Hi everyone, in our latest episode I have Conor D’Arcy Head of Research and Policy at the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute joining me. They have recently published a report about their findings into how insurance and mental health are mixing together.

Titled the ‘Written Off? report the institute have highlighted where things are not necessarily working well for consumers that are wanting to get insurance, when they have a mental health condition.

The key takeaways:

• They found that someone with mental health can potentially pay up to 27x the base premium for travel insurance
• 3 in 10 respondents did not disclose their mental health condition to insurers
• The inability to get insurance at an affordable price can further exacerbate mental health symptoms and lead to a lack of financial security

The protection insurance industry has made significant improvements in terms of mental health underwriting over the years. I have personally experienced this from when I first took out my insurances in 2010, compared to my applications in the last few years and even recently. But, the research shows that there is still a lot of distrust in the insurance world over how decisions are made and the fairness of decisions. 

I know many underwriters that make incredibly fair decisions of protection insurance applications detailing mental health. It’s our job to make sure that we are getting the message out to the public and organisations like the MMHPI about the good work that is being done. There may not always be solutions that all parties are happy with, but open and transparent discussions are key to us changing the way that the insurance sector is viewed.

Next time I will we will have Charlotte Rogers joining us, she is an adviser that is incredibly passionate about Trusts and making sure people know what can go wrong if they’re not in place. Tune in to hear her personal story and how it’s made her determined to have Trusts as a key part part of her advice.

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 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.