Atrial fibrillation and insurance underwriting

Underwriters treat arrhythmias as a distinct category rather than folding them in with general cardiac history. The questionnaire is built to separate an isolated episode with an identified trigger from a recurring or persistent pattern, because the two are rated quite differently.

The other thing an underwriter is looking for is what else is going on. An arrhythmia in an otherwise unremarkable file reads differently from the same finding alongside treated blood pressure, a raised body mass index and an investigated cardiac symptom. Insurers assess the cardiovascular picture as a whole.

The questions are precise, and vague answers slow everything down.

• When it was first identified, and how.
• Whether episodes are occasional or the pattern is persistent, and how frequently they occur.
• What treatment is in place — medication, a procedure, or monitoring only.
• Whether any procedure has been carried out and when.
• What investigations have been done and what they showed.
• The date and content of the most recent specialist review.

Evidence commonly requested

• A cardiology report, ideally recent.
• Investigation and monitoring results.
• A GP report covering medication and the consultation record.

What underwriters look at over time is a settled treatment regime, a documented reduction in episodes or a successful procedure, no admissions, and specialist review confirming a stable position. As with other cardiac categories, the surrounding risk factors are assessed at the same time and improvements there are part of what an underwriter reads.

These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.

• That being on anticoagulant treatment is not automatically adverse — it is information, and untreated is not better.
• Whether the exclusion offered names the arrhythmia or covers the cardiovascular system generally.
• That a recent diagnosis usually means a deferral, and that reapplying later is the intended path.
• That vague answers about frequency slow the assessment and invite conservative conclusions.
• That trauma cover terms may look much worse than life cover terms on the same file.

Every New Zealand insurer writes applications involving an arrhythmia to its own wording, and the words are where the money is. Two policies that look identical on price can pay very differently when it matters. Closing that gap is the entire job of an adviser.

• Arrhythmia appetite varies markedly, and some insurers assess it far more favourably than others.
• An adviser can pre-assess anonymously with a clinical summary before any application exists.
• Getting the cardiology report into the file at the start avoids a two-month evidence loop.
• Where trauma is excluded, an adviser can look at what other benefits still deliver useful protection.

There are three ways to buy life cover in New Zealand, and they are not equivalent. You can buy direct from one insurer, which means you see one product range and one underwriting appetite. You can buy through your bank, which usually means a single insurer’s product sold under the bank’s brand, often with narrower definitions. Or you can go through an adviser, who quotes several insurers at once and is required to put your interests first.

The premium you pay is the same either way. Insurers build adviser commission into their pricing whether or not an adviser is involved, so going direct does not get you a discount — it just removes the person whose job is to argue your corner at application and at claim time.

• An adviser can see which insurer is currently taking your health history on standard terms, and which one will load or exclude it.
• An adviser can structure cover across two insurers if that produces a better outcome than putting everything with one.
• An adviser handles the underwriting back-and-forth, and is the person who chases the claim when a family is least able to.
• An adviser has to document why the recommendation suits you, which is a written record you can hold them to.

We are a referral service, not an insurer. We do not quote premiums and we do not sell policies. What we do is put you in front of one licensed New Zealand adviser who can compare the market properly.

1. 1

   You tell us what you are looking at

   The form takes about a minute. Nobody asks for your medical history on a web form — that conversation happens with the adviser, properly, and only once you have decided to proceed.

2. 2

   An adviser calls you

   A licensed New Zealand adviser talks through your situation: who depends on you, what you owe, what you already have in place, and what you are actually worried about.

3. 3

   They compare the market

   The adviser quotes across the major insurers, checks which of them will take your health history on the best terms, and puts the options side by side in writing.

4. 4

   You decide, in your own time

   There is no obligation and no cost to you. If the answer is that you already have enough cover, a good adviser will tell you that.