Life Insurance after Heart Attack 2025 Guide
It is often possible to take out life insurance after you’ve had a heart attack, and traditional life insurance won’t exclude heart conditions in this situation. A heart attack can be a life-changing experience for many families, and life insurance offers significant financial support for your family if you die due to a heart attack or related issues.
Who is this guide for?
Our insurance experts explain how life insurance after a heart attack works, what can affect the price of your cover, and the best way to get cover for your family and mortgage.
We’ve spoken to many people over the years who are worried that life insurance won’t be available for them, or that it will be too expensive because they have had a heart attack in the past. This isn’t usually true, and insurers will often receive applications from people who have had a heart attack in the past or have a significant family history of heart attacks.
Many top insurance companies can offer life cover to someone who has had a heart attack, particularly if this was several years ago and you have fully recovered. Here, our insurance experts look at the best options for life insurance after a heart attack and how you can save money on your life cover.
60 Second Summary – Can I get Life Insurance after Heart Attack? 2024 Guide
This comprehensive guide has been created by our team of insurance experts to answer all the UK’s main questions about getting life insurance after a heart attack.
Buying life insurance after a heart attack can be more complicated, but policies are often cheaper and more easily available than you might imagine. A heart attack life insurance expert can save you time and money, by helping you to choose the right life insurance company for your health and your budget.
- Life insurance can still be very affordable after a heart attack, particularly if it has been several years since your heart attack and you are generally healthy.
- There are several options for life insurance after a heart attack including level term cover (family protection) and decreasing cover (mortgage protection).
- You will need to wait for at least 6 months after having a heart attack to apply for a standard life insurance policy. Policies like personal accident insurance or guaranteed life insurance can provide a level of cover for you until standard cover is available again.
- Heart attacks are one of the main reasons for critical illness insurance claims in the UK. Most critical illness policies will pay out thousands of pounds to financially support you and your family while you recover.
- Having life insurance can make a huge difference to your family’s future, so it’s important to consider your options carefully. An experienced heart attack life insurance expert can provide free help and support with making this decision.
Can you still get life insurance if you have had a heart attack?
If you have had a heart attack, you might believe that life insurance isn’t something that you will be able to buy anymore. The truth is that life insurance will still be available in most cases, and it will provide cover for any future heart attacks or heart related issues. Treatment for heart attacks is constantly improving and so are life insurance prices, which makes it even more likely that your life insurance application will be accepted.
According to the British Heart Foundation, there are:
- Around 1.4 million heart attack survivors living in the UK.
- Around 100,000 hospital admissions due to heart attacks every year.
- Every 5 minutes someone is admitted into hospital due to a heart attack.
Having a heart attack is one of the scariest things that can happen to you, and it will often cause you to consider if you are doing enough to protect your family if anything else happens to you in the future.
If you have other heart conditions or have experienced complications, it can be useful to get extra advice from a medical life insurance specialist. Applying with the help of an expert can make a massive difference in how much you pay and how quickly your application is approved.
Surviving a heart attack - real life story | NHS
This recent video from the NHS shares the true story of Carol who is a heart attack survivor.
What is a ‘mild’ heart attack?
It is possible to experience a ‘mild’ heart attack, which doesn’t cause your heart and blood flow to stop entirely (cardiac arrest). These heart attacks are caused by a partial blockage in an artery in your heart and can be referred to as NSTEMI (non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction).
It may be easier to get life insurance if you have had a milder heart attack and haven’t experienced lasting damage or symptoms. Life insurance companies will still consider your heart attack when you apply, as a mild heart attack can indicate a higher risk of having a more serious heart attack in the future.
Fast. Hassle Free. Friendly
Life insurance after heart attack summary
Thousands of people every year will buy life insurance after experiencing a heart attack in the past. There are various policy types to choose from including family life insurance, mortgage life insurance, and whole life cover.
You should choose the policy that feels like the right fit for you and the amount that you want to spend each month. When you apply for life insurance after having a heart attack, you will be asked additional questions about your health and lifestyle such as:
Common life insurance questions after a heart attack:
- When was your heart attack and how many heart attacks have you had in total?
- Did you need to have any surgery after your heart attack? (e.g. bypass or angioplasty)
- Do you have any other related medical conditions including heart conditions? (e.g. heart disease)
- Did you need to have any stents fitted following your heart attack?
- Did your most recent heart attack occur within the last 6 – 12 months?
The answers to these questions help the insurance company to assess how much cover they can offer you and how much your policy should cost each month. You should always answer these question as honestly as you can. If you don’t answer honestly or miss out key details, your policy may not be valid.
How many years after a heart attack can you get life insurance?
You will generally need to wait for around 6 months after having a heart attack before starting a new life insurance application. While this can be frustrating if you want your cover in place sooner, there are alternative options which can be useful in the meantime.
For example, personal accident insurance will usually include accidental death cover as standard, while also paying out cash lump sums if you experience an accidental injury (e.g. a broken bone). Policies like this can provide some level of cover before you can apply for standard life insurance again.
Should I buy guaranteed life insurance after a heart attack?
Another option for immediate cover would be guaranteed life insurance. These policies won’t provide as much cover as standard life insurance, but will cover things such as accidental death and death due to new non-related conditions (e.g. cancer).
Guaranteed life insurance can work well for people with multiple medical conditions, as it allows you to skip most of the usual medical questions when you apply.
Top Insurance Experts
Compare cheap life insurance from only 20p a day with iam|INSURED†
Protect you and your family for less
We're rated 'EXCELLENT'
on
*Over 1,100 independent customer reviews
Fast | Friendly | Free
Does life insurance cover heart attacks?
This a question that we are asked a lot, and it is understandable to worry that your policy might not cover future heart attacks if you have had one in the past.
Your life insurance policy should cover any heart attacks you had in the past, as well as any that you experience in the future. Standard life insurance policies will always cover pre-existing conditions, as long as you tell the insurer about them when you apply.
While it can be tempting not to mention something like a heart attack, this could lead to your policy being invalid and not paying out when it should which really isn’t worth the risk.
Does life insurance pay out for heart attacks?
The main priority for most of us who have had heart attacks is how to protect our family if the worst happened in the future. If you were to die due to a heart attack or something related, your life insurance policy will pay out a cash lump sum to your loved ones.
According to the British Heart Foundation, every 3 minutes someone in the UK will die due to a heart or circulatory disease which is a shocking figure.
Most forms of life insurance will pay out for heart attacks, as explained below:
Heart attack life insurance pay out
If you have life insurance a die following a heart attack, your family can claim a lump sum payment. When you set up your policy, you decide how much it will pay out when you die. The amount can stay the same (level term) or decrease over time as you pay off your mortgage.
Critical illness cover heart attack pay out
A heart attack is considered to be a core condition for critical illness insurance, so you should be paid a lump sum on diagnosis. Your heart attack might need to meet specific conditions set out in your policy documents and your policy might end after you claim (see below).
Income protection heart attack pay out
You should be able to claim on your income protection insurance policy if you are unable to work for 4 or more weeks because of a heart attack. This money provides extra financial support, so you can focus on making a full recovery before returning to working as normal.
Can I claim on my life insurance for a heart attack?
It unfortunately isn’t possible to claim on your own life insurance policy while you are still alive (the main exception being if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness).
However, if you have a combined life and critical illness policy, you would likely be able to submit a claim for your heart attack against the critical illness part of your policy. Depending on the type of policy, your life cover might end after this point, so it is important to understand if this is what will happen for you. The last thing you would want is for your life cover to end without you realising, which would leave your family at risk.
Luckily, there are some life and critical illness policies that will allow you to claim twice (once for serious illness and once for death).
Note: A qualified life insurance expert will be able to fully explain both options for critical illness cover to you when you buy your policy. There should be a full outline of how this works within your policy documents, which you can check if you’re unsure of which type of policy you have.
Can I buy term life insurance after a heart attack?
Term life insurance is the most common form of life insurance in the UK, and these policies will often be available after a heart attack. There are two main types of term life insurance which are:
Level term life insurance
These policies are known as ‘family protection’ or ‘family life insurance’, as they are designed to protect your loved ones.
Your cover amount remains ‘level’ as it never changes during your policy term. You may however want to request an increase to your cover amount after a major life event, such as getting married or welcoming a new child into your family.
Decreasing term life insurance
These policies are known as ‘mortgage protection’ or ‘mortgage life insurance’, as they are designed to repay the remaining balance on a repayment mortgage.
The amount of cover (sum assured) decreases over time as you repay your mortgage. If your policy has been set up correctly, your policy should end at the same time that your mortgage has been fully repaid.
Another option is increasing life insurance, which you can buy from several UK life insurance companies. Increasing cover protects your policy against the impact of rising costs in the future (inflation). It is important to note that if you choose an increasing policy, your policy premiums (monthly payments) will increase over time as well.
Fast. Hassle Free. Friendly
How much does it cost for life insurance after heart attacks?
One of the main questions our team gets asked about life insurance after a heart attack is ‘how much will life insurance cost for me?’, and if it will be far more expensive than it would have been in the past. Realistically, there isn’t one set answer to this question, as other things like your age and occupation will also affect the cost of your cover.
There may be other things related to your heart attack that will have an impact on prices as well, such as any related conditions or ongoing symptoms/treatments.
One of the best things about life insurance is that policies are generally very flexible, which means that there are normally varying levels of cover and pricing available. The best approach to find the lowest prices would be to speak to a heart attack life insurance expert who can quickly compare the best quotes for you, so you don’t waste any time.
Heart Attack Life Insurance Case Study: Mr G.
Below is an example of a real customer that our team helped to find the right life insurance policy back in July 2023. This a real policy and a great example of someone who was able to get a brand new life insurance policy, and within less than a year of having their heart attack.
| Applicant details | Heart attack life insurance |
|---|---|
| Age and smoker status | Born in 1989 and is a non-smoker |
| Height and Weight | Height: 6ft / Weight: 18st |
| Heart attack details and information | Had a heart attack 8 months before applying for life insurance |
| Other medical conditions | Also has type 1 diabetes (controlled with insulin) |
| Cover amount | £82,000 (mortgage life insurance) |
| Policy term | 9 years |
| Premium type | Guaranteed (fixed) premiums |
| Policy price | £28.89 per month |
In this case, the best price and policy was through a specialist insurance company (The Exeter) as the heart attack was recent, and the customer had another medical condition (type 1 diabetes). Having access to a specialist like The Exeter allowed our experts to find the perfect life insurance policy for Mr G., and it was a budget-friendly option that costs less than £30 per month.
Will I need to buy life insurance through a specialist company?
It won’t be necessary for everyone who has had a heart attack to buy their policy through a specialist life insurance company. It can be possible to get your cover through a well-known insurer like Aviva or Legal & General, especially if it has been many years since your heart attack happened.
The insurance company that is right for you will depend on your current health and lifestyle, and if you have any other medical conditions.
The easiest way to work out your best option for cover is to get advice from an experienced life insurance specialist. A medical life insurance expert will be able to identify which life insurance companies will work best for the policy that you need.
Life Insurance provider reviews
How does life insurance work after a heart attack?
Applying for life insurance might seem like a complicated process, but it is usually pretty simple even if you have pre-existing conditions. You will need to apply for your cover either directly through an insurance company, through a price comparison site, or through an experienced broker.
You will then be asked to answer various questions about your general health and any other factors that an insurance company might consider ‘high risk’ (e.g. a dangerous hobby). You have had a heart attack before, you will normally be asked some extra questions about this, such as how you were treated and how long ago this was.
Once you have given the insurer all the information that they need, they will assess your application and decide whether they can offer you the amount of cover that you want.
You will need to pay for your life insurance every month (or annually) to make sure that your protection stays in place. This could be for a set number of years (your policy term) or for the rest of your life (whole life insurance).
There can even be options for you if you have had a life insurance application declined, which is always upsetting and frustrating. Insurance underwriting changes over time, and there is always the chance that you simply applied to the wrong company and another one will work better for you.
Rated "Excellent" 5 out of 5
"This company went above & beyond to get me cover even though I have MS, I am very happy I managed to get cover, Amazing staff, Dean went above & beyond, I highly rate this company."
by Elizabeth Turner-Long - 9th August 2023
Will I need a medical because I have had a heart attack?
In some cases, the life insurance company might want to learn more about your medical history before approving your application. The most common thing that they will do is to request a nurse screening or ask for a GP medical report.
This extra information helps the insurance company to understand if your heart attack has had any lasting impact on your general health.
While being asked for more information might seem like a bad thing, it can actually be helpful as providing more information ensures that your policy is valid. This means that your loved ones are less likely to experience issues or delays when they need to submit a claim.
Fast. Hassle Free. Friendly
Does a heart attack count as a critical illness?
A heart attack is one of the top 3 reasons for critical illness insurance claims in the UK, with the other reasons being cancer and stroke. In 2023, the Association of British Insurers released guidelines which state that these 3 conditions must be covered by all critical illness insurance policies.
Your critical illness insurance policy will cover each of these conditions (plus more) and will pay out a cash lump sum to support you through your illness and recovery.
What is a heart attack? | NHS
This quick 3 minute video from the NHS explains what a heart attack is, what causes them, and how to identify them.
It’s important to be aware that your heart attack will normally need to meet certain criteria for you to have a valid claim. These terms and conditions will be set out within your policy documents, and you should contact your insurer if you aren’t sure if you can claim.
There are several cardiovascular diseases (CVD) that are also closely linked to heart attacks, including conditions like angina, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. You won’t necessarily be able to claim for each of these conditions, but you will often be able to claim for serious complications like a heart attack.
Frequently asked questions about life insurance and heart attacks
What is the average life expectancy after a heart attack?
Many people who have a heart attack will survive if they are given appropriate medical treatment. It can take several months to fully recover, and your life expectancy may not be drastically affected.
If your heart attack caused lasting damage or was linked to other conditions, this could affect your life expectancy.
Can you get life insurance with a heart stent?
If your heart attack resulted in heart surgery such as fitting a stent, it can still be possible to buy life insurance.
The key will be to apply via an experienced life insurance expert, as they can help you to avoid applying to any companies that aren’t suitable.
Is a heart attack a pre-existing medical condition?
Conditions like heart attacks will always be classed as pre-existing conditions if they happened before you bought your life insurance policy. If you don’t disclose a pre-existing medical condition when you apply, this can cause serious issues with your cover.
Our insurance experts have written a full and comprehensive guide that answers the question ‘What is a Pre-existing Medical Condition?’ and explains how medical conditions affect different types of policies.
What are 3 early signs of a heart attack?
Exact heart attack symptoms can vary from person to person, but common initial heart attack symptoms include:
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- Feeling extremely anxious
- Coughing or wheezing
You may experience pain in other areas of your body (e.g. arm or jaw) before experiencing any chest pain or tightness. It is also possible to have a heart attack and not experience any chest pain, which is why it is important to get checked if you experience other symptoms as well.
Can a heart attack be cured?
Heart attacks can be treated or ‘cured’ with prompt medical attention and treatment. Depending on the cause of your heart attack, you may be treated with blood thinning medication, or surgeries such as bypass or coronary angioplasty.
Fast action by medical professionals can minimise any damage to your heart, but you may still need follow up treatment during your recovery.
How do I find the best life insurance after heart attack UK?
There isn’t an overall ‘best’ life insurance policy after a heart attack, as everyone will need different things from their cover. Ultimately, you should consider what is most important for you to protect and how much money you are able to spend.
Our team of independent experts can help you to compare the cheapest life insurance quotes after heart attack to find the policy that works best for you. If you have struggled buying life insurance in the past or are simply looking for a better deal, our team of experts is here to help.
Call 0800 009 6559 or click here to contact our life insurance experts for free and impartial advice about your life insurance policy.
Fast. Hassle Free. Friendly
Useful resources
British Heart Foundation
British Heart Foundation is the UK's biggest heart conditions charity, supporting millions of people across the country. They fund millions of pounds worth of life changing research each year, and provide practical information and resources to promote better heart health.
Contact British Heart Foundation
Telephone – 0300 330 3322
Email – heretohelp@bhf.org.uk
Online web chat - BHF - Contact Us
Follow British Heart Foundation
