCA wants to see from firms is known as the ‘price and value outcome’. This relates to whether retail customers are receiving ‘fair value’ for a product or service.

The ‘price’ part of this is easy to address, as when you approach Moneysworth for advice on your life insurance, critical illness insurance or income protection insurance needs, you won’t need to pay a fee at any point.

When it comes to delivering ‘value’ to our clients, we promise to:

  • Act in a professional and courteous manner at all times
  • Ask questions about your personal and financial circumstances to ensure we have all the necessary information to establish how much insurance cover you require; and to recommend the right product
  • Conduct thorough research, considering all of the providers in the marketplace, to ensure we identify the most appropriate provider and product for your individual circumstances
  • Answer any queries you might have at any point. We are available to assist at all stages of the application process, as well as once the process has concluded and your policy is in force

Our commitment to providing value for our clients also means that we will do our very best to find insurance for you, regardless of your circumstances. We can never guarantee that we will be successful in finding an insurer to accept you, but there are many occasions in the past when we have been successful in securing cover for clients with all manner of different medical conditions.

If you have a medical condition, then it might be the case that the choice of insurers is limited, and you may also need to pay an increased premium. We promise, however, to find the most competitive premium available in the marketplace.

We also have extensive experience of finding cover for people who reside outside of the UK. Once again, these cases can be more complex, but we undertake to provide the very best service and find the best policy available

If you have been told by another broker that you won’t be able to get life insurance, critical illness insurance or income protection insurance due to your health condition, or due to any other reason, then contact Moneysworth today to see how we can help.

You don’t have to have complex circumstances, such as a health condition or being an overseas resident, to be a Moneysworth client either. To get the very best advice on your life insurance, critical illness insurance or income protection insurance needs, contact us today and one of our experienced and knowledgeable advisers will be in touch.

No one needs any reminder that cancer is a serious illness, nor that it’s extremely common.

Around one in two of us will get cancer at some point in our lives and it’s one of the most common causes of death across the world.

Given this, you might assume that obtaining life insurance once you have experienced cancer would be impossible. Even if someone was judged to be free from cancer, would the insurers not be worried that the cancer might return?

It should be noted, however, that, in the UK, you are now more likely to survive cancer than die from it. This means that there are opportunities to obtain life cover should you have experienced cancer.

Moneysworth specialises in finding life insurance for people who might be considered higher risk or who may have been declined life cover when they made applications via brokers or when applying directly to an insurer. This includes arranging cover for people who have previously had cancer. 

Sometimes, a life insurance policy is arranged with an exclusion for a particular illness, so the insurer might decide to offer you insurance where you are covered for death for illnesses other than cancer. We have often been successful, however, in arranging comprehensive life cover where the policy includes cover for death from the type of cancer that our client experienced previously.

Even if your policy excludes death from cancer, you would still have the peace of mind that death from other causes will be covered.

Even more worthy of note is that a number of our clients who have experienced cancer manage to obtain cover at standard rates, i.e. at the same monthly cost as any other applicant.

It is possible though that your premium might be subject to a rating, i.e. you would need to pay more each month than a client who had not experienced cancer.

It’s also not that unusual for us to be able to help clients with a history of cancer. We have successfully arranged life insurance in many such cases since our foundation in 2003.

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In our previous article, we gave an example of how charity signposting works. A young father with a lifelong heart condition tried for over two years to find an insurer willing to offer him Life Cover. Then a UK heart charity providing him with a list of brokers who specialise in assisting people with health conditions to find suitable insurance.

Likewise, a growing number of financial advisors now signpost to us when they have clients whose health condition is deemed to be higher risk, and the firm struggles to find an insurer willing to offer Life Cover to those clients.

Heart conditions and circulatory conditions are among the most common health conditions we see in the clients referred to us by financial advisors.

Why are more people with heart and circulatory problems being referred to us by financial advisors?

There are currently around 7 million people living with heart and circulatory diseases in the UK – that’s over 10 percent of the population[1]. An ageing and growing population and improved survival rates from heart and circulatory events (such as heart attack) could see this number increase in years to come. From conversations we have with clients, we know that many people wrongly assume that their heart condition automatically means they aren’t eligible to get any Life Insurance.

Around 80 percent of people with heart and circulatory diseases have at least one other health condition[1], which makes it even harder for these people to find an insurer willing to offer them Life Insurance, even with the help of their financial advisor.

Why should financial advisors signpost their clients to a specialist broker?

Financial advisors don’t want to tell their clients they are uninsurable. This is why a growing number of financial advisor firms have an arrangement with specialist brokers like Moneysworth to handle their declined Life Insurance cases.

They care about their clients and realise they have a duty of care to help them find the insurance they need, even if that means referring the client to a specialist broker. This duty of care is the key reason why financial advisors should have contingency plans for signposting their clients to a specialist.

The financial advisors who come to us rely on our specialist expertise. Our careful research not only helps to ensure their client has the best chance of being offered cover, but quite often results in that cover being offered at a surprisingly affordable price.

Most important of all, our comprehensive approach also means the client can feel that the insurance cover they’ve purchased is fit for purpose so that – if the worst happens – the policy will pay out.

Insuring the ‘uninsurable’ – a case study:

A financial advisor firm recently approached us having tried, unsuccessfully, to find Life Cover for their client who has a heart condition.

The client is a male in his early forties who was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy over ten years ago. Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle which affects its size, shape and structure.

At this time, he was also fitted with an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) – a life-saving device which is surgically implanted inside a patient’s chest if their cardiologist believes there is a real risk that the heart could suddenly stop beating. An ICD is a defibrillator that automatically detects if the heart stops and immediately shocks the heart to start it beating again.

The client has annual medical reviews and, despite the seriousness of his heart condition, he has no symptoms whatsoever.

We were not surprised that the client and his financial advisor had experienced difficulty in finding an insurer willing to offer cover. We knew that the majority of Life Insurance companies will decline an application where an ICD had been fitted – especially given the underlying heart condition diagnosed at such a relatively young age.

When we completed our research for this case, virtually all insurers in the marketplace confirmed they would decline an application for Life Insurance. But because we were thorough, we found two insurance companies willing to give further consideration to an application, subject to seeing a GP report.

With the client’s permission, these two insurers obtained a GP report including a letter from the cardiologist.

One of these insurers then declined the application, but the other offered mortgage term assurance with no exclusions and for the full sum the client needed (over £200,000) for the whole term of the mortgage (over 20 years) for less than £100 per month.

A satisfying result for us, for the financial advisor and for their client!

Notes:

1. Figures obtained from British Heart Foundation’s “Heart Statistics” publication, 2018: https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/our-research/heart-statistics

Here at Moneysworth, we’re big fans of signposting. What do we mean by that?  

For an insurance provider, it’s about considering consumers’ needs – even if that insurer cannot accommodate the special needs that an increasing number of consumers have.

For example, what happens when a consumer is shopping around for life insurance and they are refused cover because they have a health condition which makes them a higher risk for insurance? This can, often incorrectly, cause consumers to think that they’re uninsurable and to give up looking for cover.

The need for signposting is now being recognised by some health charities

Consumers with health conditions rely on charities for information and guidance to help them overcome the complexities they face, including the difficulties of searching for suitable insurance cover.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is the UK’s leading charity for funding research into heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors. For several years, Moneysworth and other specialist brokers have been listed [1] on the BHF’s website or in its guidance publications. We don’t always know how people find us, but we do know from our conversations with clients that many people come to us after contacting the British Heart Foundation. This is signposting in action!

Insuring the ‘uninsurable’ – a case study:

The review shown at the top of this article was written by a male client in his late twenties who was determined to protect his family’s financial future.

The problem was that, because of his heart condition, he couldn’t find an insurer who would offer him Life Cover. Soon after being born, he’d been diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve and coarctation of the aorta. When he was a teenager, he had open heart surgery, followed by a week in hospital and six months recuperation before returning to school.

Ever since then, he’s had annual checks at a hospital, but has no symptoms and doesn’t even need to take medication. He has no other health issues and no family history of heart defects or heart disease. He is able to work in a physical role and has an active lifestyle. Indeed, the reason he has a mortgage is because he has a steady job and income!

Yet every insurer he contacted declined to offer him Life Cover because of his medical history of having a rare heart condition.

After years of unsuccessfully searching for an insurer who would offer him suitable cover, he was signposted to Moneysworth via the British Heart Foundation.

With our specialist knowledge of the insurance market, combined with our medical knowledge, we were able to help the client find the cover he needed to protect his family’s financial future. He successfully applied for and started a Decreasing Life Insurance policy for almost £400,000 to cover a repayment mortgage over 35 years, for just under £50 per month.

Signposting: a little guidance can make a huge difference

Thanks to the British Heart Foundation making the effort to provide appropriate guidance and signposting, many people with heart conditions are able to find Life Cover after they’ve been declined by mainstream insurers.

Notes:

  1. ‘Life insurance with a heart or circulatory condition’ https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/practical-support/life-insurance
  2. Link to customer’s review shown in the illustration: https://www.feefo.com/en-GB/reviews/moneysworth-ltd/5c01683ae4b0d6ca69e0c17c/customer-review-absolutly-amazing-100-recommend?displayFeedbackType=SERVICE

This February is National Heart Month, a time for each of us to reflect on how we can improve the health of our heart. Living with a heart condition can affect not only the individual but their loved ones too.

Having a heart condition has become one of the most common medical problems among clients who ask us to help them find Life Cover.

  • Heart and circulatory diseases cause more than a quarter (26 per cent) of all deaths in the UK; that’s nearly 160,000 deaths each year – an average of 435 people each day or one death every three minutes.
  • There are around 7 million people living with heart and circulatory disease in the UK: 3.5 million men and 3.5 million women.
  • An estimated 915,000 people alive in the UK today (640,000 men and 275,000 women) have survived a heart attack.

Source: British Heart Foundation statistics

Is it possible to get Life Insurance if you have a heart condition?

Finding Life Insurance that suits your needs can be much harder if you’ve had a heart attack, a cardiac arrest or are living with a heart condition. Moneysworth specialise in helping people find Life Cover even if they have a health condition or have been refused life cover elsewhere.  

The most common heart condition we see in our work is a previous heart attack (also known as myocardial infarction). However, over the last seven months, we’ve helped over ninety people with a wide variety of other heart conditions to find life cover. Many of these clients have now successfully started their policy or are currently in the process of applying for cover.

Moneysworth are experts in helping people with heart conditions to find Life Insurance

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to post a series of articles about the circumstances behind some of our clients’ search for life cover: why they needed life insurance, the problems they’d previously encountered when trying to apply for cover elsewhere, and the policy options and prices we were able to obtain for them.

It may surprise you to see how people who are living with a serious heart condition – or even multiple conditions – are still able to find cover, thanks to our team’s expert guidance and assistance.

From 1st July 2018 through to 31st January 2019, Moneysworth helped clients with the following heart conditions to apply for Life Cover :

  1. Angina
  2. Aortic Regurgitation
  3. Aortic Stenosis & Mitral Valve Repair
  4. ARVC (Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy)
  5. Atrial Fibrillation
  6. Bicuspid Aortic Vale
  7. Bicuspid Aortic Valve & Heart Beat Irregularity
  8. Bicuspid Aortic Valve & Coarctation Of The Aorta
  9. Blocked Artery / Stenosis
  10. Brugada Syndrome
  11. Cardiac Arrest
  12. Cardiac Arrest & Arrhythmia
  13. Coarctation Of The Aorta
  14. Coarctation Of The Aorta & Chronic Heart Disease
  15. Congenital Aortic Stenosis, Bicuspid Aortic Valve & Atrial Fibrillation
  16. Congenital Bicuspid Aortic Valve & Mitral Valve Prolapse
  17. Congenital Heart Defect
  18. Congenital Subaortic Stenosis
  19. Coronary Artery Angina & Angioplasty
  20. Bicuspid Aeortic Valve
  21. Dilated Cardiomyopathy
  22. Endocarditis
  23. Heart Arrythmia
  24. Heart Attack
  25. Heart Attack & PFO Hole Closure Surgery
  26. Heart Attack & Triple Bypass
  27. Heart Attack & Quadruple Coronary Artery Bypass
  28. Heart Murmur
  29. Heart Murmur & Prolapsed Mitrial Valve
  30. Heart Weakness
  31. Hole In Heart & Missing Valve
  32. Hole In The Heart From Birth & Aortic Valve Replacement
  33. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
  34. IHD & Atrial Flutter
  35. LQTS & Tachycardia
  36. Mild Cardiomyopathy & Left Brundle Branch Block
  37. Narrowing Of The Arteries
  38. Paroxsymal Atrial Fibrillation
  39. Paroxysmal AF
  40. Quadruple Bypass
  41. Severe Aortic Regurgitation
  42. Slight Heart Murmur, Enlarged Heart & Atrial Fibrillation
  43. Slight Hole In The Heart
  44. Slightly Enlarged Heart
  45. Suspected Angina, High Blood Pressure & High Cholesterol
  46. Takayasu Arteritis
  47. Transposition Of Great Vessels & Palpitations
  48. Transposition Of The Great Arteries, Pulmonary Stenosis & Coarctation Of Aorta
  49. Triple Bypass & Coronary Artery Disease
  50. Type 1 Brugada & ICD

Having  type 1 or type 2 diabetes often makes it harder or even impossible to find suitable Life Cover, Critical Illness Cover and Income Protection.

Life insurance companies typically have a range of different premium rates for people with diabetes. Different companies will place the same person in different price bands. The process of applying for cover can often take weeks – or even months – if medical reports need to be obtained and checked. And although the situation has somewhat improved for Life Cover in recent years, most insurers are still unwilling to consider Critical Illness or Income Protection for people with any type of diabetes.

How has the prospect of finding Life Cover been improved for people living with diabetes?

Well, there’s definitely some good news here.

In recent years, we’ve seen improvements in the prices for Life Cover typically offered to people with diabetes.

Another encouraging development we’ve seen with a couple of insurers: after starting the life insurance policy, the insurers reward policyholders by reducing premiums if the customer can demonstrate improved control (i.e. if their HbA1c reading comes down by a certain amount). We think this is a very encouraging sign, not just because it can make cover cheaper, but because it demonstrates that the insurance market is starting to consider how to adapt to the unique circumstances of people with long-term health conditions.

If certain criteria are met, it’s now possible for people living with diabetes to get a “fast-track” application, which means cover could be in place immediately. Less stress, more peace of mind – exactly the kind of innovation we want to see for people with long-term health conditions who want to protect their financial security and their family’s future.

What about Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover for people living with diabetes?

A year ago, there were hardly any options for people with diabetes to obtain Income Protection Insurance. For most it simply wasn’t available.

Moneysworth campaigned to improve that situation, and we’re pleased to see at least some people in the insurance industry listened to us!

With expert guidance, it’s now possible for some people who have type 2 diabetes to get Income Protection with no exclusions, subject to certain criteria. But for people with type 1 diabetes, although there is some availability, it’s extremely limited.

The situation for Critical Illness Cover has been slow to improve. It is now possible for people living with diabetes to obtain Critical Illness Cover – but the options are very limited and the chances of being offered cover are even narrower if they have type 1.

The small signs of progress we’ve seen in the market are a welcome start, but the fact is most insurance companies still don’t offer either of these protection products to people who have diabetes.

We want the insurance industry to see people living with long-term health conditions as a priority.

The charity Diabetes UK reports that there are around 3.7 million people who have been diagnosed with diabetes in the UK, and that figure is predicted to rise to 5 million by 2025*.

In light of this, we firmly believe that the insurance market needs a surge of innovation to make its products and services more forward-thinking and inclusive.

Moneysworth wants to see cover options and availability broaden for people living with diabetes, and so we’ll continue to lobby the insurance industry.


* Source: Diabetes UK ‘Facts & Figures