Vaccinations Key For Affordable Life Insurance

Countries are currently fighting the dilemma of creating a two-tiered society versus freedom of choice with policies like domestic covid vaccine passports. The UK government has flip flopped on the concept of covid passports for the last few months. Sajid Javid, secretary of state for health and social care, recently said plans to introduce vaccine passports for access into nightclubs and large events in England will not go ahead. Since the pandemic, many life and health insurers have spoken about a rise in demand for policies to protect families should the worst happen. But how much of a factor will their covid vaccine status impact the ability of Brits to obtain cover? Here’s what some insurers are saying:

A spokesperson for Vitality said: “We don’t currently ask whether our members or those applying for a policy have received the covid-19 vaccination. We will continue to monitor the impact of the vaccine as more data becomes available and if necessary, adjust our underwriting accordingly.”

Aegon have a similar attitude and said that the firm “won’t turn clients away” and it is “not routinely asking clients if they have been vaccinated, especially with now over 80% of people having had at least one jab”.

A spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) added: “For life and health insurance, insurers will look at a wide range of factors impacting on the proposers’ life expectancy and morbidity. This will include their medical history, and that of their immediate family. You may be required to disclose if you have had covid, which may have an impact depending on the individual circumstances, particularly if there are any underlying health issues.”

But not all institutions are singing off the same hymn sheet.

A spokesperson for Legal & General said: “For those vulnerable customers who have not had the vaccine, which is expected to be a very small number of people, cover will be postponed for the time-being, until they have received the required vaccine doses. Allowances will be made for those who have not had the vaccine due to medical reasons, such as allergies or pregnancy.”