Do I still need to declare depression for insurance if I am discharged?

Hi there,

You will have to declare prior recent hospital visits, treatments and diagnosis that's given by the doctor. That being said, it is possible for you to get coverage through instruments like term and whole life instruments even if you currently are going through treatment now.

Term and whole life plans are not out of reach! I do have clients who manage to secure coverage despite their psychiatric conditions, whether past or present.

What you can do is to submit an underwriting application for whichever plan you've decided on. There can be a few underwriting outcomes for you: Either an exclusion, a loading (a mark up in premiums) or a complete rejection. It's highly likely, depending on the extent and nature of the psychiatric condition, that you may face an exclusion for anything psychiatric/somatic related or a loading Instead of a complete rejection.

It's never too late to get your coverage and you can opt to attempt to appeal against these exclusions in the future when your condition stabilises. Of course that's still subject to the underwriting verdict but the key thing is to take a first step in obtaining coverage now before you risk losing further insurability in the future. Some coverage is always better than no coverage at all!

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Firstly, you do not need to be fully discharged before you get your insurance coverage. As a matter of fact, I have clients with similar conditions and have managed to get insurance coverage. That being said, we have to set the expectations right where additional terms may apply, e.g. exclusion, or loading for a pre-existing condition. For this purpose, work with your insurance agent who will be in the best position to help you fight for your rights.

Next, regardless of whether you have been discharged yet, I will suggest all my clients to declare their health conditions according to the questions in the health questionnaire. If one of the questions asked about your medical history, then we should get declare it accordingly. This is with the intention to give you a fair underwriting outcome. Let me elaborate a little further on this point.

To illustrate, if the insurer accept your case at standard terms, then you can live with a peace of mind - to know that you are fully insured on a standard basis. This is as compared to living with uncertainty where we didn't declare the medical condition and whether the insurer will cover us for the pre-existing medical condition.

On the other hand, if the insurer imposes certain restriction, e.g. loading, or exclusion, then your insurance agent should find out why and how to help you submit a medical rating review. Meanwhile, you will know that you are covered on a fair basis - without any uncertainty for not declaring your condition. Additionally, you will have a clearer direction on what you can work towards for a standard cover, e.g. no relapse after a certain number of years.

In summary, you do not need to wait till you are discharged before you get any insurance coverage. Instead, know the coverage that you need and submit an application accordingly - let the underwriters do the work while you work on a recovery.

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