COPD and lung conditions in underwriting

Where a chronic lung condition is disclosed, underwriters move quickly to evidence. They want lung function results, the record of exacerbations and admissions, and the current treatment regime. This is not a category where a general description of how you feel carries the assessment; the numbers and the consultation record do.

Smoking status is inseparable from this assessment. A lung condition in a person who has never smoked is assessed on the condition alone. The same condition alongside a current smoking history is assessed as a combined risk, and the difference in terms between those two files is usually large.

Expect the insurer to reach for clinical records early.

• The diagnosis, when it was made and by whom.
• Current medication, including any inhaled or oral treatment.
• Frequency of symptoms and of exacerbations.
• Any hospital admissions, and when.
• The most recent lung function results.
• Smoking history — current status, quantity, and how long since stopping.
• Whether any time off work has been required.

Evidence commonly requested

• Lung function test results.
• A GP or respiratory specialist report.
• Full GP notes in more involved cases.

What underwriters look at over time is stability in lung function results, a low rate of exacerbations, no admissions, a settled treatment regime, and above all the length of time since smoking stopped where that applies. Insurers apply their non-smoker definitions on stated periods, and reaching one of those thresholds can change the terms available materially.

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

• That lung function results carry more weight here than the description on the application form.
• That smoking status is assessed together with the condition and often dominates the outcome.
• That admissions and exacerbations are asked about specifically and appear in your notes.
• That income protection may not be available where life cover is.
• That reaching an insurer’s non-smoker threshold is one of the few changes that shifts this assessment sharply.

Every New Zealand insurer writes applications involving a lung condition 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.

• Insurers differ on how they combine a lung condition with a smoking history, and the spread is wide.
• An adviser can obtain lung function results and present them rather than waiting for a request.
• Where income protection is unavailable, an adviser can build what protection is achievable from other benefits.
• As non-smoker thresholds are reached, an adviser can put a review request to the insurer.

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.