Hello!!
This blog is a bit too serious/adult/financial for Foggy so he is handing it over to Sally to tell you all about her dilemma.
Hi,
I decided the other day that I need to get my finances in order and to do the mature thing and sort life assurance. I tried applying 5 years ago but having recent skin cancer meant I was rejected from all quarters. Now, 5 years on, I have the all clear and a life assurance company has contacted me and said I am eligible. Great news!!! Or so I thought. I did the telephone consultation last week; the adviser took all of my medical history. This OBVIOUSLY includes Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E). She did not know anything about M.E. and we had a 5 minute conversation about it. I told her about Foggy, raising awareness and what my symptoms were. She said the illness wouldn't affect my eligibility; felt as if she was glossing over and making light of it. She told me to check the paperwork she was sending in the post and let her know if anything needed amending.
The paperwork turned up last week but I haven't had a brain cell to comprehend the terms and conditions so have only just sat down to read it. There are some inaccuracies that will need to be amended... so, another phone call on Monday coming up.
M.E. is mentioned in the following areas:
Question: Apart from in connection with a condition you've already mentioned have you visited your GP in the last 2 years?
Answer - yes
Question - Please tell us the name of the condition
Answer - M.E.
Question - When did the symptoms first become apparent?
Answer - 2006
Question - Have you suffered two or more separate episodes of this condition?
Answer - Yes (how the heck do I answer this one?!)
Question - When did you last experience symptoms or take treatment for this condition?
Answer - 2014 (again...how do I answer this?! I have it ALL day EVERY day!)
Question - Has your condition resulted in you suffering any periods of anxiety, depression, stress or insomnia requiring treatment in the last 2 years?
Answer - No (I said no as I have symptoms but no treatment relating to M.E)
Question - When was this condition first diagnosed?
Answer - 2009
Question - Which of the following have you visited regarding this condition in the last 5 years?
Answer - Nurse/CBT, GP
Question - Are you currently on treatment for this condition?
Answer - No
My application has to be sent for a GP referral. My GP isn't an expert on M.E., no one is! He has openly admitted to me that as I have had CBT there is nothing else he can offer me. My concern is, how can the life assurance companies make any decisions if they don't know anything about M.E.? I have no idea what my prognosis is so how can they make a financial decision related to my health/life? I don't know if there is any point pursuing the application as, if I was a life assurance company, I don't think I would cover me!! Feels slightly iffy...as if they are bending the rules to make sure they get another customer. Is it just me?...
Anyway, I'd like to know if any other sufferers have had this situation? What did you do about it?
It's slightly worrying for me as I have no financial provision for later life (mainly due to the skin cancer episode), am single so don't have a second income as back up and I don't know if I would just be better off saving, saving, saving.
Thoughts please.
Sally
xx
Ok, third time I try to post... one needs a degree to blog! =)
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are the following.... if this works like health insurance, then the fact that they have never heard of M.E. is actually to your advantage, as long as you will be covered in the future even for a disease that according to them does not exist (yet). This works like insuring a car: all they care about is to assess the risk of the accident - in this case you getting ill or losing your job - and how expensive you are going to be in case you need treatment or stop working. They usually have their classification of diseases then they check your age and all those sort of risk factors and they determine your premium based on how you score within their classification. In fact, when you just had skin cancer, you were turned down because your risk was way too high. Now, if M.E. is not in their 'classification', they cannot charge you or turn you down for it, can they? =) There we might have found the ONE good thing about the fact that nobody is aware of M.E. =)
In any case, these are just my thoughts, but maybe we can have a look at their paperwork together and try to figure it out.
Alessia