Simply Finance on Health InsuranceRed tape is one of life's little hassles and having applied for health insurance, having to jump through hoops to get accepted or wait for approval can be a real pain.
So wouldn't it be helpful to know what are the main things that can delay an application and whether there is anything you can do to speed things up?
There are a variety of factors that can slow down approval, some of which are within your control, but some you will just have to unfortunately just grin and bear.
One of the easiest ways to speed up an application is to ensure the form is completed fully and accurately with all necessary details included. One of the biggest problems firms face when trying to assess an individual for health insurance is incomplete and missing information. Health insurance providers are loathe to go back to customers for more information as it involves more work for them and increases the possibility that the policy will not go ahead as many people don't bother to return the missing details. However, if the answers given are unclear or a 'yes' answer has been ticked and no details provided, they will have little choice.
When reviewing the information you have provided put yourself in the shoes of a stranger reading your details and ask yourself whether you would fully understand the answer. Giving dates and the names of medication will also help your application proceed far more quickly as well as confirming whether the symptoms are ongoing. Giving too much information is far better than not enough as the company have trained underwriters to pick out the relevant details.
If filling in forms is not your thing there are other ways to get the information to the insurer. One option is to use a financial advisor as they are far more familiar with what insurers want to see and going to an independent broker means you can still pick from some of the best deals in the market. However, you will still need to check the information the advisor has written down and you may have to pay either a fee or commission for their services.
The other option is to apply to a firm who use tele-underwriting. Rather than fill in a long application form, a nurse or trained representative will telephone you at a pre-arranged time and ask you all the health questions. The telephone call is generally recorded in case of dispute. If you have a lot of medical conditions, the questions can be quite lengthy but in some cases it means applications can be accepted which would otherwise need medical reports.
Unfortunately, in some cases, a report from your doctor will be required and this can slow things down immeasurably. If you decide you want to see the report before it is sent to the firm this is likely to involve further delays. Even if you authorise the report to be sent without you seeing it first, you still have six months to request a copy and can tell the company if you think there is anything missing or inaccurate.
If you have applied for a large amount of insurance the firm may need to get a medical report, or maybe even a medical exam automatically, even if you are healthy. If you are keen to avoid this because you want to avoid the inconvenience, you can ask the firm what their cut-off levels are. However, not all companies will disclose this information and some may be suspicious about why you want to avoid comprehensive checks.
Applying for a loan for bad credit can often involve considerable delays but this would not necessarily deter individuals from applying because of the end result. The same principle applies to health insurance, however inconvenient the process may be, by providing as much information as you can and complying with requests, you will end up with valuable cover in the shortest time possible.
This article has been provided by Simply Finance.
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