AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS LIFE INSURANCE

Immune system disorders and life insurance

When your immune system has a fault or something that causes your immune system to malfunction, it can cause problems. There are over a hundred different types of autoimmune diseases and disorders of the immune system.

Some of the most common disorders of the immune system include:

• Asthma
• Crohn’s disease
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
• Type 1 diabetes

It is estimated that approximately 4 million people in the UK (6% of the population) suffer from an autoimmune disease. This includes 400,000 people living with type 1 diabetes, 400,000 people with rheumatoid arthritis, and 100,000 people diagnosed with MS.

These figures were collated by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JRDF).

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In this section (autoimmune disorder life insurance):

• Does life insurance payout for immune system disorders?
• Will critical illness cover payout for immune disorders?
• Life insurance after immune diseases
• Can I get life insurance with an autoimmune disorder?
• Will I need a medical for immune system disorder life insurance?
• A to Z of immune system disorders
• Common questions about immune system disorders

Does life insurance payout for immune system disorders?

YES – if you die due to the effects of a problem connected to your immune system then your family will receive a payment from your life insurance.

Life insurance is designed to pay out a cash lump sum to your family if you pass away for any reason, apart from suicide in the first 12 months usually. If you have a current life insurance policy then you should check to make sure that it fits your needs and circumstances.

It’s always worth regularly reviewing your cover to make sure that it does what you need it to.

Your life insurance can be used for several reasons that can keep your family financially secure, such as:

• Clear mortgage balance
• Pay off debts
• Pay rent
• School fees
• Standard costs of living

There are many reasons for taking out life insurance including protecting your children or family, and security for your home. If you are diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder then your life cover will provide you with peace of mind for the future.

Find out more information about LIFE INSURANCE

Will critical illness cover payout for immune disorders?

There are a number of immune system diseases and autoimmune disorders that will be paid out for by critical illness cover. Most of these types of policies will pay out for the main conditions, and some are more comprehensive than others.

Some of the main immune system disorders covered by critical illness insurance are:

• Diabetes (type 1)
• Guillian-Barré Syndrome
• Multiple sclerosis
• Systemic Lupus

You will also find that some insurers might cover different levels of severity to others with percentage-based payments. This simply means that some less severe conditions might pay out less than others, however, you’ll also have an amount of cover left in this situation.

Critical illness cover in this situation can payout for things like:

• Mortgage or rent
• Cost of living
• Adjustments to your home
• Medical treatment
• And more…

Having the right amount of critical illness cover can also give you and your family peace of mind. A policy of this kind is also far cheaper when you are younger so it’s best not to wait until you’re older to buy critical illness cover.

More about CRITICAL ILLNESS COVER

Life insurance after immune diseases

If you’ve already been diagnosed with an immune system disorder then you should still be able to get life cover.

Can I get life insurance with an autoimmune disorder?

YES – in most situations you should be able to get a life insurance policy with immune system disorders. Some conditions can be easier than others but most can be covered by the majority of insurers.

It’s important to understand that some insurers are better than others for certain immune disorders. An expert like iam|INSURED will be able to guide you to the best insurer for your condition.

If you’ve applied for life insurance in the past and you were declined then you shouldn’t worry too much. Unfortunately, it is fairly common that some people get declined cover and can still get cover elsewhere.

More about DECLINED LIFE INSURANCE

You may also find that you will be asked for further medical evidence to get life insurance with an immune system disorder.

Will I need a medical for immune system disorder life insurance?

It is completely normal and very possible that your insurer will ask for you to give them some further medical information. There are three main types of medical evidence that insurers will ask for, including:

• GP report which is a request to view your medical records and will be obtained by your insurer at their cost
• Telephone medical is where a nurse or medical underwriter will contact you via the phone to answer additional medical questions
• Nurse screening is a visit by a qualified nurse to your home or your place of work to complete some medical checks

You shouldn’t worry about any of these as they’re completely normal and are simply to make sure that you pay the right price.

The benefit of this for someone with an immune system disorder is that your cover will be guaranteed. If you need to claim on your policy in the future then there can be no questions about your policy.

Find out more – Can you get life insurance without a medical check?

A to Z of immune system disorders

Here is a list of the main immune system disorders that you might find.

A

• Acquired haemophilia
• Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
• Acute motor axonal neuropathy
• Addison’s disease
• Adult-onset Still’s disease
• Alopecia areata
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Anti-glomerular basement membrane nephritis
• Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis
• Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis
• Antiphospholipid syndrome
• Antisynthetase syndrome
• Aplastic anaemia
• Autoimmune angioedema
• Autoimmune encephalitis
• Autoimmune gastritis
• Autoimmune hemolytic anaemia
• Autoimmune haemophilia
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Autoimmune inner ear disease
• Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome
• Autoimmune oophoritis
• Autoimmune orchitis
• Autoimmune pancreatitis
• Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1
• Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 2
• Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 3
• Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis
• Autoimmune retinopathy
• Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura
• Autoimmune thyroiditis
• Autoimmune urticaria
• Autoimmune uveitis

B

• Balo concentric sclerosis
• Behçet’s disease
• Bickerstaff’s encephalitis
• Bullous pemphigoid

C

• Coealic disease
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
• Churg-Strauss syndrome
• Cicatricial pemphigoid
• Cogan syndrome
• Cold agglutinin disease
• Complex regional pain syndrome
• CREST syndrome
• Crohn’s disease

D

• Dermatitis herpetiformis
• Dermatomyositis
• Diabetes mellitus type 1
• Diffuse interstitial keratitis
• Discoid lupus erythematosus

E

• Endometriosis
• Enthesitis-related arthritis
• Eosinophilic esophagitis
• Eosinophilic fasciitis
• Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita
• Erythema nodosum
• Essential mixed cryoglobulinemia
• Evans syndrome

F

• Felty syndrome
• Fibromyalgia

G

• Gestational phemphigoid
• Giant cell arteritis
• Goodpasture syndrome
• Graves’ disease
• Graves’ opthalmopathy
• Guillain–Barré syndrome

H

• Hashimoto’s Encephalopathy
• Hashimoto Thyroiditis (underactive thyroid)
• Henoch-Schonlein purpura

I

• Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy
• IgA nephropathy
• IgG4-related systemic disease
• Inclusion body myositis
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• Intermediate uveitis
• Interstitial cystitis

J

• Juvenile arthritis

K

• Kawasaki’s disease

L

• Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome
• Leukocytoclastic vasculitis
• Lichen planus
• Lichen sclerosis
• Ligneous conjunctivitis
• Linear IgA disease
• Lupus nephritis
• Lupus vasculitis
• Lyme disease (Chronic)

M

• Ménière’s disease
• Microscopic colitis
• Microscopic polyangiitis
• Mixed connective tissue disease
• Mooren’s ulcer
• Morphea
• Mucha-Habermann disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein disease (MOG)
• Myocarditis
• Myositis

N

• Neuromyelitis Optica
• Neuromyotonia

O

• Opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome
• Optic neuritis
• Ord’s thyroiditis

P

• Palindromic rheumatism
• Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration
• Parry Romberg syndrome
• Parsonage-Turner syndrome
• Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus
• Pemphigus Vulgaris
• Pernicious anaemia
• Pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta
• POEMS syndrome
• Polyarteritis nodosa
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Polymyositis
• Postmyocardial infarction syndrome
• Postpericardiotomy syndrome
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis
• Psoriasis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Pure red cell aplasia
• Pyoderma gangrenosum

R

• Raynaud’s phenomenon
• Reactive arthritis
• Relapsing polychondritis
• Restless leg syndrome
• Retroperitoneal fibrosis
• Rheumatic fever
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Rheumatoid vasculitis

S

• Sarcoidosis
• Schnitzler syndrome
• Scleroderma
• Sjogren’s syndrome
• Stiff person syndrome
• Subacute bacterial endocarditis
• Susac’s syndrome
• Sydenham chorea
• Sympathetic ophthalmia
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
• Systemic scleroderma

T

• Thrombocytopenia
• Tolosa-Hunt syndrome
• Transverse myelitis

U

• Ulcerative colitis
• Undifferentiated connective tissue disease
• Urticaria
• Urticarial vasculitis

V

• Vasculitis
• Vitiligo

W

• Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Common questions about immune system disorders

Here are just a few of the main questions that people ask about autoimmune disorders and what they mean to you.

Useful resources for autoimmune disorders

Here are just a few of the best resources we could find for information about autoimmune disorders and how they work.

WebMD – What are autoimmune disorders?

Healthline – Autoimmune diseases: Types, Symptoms, Causes, and more

Office on Women’s Health – Autoimmune diseases