Accessing Mental Health Support

We are in times of great uncertainty, and now more than ever we should be addressing why people with mental health issues want insurance but many actually need more support…

People with mental health issues have a clear desire to get access to insurance, new research reveals. However, the vast majority of people with poor mental health do not know where to go to get independent advice on how mental health issues can potentially impact an insurance application.

According to the research by mental health charity Mental Health UK, 86% of people with mental health issues are not sure where they can get independent advice in relation to declaring a mental health condition when applying for insurance.

Furthermore, if denied insurance, just 23% of people with mental health issues said they would feel confident challenging the decision. Of these people, just 11% admitted they would know what to do next if an insurer disagreed with their challenge.

insurance Application Process distressING

The report Mental Health UK report, entitled ‘Affording protection: mental health and insurance’, also reveals that individuals with mental health issues believe they have been the victim of discrimination because of their condition. Indeed, 68% of respondents said this, while nearly half (45%) said the process of applying for insurance left them feeling distressed.

In light of their experience, more than half (52%) said that they would consider downplaying their mental health in future if they applied again.

More than half of respondents (56%) want insurers to be clear about how an applicant’s mental health will impact their application.

Negative experiences A BIG turn off

The research also highlights how one in 10 people with mental health issues have been put off applying for insurance following a bad experience. Other reasons for neglecting to apply for insurance include: a perception that insurance is too expensive (38%) and believing an application would not be successful because of an existing mental health issue (31%).

Almost a third of respondents (31%) said they believed it would be too distressing discussing their mental health issues with an insurer.

But for many of those surveyed, having no insurance is adding to their woes, with over two thirds (69%) of respondents saying they were concerned about losing their job, their home, and getting into financial difficulty as a result of being offered high premiums or excluded all together.

The report makes a number of recommendations, including a call for greater transparency and the need for insurers to review their application processes to improve the customer experience, as well as better training for staff.

Mental Health UK has also called for the government to take action to ensure that people living with mental illness seeking insurance benefit from the protections of the Equality Act.

Speaking about the findings of the research, Brian Dow, CEO of Mental Health UK, said: “People living with mental illness should be afforded the same protection for themselves and their families as everyone else. The experiences described by many of the people who took part in our research are based on a misconception in the insurance industry of what mental illness means and how to approach it.”

cONCLUSION

Accessing NHS funded mental health support has long been a challenge via NHS services. Many mental health cases can be improved and less severe through easy access to early intervention. Relatively low cost systems are available for organisations to deploy, where no underwriting is applied, enabling all staff to access support from day 1.

These systems provide a structured and effective way of helping to navigate employees through difficult times. It may even be something simple, where an employee is distracted from their work, where access to legal advice would provide the information they need and can return to 100% productivity.

Please let us know if you would like further information regarding any of the above.