Posted August 27, 2021

If you have a pre-existing medical condition, you might be worried that it’ll be more difficult to access the right life cover, but it shouldn’t put you off. At Watts, our team have experience in helping people in unique circumstances get the right policy for their needs, even with a medical condition.

In particular, many people often wonder if having high cholesterol will impact their life insurance application. With that in mind, we take a look at how to get life insurance with high cholesterol.

What does high cholesterol mean?

High cholesterol is the name given to the condition when you have too much of a fatty substance in your blood, called cholesterol. However, there are both good and bad types of cholesterol so it’s important to be aware of your diet. Too much bad cholesterol, known as LDL, is caused by eating fatty foods, not exercising regularly, being overweight as well as smoking and drinking. It can also run in the family.

High cholesterol can block your blood vessels and put you at a higher risk of heart problems or a stroke. Unfortunately, there are no symptoms and you will only find out you have high cholesterol from a blood test.

The good type of cholesterol, known as HDL, will help to remove other forms of cholesterol from your bloodstream. You can check your cholesterol levels either through a blood test or finger-prick test. Good cholesterol should be at a level of 1 above, while bad cholesterol should be at a level of 4 or below.

You can help to reduce high cholesterol by not eating as many pies, fatty meat, hard cheese, cake and biscuits. Instead, try to increase your intake of oily fish, wholegrain carbohydrates, nuts, fruit and vegetables.

Getting life insurance with high cholesterol

You typically won’t have a problem accessing life insurance if you have high cholesterol, but it can be helpful to understand what to expect during the application process. It’s important that you disclose your health condition during the application, as it could impact the ability to make a claim later down the line.

Providers may wish to know certain information about your condition, such as the date of diagnosis, recent readings, your BMI and any treatment or related conditions. It’s helpful to have this information to hand when enquiring about life insurance or applying for a policy.

You could encounter issues getting life insurance if you have experienced a recent change or increase in medication, or your readings are higher than 6. In some cases, having a high BMI could also impact your position. It’s important to consider making some lifestyle changes to improve your health before applying, as this could put you in a position of lower risk.

For additional support and guidance on getting life insurance with high cholesterol, get in touch today.