UK life insurance firm LV (Liverpool Victoria) has said applications are “always considered on an individual basis” after it was strongly criticised for rejecting a client’s claim for a flexible protection plan because of their “recurrent episodes of depression”.
Jonathan Halstead was looking for long-term protection but was turned down, according to a letter seen by several media sources.
A spokesperson from LV said: “We are sorry that Mr Halstead is unhappy with the decision we made regarding his life insurance application.
“The decision to decline Mr Halstead’s application was reached after reviewing a report provided by his doctor. We have contacted Mr Halstead to offer him the opportunity to discuss our decision further.
“However, if he prefers, we can write to his doctor explaining how we made our decision based on the report we received.
“At LV, insurance applications are always considered on an individual basis.
“Between 10% and 15% of people who apply to us for protection insurance disclose a mental health condition; and over 90% of those who apply for life insurance, and tell us about a mental health condition, are accepted and covered on our standard rates.
“It is common for insurers to apply exclusions around what they do and don’t cover for customers with existing or historic mental health conditions.
“At LV, we are the only life insurance provider to offer automatic reviews of these exclusions so they can be removed for people who have shown no symptoms after one, two or three years.”
Difference of events
However, the client has a differing opinion of how events have taken place.
Halstead told media outlets: “They are trying to say I may take my own life after 12 months, which is ludicrous. I’m married and happy now. I wouldn’t leave my children without a father.
“As far as I was aware everything was going through until I got a letter saying they couldn’t offer cover.
“I had two bouts of depression – one was when the company I worked for went into liquidation. I was out of work for three or four months around 2013 and I fell into depression. The next time was in 2017 when my mum was diagnosed with cancer.
“I was on my honeymoon in the August and when we got back, they said she had only three months to live. I went from the jubilation of getting married to absolute devastation. It hit me like a bomb. It was a really hard time.
“They’re the only times I’ve had depression. The insurance [underwriters] went to the doctors and asked for the records. It’s on there when I got the [anti-depressant] tablets.
“I was given those, and I was on them for just four months. I was never in a suicidal state at that point – but if I was, they wouldn’t pay out anyway.
“I did have an overdose attempt around 15 years ago, but that was a cry for help. It wasn’t a suicide attempt.”
Halstead and his wife, Zoe, had both reportedly applied for life insurance cover, but after Halstead was rejected, Zoe contacted LV to withdraw her own application.
Going elsewhere
Insurers have to be careful when dealing with a history of mental ill health, and avoiding alienating potential clients.
The Association of British Insurers said to International Adviser: “What we can say is that insurers are committed to offering affordable cover to as many customers as possible and will do all they can to ensure that those people with mental ill health can access the insurance protection that they and their dependants need.”
Sadly, this issue has made Halstead seek cover from another life insurance provider.
He added:” We’re looking into other options now. It’s quite scary when you think about something happening to you in the future.
“It’s not right to refuse someone with depression, or who has had depression. I find it quite sad for people who are suffering now because they’ll get the same treatment.
“And they’re cutting off a quarter of potential customers. One in four people in the UK have suffered depression at one stage in their lives. It’s discrimination at its finest.”
