Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Refused insurance cover as I have a Left Bundle Branch Block – appeal successful.

  • 29-04-2019 12:52pm
    #1
    AlanG
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,430 ✭✭✭


    Hi,
    I just want to put up this story in case it may be useful to others searching on the net.
    2 years ago I took one of the health screening sessions that is offered free on a lot of health insurance, I was feeling fine at the time. I took an ECG and it showed a Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB) on my heart (basically electrical signals on one side of my heart take a slightly different route to the optimal one). I was referred on to a consultant. An LBBB can be an indicator of a serous hearth condition causing the electrical block but it can also be something a person just naturally has and is of no concern (about 30% of cases I think). One nurse I spoke to said she sends anyone who has one straight to A & E but others don’t panic so much.
    Anyway, I had all tests done by the cardiac team in the Mater and they concluded that there was no underlying problem with my heart and the LBBB was just natural, I probably had it all my life and it was nothing to worry about.
    Fast forward a year and I applied for Income Continuance Insurance. I entered on the Form that I had seen a consultant in the last 5 years about an LBBB but there was no cause for concern.
    A couple of weeks later I was refused insurance cover. After much hassle I was told that an LBBB is an automatic exclusion from the insurance and once it pops up they do not consider the application further. I spoke to the brokers and the insurance company but the CMO in the insurance company just claimed it was a policy of the underwriters and there was nothing they could do. The insurance company would not tell me who the underwriters were.
    I lodged a formal complaint on the basis that they were refusing cover without reviewing the medical evidence, in particular from the Mater cardiac team. I needed to lodge a complaint with them before going to the ombudsman. After much messing about they finally upheld my complaint and agreed to review my medical reports. Much to my surprise I was then given insurance cover with no loading or exemptions.

    Anyway I just wanted to record this somewhere in case anyone in a similar situation is searching the web for information and to encourage them to follow the appeal process as outlined by the ombudsman.


Comments

  • #2
    Auld Jim Halpin
    Registered Users Posts: 353 ✭✭Auld Jim Halpin


    Thanks for sharing AlanG, interesting and informative.


  • #3
    Budawanny
    Registered Users Posts: 338 ✭✭Budawanny


    AlanG wrote: »
    Hi,
    I just want to put up this story in case it may be useful to others searching on the net.
    2 years ago I took one of the health screening sessions that is offered free on a lot of health insurance, I was feeling fine at the time. I took an ECG and it showed a Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB) on my heart (basically electrical signals on one side of my heart take a slightly different route to the optimal one). I was referred on to a consultant. An LBBB can be an indicator of a serous hearth condition causing the electrical block but it can also be something a person just naturally has and is of no concern (about 30% of cases I think). One nurse I spoke to said she sends anyone who has one straight to A & E but others don’t panic so much.
    Anyway, I had all tests done by the cardiac team in the Mater and they concluded that there was no underlying problem with my heart and the LBBB was just natural, I probably had it all my life and it was nothing to worry about.
    Fast forward a year and I applied for Income Continuance Insurance. I entered on the Form that I had seen a consultant in the last 5 years about an LBBB but there was no cause for concern.
    A couple of weeks later I was refused insurance cover. After much hassle I was told that an LBBB is an automatic exclusion from the insurance and once it pops up they do not consider the application further. I spoke to the brokers and the insurance company but the CMO in the insurance company just claimed it was a policy of the underwriters and there was nothing they could do. The insurance company would not tell me who the underwriters were.
    I lodged a formal complaint on the basis that they were refusing cover without reviewing the medical evidence, in particular from the Mater cardiac team. I needed to lodge a complaint with them before going to the ombudsman. After much messing about they finally upheld my complaint and agreed to review my medical reports. Much to my surprise I was then given insurance cover with no loading or exemptions.

    Anyway I just wanted to record this somewhere in case anyone in a similar situation is searching the web for information and to encourage them to follow the appeal process as outlined by the ombudsman.

    Good work .


Advertisement