Scroll down for a discussion on Life Insurance for Bipolar Client within the Life Insurance Forum.
Originally Posted by daryllenriquez
People with bipolar definitely should qualify to have a life insurance coverage. Its not surprising why most companies decline them because ...
People with bipolar definitely should qualify to have a life insurance coverage. Its not surprising why most companies decline them because of their high suicidal tendencies, but [COLOR=red]most life insurance dont pay off if the death is caused by suicide[/COLOR].
Really... Is there a time limit on this, or is suicide just flat out eliminated from coverage, forever...?
------------------------------------
"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." David Brinkley
Moderators, please please PLEASE do not delete this, I am in desperate need of help.
I am not an insurance agent, I am a person who suffers from Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder.
I have a husband and a 4 year old daughter, and I am normally the main breadwinner in the family. We are also quite a bit in debt right now. They NEED life insurance. Badly.
Where can I find a term policy? I don't mind paying a higher rate, I just want SOMETHING!!!
I know we have a high rate of suicide - but why don't you just write policies with a PERMANENT suicide exclusion instead of just the standard 2 years? If I commit suicide 20 years from now, I don't want you to pay anything then, either. I would actually prefer a policy like that, so it is never a "reason" for it to happen.
I don't choose to be this way, I was born with it. There are plenty of medical conditions out there that people are born with that are just as deadly as Bipolar, yet you still insure them no questions asked. Heck, even Depression is just as bad as Bipolar sometimes, but there are no questions about Depression on some of the questionnaires I've filled out.
I am very well-controlled now, but it hasn't always been this way. My first suicide attempt was at age 11. I was never diagnosed until last April, 2008. Last summer I had 3 attempts within 2 months. Spent a lot of time in the psych ward. But I've been stable on the same med cocktail for nearly a year, and I'm in therapy for the Borderline side.
But you know what? My dad has diabetes. He was in the hospital several times, for that reason. They didn't take away his life insurance. Why is mental illness still so much different than medical? I don't "choose" to commit suicide any more than my father "chooses" to go into diabetic shock. The illnesses take over.
Moderators, please please PLEASE do not delete this, I am in desperate need of help.
I am not an insurance agent, I am a person who suffers from Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder.
I have a husband and a 4 year old daughter, and I am normally the main breadwinner in the family. We are also quite a bit in debt right now. They NEED life insurance. Badly.
Where can I find a term policy? I don't mind paying a higher rate, I just want SOMETHING!!!
I know we have a high rate of suicide - but why don't you just write policies with a PERMANENT suicide exclusion instead of just the standard 2 years? If I commit suicide 20 years from now, I don't want you to pay anything then, either. I would actually prefer a policy like that, so it is never a "reason" for it to happen.
I don't choose to be this way, I was born with it. There are plenty of medical conditions out there that people are born with that are just as deadly as Bipolar, yet you still insure them no questions asked. Heck, even Depression is just as bad as Bipolar sometimes, but there are no questions about Depression on some of the questionnaires I've filled out.
I am very well-controlled now, but it hasn't always been this way. My first suicide attempt was at age 11. I was never diagnosed until last April, 2008. Last summer I had 3 attempts within 2 months. Spent a lot of time in the psych ward. But I've been stable on the same med cocktail for nearly a year, and I'm in therapy for the Borderline side.
But you know what? My dad has diabetes. He was in the hospital several times, for that reason. They didn't take away his life insurance. Why is mental illness still so much different than medical? I don't "choose" to commit suicide any more than my father "chooses" to go into diabetic shock. The illnesses take over.
It would be very difficult for you to find coverage with a history of suicide attempts in the past year and time spent in a mental institution, along with a history of suicide attempts at a younger age. The problem with a suicide exclusion rider is that it can be difficult for an insurance company to determine whether something was a suicide or not. If you crashed your car into a tree and died, was it a suicide or just bad driving? If you walked off the curb and got hit by a bus, was it suicide or bad luck? If you fell off the platform at a train station and were struck by a train, was it suicide or did you just trip and fall? You can see where I'm going with this.....
If you are seriously interested in finding out what your options might be, we are licensed in Alabama and can shop the case for you with many carriers to see if you can get an offer - there may be one or two out there that will write the case with a permanent suicide exclusion rider, but I doubt it. Your only choice might be a guaranteed-issue graded death benefit policy, and even then it would depend on what questions are asked on the application. If you would like some help, feel free to send me an email: dgold@goldfinancialgrp.com
On a side note, medical illnesses are underwritten just like mental illnesses. The insurance company will assess the overall risk and make an offer based on that information. There are many people who have been declined for medical reasons, so it is not correct to assume that "there that people are born with that are just as deadly as Bipolar, yet you still insure them no questions asked." If the conditions were deadly, the insurance company would likely not make an offer, or make an offer with a highly modified rate depending on the condition.
I'm actually in Oregon, not Alabama, I didn't change the setting when I signed up. Are you licensed in Oregon?
August will be one year since I was released. July - about right now - is one year since my last attempt. Should I wait until August to try? Do I need to wait another year beyond that?
My company has a policy which allows up to a table 4 rating and for most age groups is a great savings for anyone... a medical would need done either way for that amount.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sorry, we do not sell in Oregon either.
Last edited by LGinOhio : 07-19-2009 at 08:52 PM.
Reason: Posts merged
my company has a policy which allows up to a table 4 rating and for most age groups is a great savings for anyone... a medical would need done either way for that amount.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sorry, we do not sell in Oregon either.
They will approve someone with a history of suicide attempts at standard to Table 4 rates? Somehow I doubt that....
What I don't understand is why Bipolar is singled out. On all the applications I have seen to fill out, it specifically asks about Bipolar Disorder - but it does not ask if you have ever attempted suicide for any reason, it does not ask if you have Depression, Borderline Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other disorders that have high suicide rates. Only Bipolar. Why is that? It's just not fair. People with depression commit suicide just as much as people with Bipolar, yet you still give them life insurance.
Suicide is not necessarily intentional. It is a complication of a disease - not a choice. When you get to that point, you are not thinking clearly. Your mind takes over. The illness takes over. It is not any different than a heart attack - only it's the brain that kills you, not the heart. You may view it as a choice, but that is not always the case.
I have a company that will issue you a policy. I have to check to see if they do business in Oregon. You might have to sign the app. in California. Would that be a problem?
If any of you are interested in contracting with a co. that will write these kind of cases then let me know and I'll set you up.
I'm new here, so I hope I'm allowed to mention this.
Am I allowed to mention the company?
Next ? how much coverage are you looking for? I can't get you a lot; just enough to cover final expenses. Yes, this is a final expense whole life polcy.
What I don't understand is why Bipolar is singled out. On all the applications I have seen to fill out, it specifically asks about Bipolar Disorder - but it does not ask if you have ever attempted suicide for any reason, it does not ask if you have Depression, Borderline Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other disorders that have high suicide rates. Only Bipolar. Why is that? It's just not fair. People with depression commit suicide just as much as people with Bipolar, yet you still give them life insurance.
Suicide is not necessarily intentional. It is a complication of a disease - not a choice. When you get to that point, you are not thinking clearly. Your mind takes over. The illness takes over. It is not any different than a heart attack - only it's the brain that kills you, not the heart. You may view it as a choice, but that is not always the case.
Every application will ask about other mental and nervous disorders, which all of the things you just mentioned would fall into.....and most applications will usually ask if there are any other diseases or disorders diagnosed or treated that were not necessarily mentioned specifically in the medical questions. I'm not sure where you're getting your information from.
Just because you have bipolar disorder doesn't mean you'll be declined. We just got an offer back yesterday for a bipolar individual taking lithium and a couple other health issues for standard rates on his term insurance. When you combine bipolar with a history of multiple suicide attempts, that doesn't look very good from an insurance company's point of view. Would you insure someone for $1 million for under $1000 per year that has a history of suicide attempts, and within the past year no less?
The applications I've filled out for group life insurance (yes I know it's different) NEVER asked about "mental disorders" - they ONLY asked about Bipolar. And no health exam was required so there would be no way of knowing if you had additional issues. This is for the group plans I was eligible for at my previous employers and through my husband's employer. They were all the same. All they listed was Bipolar.
Anyway....I'm probably out of luck, and I guess that's fine. I was hoping for around $250,000 of term life, 20-30 year term. Maybe $100,000. I was able to get on the $10,000 spouse policy from my husband's work without any health questions - so that will cover my funeral costs, but I need something to replace my income for a while and payoff the mortgage. I'm the main wage earner in the family, my husband just works at a grocery store. He will probably have to declare bankruptcy if I die without life insurance. We're struggling to get by now...I'm unemployed. If I don't find a job by about January, we're screwed. We just plain can not live on his income alone. At his level, we qualify for food stamps and WIC.
One last question - there are policies out there that don't ask any health questions, but they are normally geared for ages 50+ and a low payout amount, like less than $25,000. Do you think I should try to get maybe 5-10 different policies at those small amounts? Do you know the names of companies that offer those types of policies?
Re: Life Insurance for Bipolar Client
Linear Mode
