“A Decade Is Long Enough!” By Chris Morgan
I still get many comments about how my regular weekly and monthly resident columns are missed from Pink Paper, Positive Finance and Baseline Magazines. I’ve been writing for national press and media regarding LGBT and HIV financial issues for 20 years, which is of course as long as my financial practices have been serving their respective communities.
What makes those reactions so special for me is where they all share with me how they have benefitted from my advice and have been empowered to look after their financial future, whether buying homes or protecting their families. My work since 2009 has been focused on assisting people living with HIV and ending discrimination towards HIV Positive people within the insurance industry.
The repression of HIV people was so bad that I realised those issues needed my full attention. Over the last decade, I have co-written the industry best practice, written the consumer guide and represented the HIV Community in the working group that created HIV Life Insurance and HIV Life Assurance and watched over the development of products.
You can read my Career Biography here …
Life Insurance & Life Assurance Case Example, Alfonso, Aged 45, NHS Support Worker …
Alfonso approached me looking for advice around Life Insurance and Life Assurance, because he was taking a mortgage through his bank. The mortgage lender had given him the impression that Insurance was a condition of the mortgage borrowing, which concerned him because of his HIV Status. He preferred not to answer questions about this at his local branch.
Alfonso explained …
“I really did not wish to share my HIV Status with the bank and would prefer to keep any Life Insurance policy separate to the mortgage. They also were very keen to offer me Income Protection and Critical Illness, but they were unaware of my HIV Status, I just did not feel comfortable answering their questions on their application”.
We were able to confirm to Alfonso that Life Insurance and Life Assurance was not a condition of lending, but due to Alfonso’s circumstances with his family, it was probably a good idea to have some Life Insurance in place. We were also able to confirm that even though Life Insurance has been available to people living with HIV for a decade, Income Protection and Critical Illness is still unavailable.
Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover Campaign – (“A Decade Is Long Enough!)
We are already talking to various product providers and leading industry figures on this issue and will keep you informed of developments through my Positive Finance column. I’m fully aware that it took over a decade to encourage Insurers to introduce HIV Life Insurance and HIV Life Assurance, so IPP & CIC is not going to be an easy task.
Over the coming weeks I will be re-visiting our past research in this area and invite you all to participate in the campaign to secure Income Protection and Critical Illness Cover for people living with HIV. We are determined that these products should be fully inclusive products, without exclusions within their terms and conditions. (“A decade is long enough”!)
Other Medical Conditions
Throughout my career I’ve assisted many other people with medical conditions that are not directly HIV related, many of these Health Conditions I would consider to be “Private Medical” conditions. You will find a list of medical conditions that Unusual Risks can advise here http://unusual-risks.co.uk/?page_id=996
Chris Morgan was a consultant to the Association of British Insurers medical underwriting committee for over 15 years in relation to HIV and other private medical conditions. He has been advising clients in regards to their protection needs for over 30 years and is the UK’s Leading “HIV and Medical” financial adviser.
His Career Biography can be viewed here http://unusual-risks.co.uk/?page_id=980 If you need any information about “Inclusive Insurance” for any medical condition or are a medical professional with a patient or client that needs advice, then you can Unusual Risks on 0845 474 3075 or email us at Enquiries@unusualrisks.co.uk or at our website www.unusualrisks.co.uk
Our sponsors Unusual Risks are specialists at finding inclusive Life Insurance, Critical Illness Cover and Income Protection for people with complex medical situations. As the UK’s Leading Specialist “HIV and Medical” Financial Advisers, they understand the importance of Confidentiality, Discretion and Privacy in regards to medical information.