Hi, does having a borderline high cholesterol straightly leads to exclusion on heart conditions/loading of premiums for whole life/CI plans? Is it still possible to get the plan at standard terms?

Hi anon,

That does depend on a number of factors, as well as what you are insuring (e.g. death/TPD underwriting is more lenient compared to CI underwriting) Also, what do you define as borderline high? Being on the high side of the desireable range is not considered high, but being totally out of that range is.

For reference, most health screenings consider <200mg/dL as desirable.

In general, if you're just over 200mg/dL (say, 210mg/dL), you should stand a fair chance at getting standard rates. If you're having something like 300 mg/dL, that's not going to reflect well on your chances. But a whole hosts of other factors come into play, including your current age (someone older is more likely to have high cholesterol) as well as whether you are on medication or not. Also, if you are obese and have borderline high cholesterol, it's more likely that you will get a loading, as these combination of factors together is not good. So you might end up with a loading on the CI rider for the whole life, but not on the death/TPD portion. I've yet to see exclusions outright.

When applying, declare accordingly. It is always better to declare if unsure, as this is considered a material fact for the application. And ultimately, it is up to the underwriter to decide how to rate you (standard or otherwise). Even I cannot say with 100% certainity as insurers have their own guidelines.

If your next test result is normal, you may apply to remove the exclusion. But usually that'll be after a year or two that you were loaded..