Stroke history and insurance underwriting

Underwriters approach a stroke or TIA history the way they approach cardiac history: with a long questionnaire and a strong preference for clinical evidence over self-report. What they are trying to establish is what happened, why, what was found on investigation, and what the position is now.

The dominant variable is time. Applications made shortly after an event are almost always deferred rather than declined, because there is not yet a stable position to price. Applications made years later, with a clear specialist record and no recurrence, are assessed on a completely different footing.

Expect the assessment to reach for records rather than rely on your account of it.

• The date and type of the event, and where you were treated.
• What investigations were carried out and what they identified as the cause.
• What treatment or procedure followed, and what medication you now take.
• Whether there has been any recurrence, and whether any residual effects are recorded.
• Whether you have returned to work and to normal activity.
• Blood pressure, cholesterol, arrhythmia history, build and smoking status.

Evidence commonly requested

• A specialist or hospital report covering the event and the follow-up.
• Imaging and investigation results.
• Full GP notes, including the period before the event.

What underwriters look at over time is length of time since the event, absence of recurrence, a documented return to normal activity, a settled medication regime, and a recent specialist letter confirming the position. Where a cause was identified and addressed, that is recorded and read as part of the same picture. Improvements in the surrounding cardiovascular factors are assessed at the same time.

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

• That a deferral soon after an event is the expected outcome and is not a refusal.
• That a TIA is disclosable and is asked about specifically, even where it resolved quickly.
• Whether an exclusion names stroke alone or covers the cardiovascular and neurological systems broadly.
• That trauma cover terms may be far more restrictive than life cover terms on the same file.
• That existing cover held before the event is now very valuable and should be kept in force.

Every New Zealand insurer writes applications with a stroke history 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.

• Appetite here varies significantly, and some insurers will write a history that others will not.
• An adviser can test the market anonymously so a difficult file does not accumulate declines.
• Getting the specialist report and imaging results into the file at the outset avoids months of delay.
• Where trauma is unavailable, an adviser can look at what a life and TPD combination realistically achieves.

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.