Hi everyone, Matt is once again in the co-host seat alongside me this week and this episode is somewhat of a personal one. We discussed my health conditions and why they have stopped me from getting personal income protection. Matt provides an honest view on how an underwriter will look at each of these conditions.

Since my early teens, I have been diagnosed with a number of health conditions, all of which I’m quite open about. I’ve made the decision to talk openly about them in the hope that this might challenge people's assumptions about the conditions and what they might mean for a person. 

An interesting point that was raised is that most claims for income protection are related to the back or mental health, and therefore this is taken into account when underwriters make their decisions.

The key takeaways:

• Hypermobility, mental health and autism can influence access to income protection.
• Insurers are trying to improve options to accessing income protection if you have a mental health condition.
• Group insurance is a great way to get access to income protection, often with a good level that has no exclusions. 

Next time I have Roy McLoughlin back with me and we are talking to Catherine Betley from Grief Chat. The episode will focus upon the need for clear access to trained counsellors to help people if they or a loved one have needed to make an insurance claim. 

Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.

If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my Protection Insurance in Practice course here.