Recently I had a female that was inquiring about obtaining life insurance.
She initially had researched guaranteed acceptance life policies because she was fearful that she would get denied.
She had been diagnosed with epilepsy at a very young age and because of it experienced several seizures along the way.
Her epilepsy is now controlled as she hasn’t experienced a seizure in well over five years.
It was reassuring to her knowing this as she does have controlled epilepsy that getting approved for a term life insurance policy should not be an issue.
Many people that suffer from high risk conditions such as epilepsy or seizures believe that they’ll never get approved for life insurance, but that’s totally not the case.
In fact, even with pre-existing conditions like epilepsy, there are still plenty of affordable life insurance options. Don’t automatically assume that you have to go with a no-exam policy or guaranteed policy. Both of these are fine options, but they are going to cost you much more every month.
There are several insurance companies that will approve you especially if the epilepsy is controlled.
What are insurance companies looking for regarding epilepsy?
As I told the client, as I tell anyone that is applying for life insurance, it’s better to be upfront and transparent with your entire health history. When you have a high risk condition like epilepsy that holds true even more.
When applying for life insurance and having a condition such as epilepsy here is some of the information that the underwriters are going to want to know:
- Date of diagnosis. Typically the month and year.
- Condition degree. Is your epilepsy mild, moderate, or severe?
- Have you ever been treated for your condition?
- Have you had to have a neurological evaluation because of your condition?
- What type of seizures do you have? This ranges from Petit Mal, Grand Mal, myoclonic, atonic, simple partial, complex partial, febrile, reflex or nocturnal.
- They want to know you last seizure dates.
- The number of seizures per year.
- Has you seizure lasted longer than 30 minutes?
Typically if the type of seizure that you’re having are myoclonic, Petite Mal, or absence and your last seizures was over two years ago, there are several insurance companies that will offer you a standard rate.
If the seizures are more recent, two years or less, and so long as you don’t have any other health conditions you may be able to qualify at a standard table two or table four.
Note: Anytime you go up a table rating, table two, three, or four, expect a 25% increase on your insurance premium.
With the other types of seizures it really just depends on how controlled they are. With my client that applied since she was in the greater than five-year window qualifying for a standard policy was rather simple. If you have epilepsy or a seizure disorder don’t think that you can’t get approved for life insurance. If you already have been approved for insurance it might be worth investigating to see if you can get a cheaper rate from another insurance company that specializes in writing epileptic individuals.
What Life Insurance Companies Look For in Epileptics
It’s not so much the actual seizures that life insurance companies fear when underwriting a client with epilepsy. It’s accidents that could occur from a direct result from a seizure. They will look at the severity and frequency of your seizures.
If it has been several years since your last episode, this may also give you incentive to revisit your current life insurance rate. If you have epilepsy and are looking for an affordable life insurance policy, contact our office today and speak with one our life insurance specialists that can help you today.
What else will the Life Insurance Company Look at?
Aside from all of the details regarding your epilepsy, the insurance company is also going to look at your general health and see what condition you are in.
After you complete the paperwork for your policy, the insurance company will require a health exam (unless you choose a no medical exam policy).They will want to know your blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and they will also take a blood and urine sample to test for any chronic or hidden conditions.
Getting Lower Rates
Because the insurance company weighs the risk based on your health, improving your health can drastically lower your rates. Before you apply for a life insurance policy, spend some time focusing on your health. Aside from following your doctor’s orders for managing your epilepsy, we are going to give you some techniques for saving money.
Losing any extra weight can work wonders on your health and your life insurance rates. Losing weight will help lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, and reduce your risk of having other severe health complications later in life. Being overweight drastically increases your chances of becoming diabetic or having cardiovascular problems. The higher your chances of having problems, the more risk you are to the insurance company to insure you, the higher your premiums.
Additionally, kicking bad habits like smoking are an excellent way to save money every month. Being classified as a smoker on your life insurance applications will make your premiums double or even triple in some cases.
The one tip which we give to every applicant is to do some shopping around. You should always take the time to compare dozens of different companies that you can choice from. Each company is different and they will all view your applications differently. It’s important that you find a company that is going to view your epilepsy more favorably.
Unlike company’s agents, our independent agents don’t work for one specific insurance company, instead they represent some of the highest rated companies across the country. Working with one of our agents like working with 50 companies all at once. There is no quicker way to find the cheapest life insurance.
Life Insurance, Don’t Wait
Life insurance isn’t one of the most fun purchasing decisions that you can make. Nobody wants to think about their death and what would happen to their family, but not planning ahead can have dire consequences. Think about how many additional unpaid expenses your family would be responsible for, it’s probably a staggering number. This is why life insurance is so important. These policies give your loved ones the money they need to pay off all of your debt if something tragic happens to you. Losing a family member is difficult enough, don’t add any additional strain by putting your loved ones under a mountain of debt with no way to get out.
You never know what is going to happen to you tomorrow, but you can always plan for the worst. Every year we hear countless stories of families that lost someone unexpectedly, and while going through the pain of death, they are also put under significant financial stress. Don’t wait until it’s too late to get the protection that you and your family deserve.
Has anybody with existing Life Insurance that has had seizures received compensation? If so, what terminology is best used?