Claiming life assurance

hairyslug

Little bit morbid but it will happen to us all.
I have two policies, both 500k and a mortgage protection policy.
Prior to signing the 1st policy, I was fit and healthy.
Prior to the 2nd policy I was sick, after signing for the 2nd policy I was diagnosed with something related to my illness
Do I need to notify either of these about my illness.

Also, if I dropped dead tomorrow, (fingers crossed I don't) how long will it take to process the paperwork, would there be a need to have something in place to tide my family over.

bonyn

Your first policy should be fine as you were not sick.

For the second policy, it depends. The proposal (application) asks a number of questions about your health, such as whether your visit the doctor and what for.
if you were sick, visited the doctor, then took out a policy, then were diagnosed - but neglected to state to the life assurance company you had visited the doctor prior to taking out the policy, there is a very high chance that policy will be void.

I'd advise you to write a letter to the life assurance company outlining your ill health, and see what they say. Keep their reply with your policy documents.

if you died tomorrow you would need a bit of a rainy day fund to tide your family over.

The first step is for someone to notify the life assurance company you are dead. They will send their requirements by post (such as death cert and grant of probate). Depending on how long your family can get these items together will determine when the life co can pay out.

The life co will find out your cause of death. If it's a medical illness, they may decide to do some digging to ensure you did not leave anything out of your original application. They can write to your gp for information you disclosed to the gp. This can also drag out the process. The main danger is that you lied on your prosposal form e.g. "have you visited the gp within the last 5 years. what for, what was the result" .. if you ticked "no", bad luck. If you said "yes, stomach cramps, took renees" and later on found out it was a stomach ulcer, well no problem there because you made a full disclosure.

If the two policies are with the same life co, the company will usually not pay out anything until all their investigations are done.

Henry Ford III

Get a copy of the 2nd proposal form. If you answered all the questions fully and truthfully there's nothing to worry about.

If you didn't however you may well have a problem.

Trish56

If you told the truth on both proposal forms and declared any illnesses and visits to the Doctor/Consultants you have nothing to fear. If you did not declare any illness on the second proposal form and there is a claim on death then the Life Company will contact your Doctor and he will submit a report and if it is found that you did not declare any illness etc. well then they will refuse to pay out on the policy.

You should have received a copy of both proposal forms from the Life Office so it should be easy to check and if you were not truthful with second proposal you are wasting your money paying the monthly premium. Best to check it out first with the Life Officer/Broker.

Henry Ford III

Trish56 wrote: »

If you told the truth on both proposal forms and declared any illnesses and visits to the Doctor/Consultants you have nothing to fear. If you did not declare any illness on the second proposal form and there is a claim on death then the Life Company will contact your Doctor and he will submit a report and if it is found that you did not declare any illness etc. well then they will refuse to pay out on the policy.

You should have received a copy of both proposal forms from the Life Office so it should be easy to check and if you were not truthful with second proposal you are wasting your money paying the monthly premium. Best to check it out first with the Life Officer/Broker.

I agree but from experience I saw how a non disclosure case panned out. Turned out it was pretty blatant.

Life office rejected the claim, but repaid all the premiums from inception.