Insurers must adapt to mental health issues

THROUGH THIS time of uncertainty and anxiety that the Covid- 19 lockdown has caused, it has never before been so important to look after our mental health.

Yet insurance providers have given this scant attention and are still writing policies that are almost entirely committed to physical conditions.

Up to one in four people experience a mental health problem every week and there is a strong correlation between financial health and mental wellbeing.

One of the few insurers to recognise this key aspect is LV=. Its protection director, Debbie Kennedy, said: “Protection should work beyond simply paying out a claim.”

It provides support without the need to make a claim and is the only provider to automatically review exclusions. This means pre- existing conditions can be removed after up to three years, half of which relate to mental health.

Mental health has been highlighted by Prince William, celebrities and sports stars who have stressed that much is misunderstood. This is particularly true of insurers, most of whom define for life someone who has experienced such illness for a period.

When applying for protection insurance information needs to be disclosed. This can be uncomfortable to navigate even to an experienced broker but particularly when the questions have not changed in decades.

Insurers approach the condition like any other illness, expecting a clearly defined prognosis and impact. Sybaritic insurers demand specific dates and timescales in language that many would regard as abrupt and impersonal. The spectrum of mental health is far more complex.

Lifelong exclusion is the default solution taken by many underwriters. A more intelligent and adaptable response is overdue. As society alters its stance on mental health, insurance providers should respond positively.