Life Insurance

There are all sorts of reasons that your premiums increase each year, depending on what type of policy you have. For instance, your age on a life policy, your claims history on a vehicle policy, an increase in weather damage for your house policy. The best thing to do is talk to your insurer about why the premiums have increased. The IFSO Scheme can only consider complaints about premiums if the insurer has misrepresented the premium levels when you arranged the policy, or if the insurer has increased the premiums outside the terms of your policy.

Yes. This information helps your insurer assess your application and can affect the cover it will offer you. If you do not give your insurer the information, it can decline to consider a claim and treat your policy as though it did not exist. If you are unsure or cannot remember your full medical history, it can be helpful to get a copy of your medical records to refer to when completing your insurance application, or to give a copy to the insurer.

The current law does not make a distinction between intentional and unintentional non-disclosure. If you accidentally leave out information on the application, the insurer can still treat the policy as if it didn’t exist and decline to consider a claim.

When you make a claim, your insurer will check your medical history. This can lead to your insurer finding out information which it should have been given when you applied for insurance. The insurer can then take the action it would have if it had known about the information.

Your insurer will only pay you if you meet the definition of total or partial disability in your policy. This definition is different for each policy. For example: your policy may cover you if you cannot do your job anymore, or it may only cover you if you can never work in any job ever again.

This question is different to the question about whether you have a medical condition or are very unwell. You may not feel able to work, but still not meet the definition for "disability" in your policy.

You must give your insurer enough information to prove you have a valid claim. However, your insurer is entitled to obtain further information, which may include specialist medical reports or further financial information. This can be an ongoing process, as your insurer may need information from a number of people, and they may ask you to see a doctor or specialist it appoints. You may also have to see a doctor regularly to fill in updates for the insurer and have to pay for them.

It is difficult to put a time limit on how long it takes to assess a claim. Often your insurer will need more information from medical specialists, and this can take a number of months. Your insurer is entitled to fully assess the claim and can request this information, even if you do not think it is necessary.

Most life and health insurers are members of the Financial Services Council (FSC) and sign up to the FSC Code of Conduct* that has the nine standards which fall into three core objectives covering: principle ethical standards, consumer information and communication, and delivering good outcomes to consumers.

(*This is a industry code for FSC Members only (mainly made up of Life & Health Insurers, Investment Funds), and is designed to support the professionalism of the financial services industry and the FSC members. It is about increasing trust and confidence in the providers of financial services and the products they deliver.)