Why heart health matters for your life insurance coverage and costs

Heart-related illnesses remain a major factor in life insurance claims. Securing life insurance is closely tied to your overall health, as your medical profile directly influences whether you can access cover and at what price.

Your Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and family medical history all directly affect both your heart health and your insurability.

Why health impacts insurability

Life insurance is fundamentally about risk assessment. Underwriters evaluate the likelihood of future claims, and health is the most important risk indicator. Applicants with unmanaged or severe health conditions may find themselves uninsurable or facing premiums so high that cover becomes financially impractical. Conversely, individuals who demonstrate effective health management often secure more favourable terms, reinforcing the link between personal health and financial planning.

Adjusted premiums vs declined applications

When applying for life insurance, not every health concern leads to rejection. In many cases, insurers apply what is known as a loading, which means adding an extra increase to the premium to account for the higher level of risk. For example, someone with controlled hypertension or a history of elevated cholesterol may still be offered cover, but at a higher monthly cost than a standard-risk individual. Another common outcome is the addition of an endorsement, which is a clause attached to the policy that alters the terms of cover. In health-related cases, this often takes the form of an exclusion, where the insurer agrees to provide cover but excludes claims related to a specific condition or illness that the person already suffered from before applying for cover.

A decline, on the other hand, occurs when the risk is deemed too great for the insurer to take on, such as with a severe, unmanaged illness or a high likelihood of a claim in the near future. Understanding the distinction is important: a loading reflects the insurer’s willingness to provide cover, albeit at a higher price. An endorsement or exclusion adjusts the scope of what is covered, and a decline indicates that the applicant falls outside the boundaries of acceptable insurable risk. Heart-related conditions such as severe heart failure or recent major heart attacks often fall into the decline category, highlighting the importance of early detection and management.

Disclosure Matters: why transparency is key

One of the most important aspects of maintaining life cover is full disclosure of your health status. When applying for a policy, insurers require accurate information about existing conditions, lifestyle factors, and your family history.

Failing to disclose material information can have serious consequences. If an insurer later discovers that a heart-related condition was hidden or downplayed before your cover started, your claim may be reduced or rejected altogether. In some cases, the policy itself may be cancelled for non-disclosure.

You can ask your insurer to reassess the terms of your cover

In cases where you have a loading or exclusion on your cover, you can ask your insurer to remove or reduce this loading, or to remove this exclusion if your health improves after your cover starts.

Acting in good faith is key

For anyone considering life insurance, appreciating how underwriters view health is essential. Insurability is about demonstrating control, management, accountability, and above all, transparency. Full disclosure of your health status should not be treated as a box-ticking exercise but the foundation of trust between the insurer and policyholder, ensuring that when the time comes, cover is reliable, and claims are honoured.

* Van der Westhuizen is the chief financial officer at BrightRock.

PERSONAL FINANCE