Life Insurance With Essential Tremor
A tremor is visible, which is why people assume it is the headline of their application.
The more useful framing is that essential tremor is a specific diagnosis reached partly by excluding others, and the exclusion process is what sits in your notes.
There is also an occupational angle that matters a great deal for some trades.
The short answer
Essential tremor is a shaking, usually of the hands, that appears during movement rather than at rest. Two things matter on an application. It is the condition Parkinson's disease is distinguished from, so there is often a neurological assessment in the record. And for anybody whose work needs steady hands, it is a genuine income protection question rather than a cosmetic one.
What it is
Essential tremor is a movement disorder causing rhythmic shaking, most often of the hands and arms, and sometimes the head or voice. It typically appears during purposeful movement, such as reaching for a cup or writing, rather than when the limb is at rest. It often runs in families and tends to progress slowly.
It is distinguished from the tremor of Parkinson's disease, which is characteristically present at rest and accompanied by slowness and stiffness. Management includes propranolol and primidone, sometimes botulinum toxin, and for severe cases procedures including deep brain stimulation or focused ultrasound.
Why it comes up on an application
- Diagnosis usually involves a neurological assessment, because it is reached partly by distinguishing it from other causes of tremor. That assessment is a specialist involvement.
- Imaging is sometimes done as part of that, and a scan counts as an investigation whatever it showed.
- Being told specifically that it is essential tremor rather than Parkinson's is useful information to give, because the two are different conditions with very different implications.
- Propranolol and primidone are prescriptions and belong in a medication answer; propranolol is also used for other things, so saying what it is for helps.
- The occupational dimension is real for anybody whose work needs fine motor control: dentists, physiotherapists, tattoo artists, machinists, surgeons and others.
- Any procedure, including deep brain stimulation or focused ultrasound, is a major intervention and must be stated clearly.
- Alcohol often temporarily reduces the tremor, which is a known feature and occasionally leads to questions about alcohol use.
What we would ask you
- When it started, which parts of you it affects, and whether it is getting worse
- Whether a neurologist has assessed you, and what you were told
- Whether Parkinson's disease was specifically excluded
- Whether you have had any scan for it
- What you take for it, and whether you have had any procedure
- Whether it affects your work
- Whether you are currently off work or working reduced hours because of an accident, injury or illness
- Whether you are waiting on any medical tests, appointments or treatment
- Whether you have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer in the last five years
- Whether a parent, brother or sister was diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or a stroke before 65
- Any medication you take
- Whether you smoke, and your date of birth
Say That Parkinson's Was Excluded
This is the most useful sentence you can put on a form about a tremor, if it is true.
Essential tremor and Parkinson's disease are different conditions. Essential tremor appears during movement; the Parkinson's tremor is characteristically present at rest and comes with slowness and stiffness. Telling them apart is a clinical judgement, often made by a neurologist, sometimes with imaging.
So if you have been assessed and told it is essential tremor, say exactly that, and say who told you. "Assessed by a neurologist in 2022, diagnosed essential tremor, Parkinson's excluded" is a precise and genuinely informative answer, far better than "I have a shake in my hands".
For Precision Trades This Is The Whole Question
This is the occupational point and it is why income protection is at the top of the list on this page.
A tremor that would be a minor nuisance for most people ends specific careers. A tattoo artist needs a steady hand for permanent work on skin. A dentist works at millimetre precision in somebody's mouth. A physiotherapist, a machinist, a watchmaker and a surgeon all depend on fine control.
Somebody in one of those trades with a progressing tremor is perfectly employable in a great many jobs, which is exactly what an any occupation policy will conclude. An own occupation definition asks whether you can do your own work, and for these trades that is the difference between a policy that responds and one that does not. It is worth asking about before you buy.
Which cover is relevant
Listed first because for precision trades this is the cover that matters. A tremor that stops a dentist or a tattoo artist working leaves them employable elsewhere, which is exactly why an own occupation definition is essential.
The usual starting point. The neurological assessment and what was excluded sit in the picture alongside the tremor itself.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition. Essential tremor is not one and Parkinson's disease generally is, which is precisely why reading the definitions matters here.
Common questions
How is essential tremor different from Parkinson's?+
Essential tremor appears during purposeful movement, such as reaching or writing. The Parkinson's tremor is characteristically present at rest and comes with slowness and stiffness. They are different conditions, and if a neurologist specifically excluded Parkinson's, that is worth saying.
What should I put on the form?+
When it started, what it affects, whether a neurologist assessed you and what you were told, any scan, what you take, and whether it affects your work. Saying Parkinson's was excluded, if it was, is the most informative single detail.
I take propranolol for it. Does that count?+
Yes, and say what it is for. Propranolol is also prescribed for blood pressure, migraine and anxiety, so the reason is useful context alongside the drug name.
My job needs steady hands. What should I be looking at?+
Income protection with an own occupation definition, ahead of anything else. A tremor that ends precision work leaves you employable in plenty of other jobs, which is exactly what an any occupation policy would conclude, so the definition is the thing being bought.
Is essential tremor covered by critical illness cover?+
Generally not; essential tremor is not usually a listed condition, whereas Parkinson's disease typically is. That is precisely why the definitions matter here, and we can go through the specific wording with you.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.