Life Insurance With Alopecia
Alopecia means hair loss, and the word is doing a lot of work. It covers something that happens to most men and a fair number of women with age, and it also covers an autoimmune condition.
Those are not the same entry on a medical history, and using the single word for both is the main reason this gets muddled.
This page is about telling us which you have, and what we would need alongside it.
The short answer
Alopecia is a description of hair loss rather than a single condition, and the distinction that matters is the cause. Pattern hair loss is extremely common and not a disease process. Alopecia areata is autoimmune, which brings it into the same territory as vitiligo and thyroid conditions. Saying which one you have is more useful than saying alopecia.
What it is
Androgenetic alopecia, usually called male or female pattern hair loss, is gradual thinning driven by hormones and genetics. It is the most common form by a wide margin and it is not an illness.
Alopecia areata is different. The immune system attacks hair follicles, causing patchy loss that can come and go, and in some people progresses to total scalp loss or loss of all body hair. It is an autoimmune condition.
There are other causes too, including hair loss after illness, pregnancy, significant weight loss or as a side effect of medication, and loss from scarring conditions of the scalp. Those have their own explanations behind them.
Why it comes up on an application
- Pattern hair loss is cosmetic and is not usually a meaningful entry in a medical history at all.
- Alopecia areata is autoimmune, and autoimmune conditions are associated with each other. Thyroid disease and vitiligo are the common companions, so the thyroid question becomes genuinely relevant.
- Hair loss that followed something else is really a pointer to that something else. If it came after an illness, a major weight change or a new medication, that underlying event is the thing to declare properly.
- Treatment varies enormously. Some people have none. Alopecia areata is sometimes treated with steroid injections or, more recently, with medication that affects the immune system, and anything immune-affecting is worth stating clearly.
What we would ask you
- Which kind of hair loss you have, if you know, and when it started
- Whether it has been patchy and episodic or gradual and progressive
- Whether it followed an illness, a pregnancy, a weight change or a new medication
- Any treatment, particularly anything affecting the immune system
- Have you ever had cancer, a heart condition (including heart attack), stroke or brain injury, MS or a neurological condition, or Type 1 or 2 diabetes?
- Do you have any other medical conditions? (please state condition and any treatment taken)
- Are you waiting any medical tests, appointments or treatment?
- Date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY)
- Do you smoke?
Say Which One, Not Just The Word
If you take one thing from this page, it is that alopecia on its own is an unhelpfully vague answer.
Pattern hair loss and alopecia areata sit in completely different places in a medical history. One is a normal consequence of genetics and hormones. The other is the immune system behaving in a way that is associated with other conditions worth asking about.
If you do not know which you have, say that too, along with how it has behaved: patchy and coming and going points one way, gradual thinning from the temples or crown points the other. A dermatologist's letter, if you have one, settles it.
Hair Loss That Followed Something Else
This is the third case and it is the one people forget to mention properly.
Hair can shed heavily a few months after a significant illness, an operation, childbirth, rapid weight loss or starting certain medication. In that situation the hair loss is a symptom, and the thing with substance in your history is whatever came first.
So if your hair loss followed an event, lead with the event. An application that says alopecia and omits the illness behind it is an incomplete answer, and incomplete answers are what cause difficulty at claim rather than at application.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point. Pattern hair loss is rarely relevant; autoimmune hair loss belongs in a fuller conversation about your health picture.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and no form of alopecia is one of them. Arrange it for what it does cover, and read the definitions first.
Replaces earnings if illness or injury stops you working. Relevant mainly where an associated condition, or the cause behind the hair loss, has affected work.
Common questions
Does alopecia affect life insurance?+
It depends which kind you have, and what any insurer then decides is their call rather than something we would predict. Pattern hair loss is not usually a meaningful medical entry. Alopecia areata is autoimmune, which makes the questions about thyroid and other conditions more relevant.
Do I need to declare pattern hair loss?+
Answer what you are asked. It is not usually a medical condition in any meaningful sense, so it rarely features, but if a question asks about skin or scalp conditions and you are unsure, saying it is simpler than deciding it does not count.
Why does alopecia areata get treated differently?+
Because it is autoimmune rather than cosmetic, and autoimmune conditions are associated with one another. Thyroid disease and vitiligo are the common companions, so questions about those become genuinely relevant to your application.
My hair loss started after an illness. What do I say?+
Lead with the illness. Hair shedding a few months after a significant illness, operation, childbirth or weight change is a symptom, and the underlying event is the part of your history with substance in it.
I have had steroid injections for it. Does that count?+
Yes, mention it. Any treatment is worth declaring, and anything affecting the immune system is worth stating clearly rather than summarising. What it means for your terms is the insurer's decision.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.