Life Insurance Quotes
Fill in the form below for a free, no obligation quote now
Epilepsy is a set of chronic neurological disorders and can be characterized by recurrent and unprovoked seizures. People that suffer from epilepsy can face obstacles when trying to purchase life insurance. The reason behind this is that epilepsy is not a single medical condition. The seizures are caused by a group of other medical conditions that are not visible from the outside. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases that can affect up to 1% of the population. About 456000 people are suffering from epilepsy in United Kingdom.
Types of epilepsy
There are two most common types of epilepsy. Epilepsy with partial seizures affects only a part of the brain. On the contrary, epilepsy with generalized seizures affects the whole brain. As a result, the second type of epilepsy is more serious and can cause bigger damage to the brain. Unfortunately, epilepsy cannot be cured. However, 7 people out of 10 that take special medicine can avoid seizures.
The perspective of life insurance companies
Most life insurance companies usually do not accept epileptics. Life insurance companies avoid epileptics because there is higher risk that a person suffering from epilepsy will injure himself or die. Luckily, because of growing number of people that suffer from epilepsy some life insurance companies offer these people an insurance cover. However, a person should be ready that he will be charged much higher premiums just because of this illness. The premiums can decline only if the seizures become more rare. However, as the time goes by the person get older, his health deteriorates. As a result, a person should be ready to put aside a considerable amount of money for his life insurance.
It is important to know that each condition of the person is different and as a result it is advisable to discuss the issues with an insurance underwriter or an independent life insurance consultant. The most important thing is not to lie about ones health and the severity of epilepsy. There are numerous complaints from people on the Internet about the cancellation of their life insurance policy. These policies were terminated earlier because insurance providers found out that these people had epilepsy. As a result, individuals were left with no insurance and not money was refunded for their previous life insurance policies. What is more, life insurance providers have access to medical history of their clients and a result there is no point in lying.
The price of the premiums depends from the severity of the epilepsy. People that suffer from ongoing epileptic seizures will be offered a high life insurance quote. If during the past two years the individual did not have epileptic attacks, he will most likely be able to purchase a cheaper life insurance. What is more, a person that suffered from epilepsy when he was a child and did not have seizures since then can get an insurance quote that is very close to standard rates.
The final decision
We compare plans from the leading life insurance providers
An insurance provider has a couple of options to choose from when he gets a request from the individual that suffers from epilepsy. First of all, the person can be accepted and offered a premium loading because of his illness. Secondly, an epileptic can be rejected or his application can be postponed. Sometimes insurance companies ask people to contact them only after a couple of years without any seizures pass by. The third option that an insurance provider can choose is to offer an insurance contract with an exception. For example, some life insurance providers insure their clients but the terms of the contract state that the death benefit will not be paid out if the death was caused by epilepsy. For example, if Mary was sailing in the lake with a boat, suffered seizures, fell into water and drowned, her dependents would not be able to make claim on her life insurance policy. On the other hand, if the same person died in a car accident or from heart attack, the dependents would face no problems and would be able to get death benefit easily.
Useful companies
There are a couple of companies in United Kingdom that specialize in proving or finding life insurance for epileptics. For example an organization called “Epilepsy Action” offers people that are aged between 18 and 70, suffer from epilepsy and are residents of United Kingdom a life insurance cover. The cover fluctuates from £10,000 to £250,000. The company offers highly competitive premiums, and the application process does not require a medical if a person is able to answer a couple simple questions. The premiums can stay level the whole time or can decrease together with the cover. Life insurance policies offered by these companies do not have a surrender value.
Another company that also offers life insurance cover for epileptics is called “The Insurance Surgery”. This company provides life insurance with various other benefits: critical illness insurance, income protection insurance, travel insurance, private medical insurance and many more.