I'm new to this board. I had Puerperal Psychosis after the birth of my son at the end of November 2013.
I'm feeling outraged this evening as I have been denied life insurance because I had PP!! The insurance company didn't even contact my GP! From Mind's website it looks as though this could by law be seen as discrimination. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and which companies have you ladies actually managed to get life insurance cover with??
Many thanks in advance for your replies!
Best wishes xox
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Cheekymummy
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Welcome to the forum. I'm not surprised you feel outraged! What a shocking decision. I agree this should certainly be against the law especially as PP is often a one-off episode of illness triggered by childbirth.
My life insurance is with Liverpool Victoria and they asked a lot of questions about my depression and suicidal thoughts etc. My cover has a stipulation that there would be no payout if I took my own life which is understandable and seems much more fair than refusing to cover you completely.
Hi i have had exactly the same problem. They wrote to me to say i had a recurrence but i didn't. I too think it is discrimination. They did contact my gp but when i told him he said it was ridiculous.
I experienced the same from Aviva. I thought it was because I was pregnant with my 2nd at the time, and they considered me high risk (incidently I did not get it a 2nd time). Not sure whether to try again or not...
How ridiculous, especially as PP is not a lifelong illness.
Due to circumstances long ago I could not budget for life insurance. I was professionally advised against taking out such cover as my sons will be 'beneficiaries' in the event of my demise.
Sorry, this is not really helpful but I hope you find a solution soon.
Thanks very much for your replies and support - it means a lot to me. Will let you know if I find a company that will insure me and whether I will challenge those which won't!
I had the same when I tried to get Life Insurance from Lloyds a few years back. I was refused outright because of the psychosis (and perhaps the hospitalisation) but the advisor did say they could work a way round it with their underwriters if they were to write in exceptions, no doubt similar to the ones in place for Naomi. I didn't take it further because we couldn't afford it at the time. Interestingly I will be looking again in the next few months, so very interested in the companies that are happy to insure those with a history of PP. Yes, please do let us know how you get on
It does seem very unfair, especially for those who don't have a history of any mental illness/suicidal thoughts outside of the one-off episode of PP. It's definitely not understood by insurers, I think they just have to log it as psychosis which of-course we know is very different to postpartum psychosis.
Thanks very much for your understanding and interesting reply Natasha. My update is that I had a formal written response from Legal and General who said that I could try and approach them again in a year's time. We are thinking that we will probably just get insurance for my husband as I am not going to be paid working for the next few years at least anyway probably as am going to be a stay at home Mum. Will let you all know if my financial advisor manages to get any other quotes from other companies.
Just thought I'd update you - we have found an insurance company (Friends Life) that would insure me but at vast expense (about £27 a month!). Other companies don't want to know or say come back in a year's time. Decided we're not going to pay for life insurance for me at this time, just my husband.
We've had a meeting about life insurance this afternoon so I thought I'd add my experience to this thread.
Basically the basic premium (joint policy) that we were told would be the price we'd see on a price comparison site (before adding in the medical history stuff) doubled after adding our medical information and apparently it was all down to my PP. The chap said a lot of the companies he spoke to wouldn't cover me at all and others would delay cover for another couple of years. I too find this very unfair for a (hopefully) one off episode with no prior history and good recovery. We were told the fact I'd been admitted to psychiatric hospital and been on antipsychotics were the main concern and it wouldn't make a difference if I'd been admitted for one day or years (I don't know if that's true).
My PP was in 2012 and I've been off medication for nearly a year.
The one he'd found as the best option was with Liverpool Victoria. I've no idea if it's worth trying to speak to them directly. Presumably if I went on to have another episode I'd have to inform them and it would go up again? We haven't decided whether to proceed yet but do feel we need cover in place. It's left me feeling very cross!!
Hello everyone, I am outraged about this too! That and the way that the DVLA treat you after surrendering and getting back my driving license (but that's another story...) Stigma around mental health problems is awful and I really hope that things will improve in this area soon.
It's interesting that there are some companies that are better than others and waiting for a year or more does sound like the way to get the best deal. I had PP nearly 5 years ago now and remember that there was an issue with our life insurance (for the mortgage) not long after I came home from hospital, where I'd been for 3 months. I can't remember what the outcome was - so I'm not sure if we went to another company or if I'm still without insurance. I'll ask my husband to check that I think!
Thanks for sharing your experiences and I hope that the kinder companies out there continue to flourish whilst the ones that flatly refuse just don't (probably not a realistic hope, but there we go).
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