Life Insurance With Gastritis
Gastritis describes a state of the stomach lining rather than a cause, which is why it is a vague answer on its own.
What fills it in is the reason: an infection that was treated, long-term use of anti-inflammatory painkillers, alcohol, or sometimes nothing identified.
This page is about telling us which, and what else was involved.
The short answer
Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining, and the part that matters on an application is what caused it. A common cause is Helicobacter pylori infection, which is tested for and treated with a specific course of antibiotics, and that test and treatment are a clearer entry in a medical history than the word gastritis is.
What it is
Gastritis is inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It can be short-lived or persistent, and it may cause pain, nausea and indigestion or no symptoms at all.
Common causes include Helicobacter pylori infection, regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, and alcohol. It is diagnosed by endoscopy, sometimes with a biopsy, and H. pylori is tested for by breath, stool or blood test.
Why it comes up on an application
- H. pylori eradication is a distinctive treatment: a combination of antibiotics and acid suppression over a defined course, often followed by a test to confirm it worked. That sequence is a clear and useful thing to describe.
- Where the cause was anti-inflammatory painkillers, the reason you were taking them is usually the more substantial entry, often a joint or back problem.
- Endoscopy and biopsy both count as investigations whatever they showed, and a biopsy result is worth knowing.
- Gastritis that produced an ulcer, or bleeding, is a materially different history and should be stated as such rather than folded in.
What we would ask you
- When it was diagnosed, and how it was diagnosed
- Whether H. pylori was tested for, and whether you had eradication treatment
- Whether it was linked to anti-inflammatory painkillers, and what you were taking them for
- Whether there was ever an ulcer or any bleeding
- 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
An Infection That Was Treated Is A Tidy History
Of all the digestive conditions on this list, H. pylori gastritis is one of the most straightforward to describe, because it has a clear shape.
There was a test. There was a defined course of treatment, usually two antibiotics plus acid suppression for a week or two. There was often a follow-up test to confirm it had gone. That is a beginning, a middle and an end, and it is far more useful than saying you once had gastritis.
If that is your situation, give us the dates and say the eradication was confirmed if it was. It is a complete answer.
If Painkillers Caused It, The Reason For Them Matters More
This is the case people under-report, and it is worth drawing out.
Regular use of ibuprofen or similar is a common cause of gastritis, and people taking them regularly are usually doing so for something: a back problem, arthritis, an old injury. On an application, that underlying condition is almost always the more substantial entry of the two.
So if your gastritis came from painkillers, lead with what the painkillers were for. The stomach inflammation is downstream of it, and an answer that mentions only the gastritis is an incomplete picture of your health rather than a complete one.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point. A treated infection that resolved is a different picture from ongoing inflammation, which is why the cause matters here.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and gastritis is not one. Worth arranging for the risks it does cover.
Replaces earnings if illness or injury stops you working. Relevant mainly if the underlying reason for anti-inflammatory use has affected your work.
Common questions
Does gastritis affect life insurance?+
What any insurer decides depends on your whole picture and is their call. On this condition the cause carries most of the information: a treated infection that resolved reads differently from ongoing inflammation or a history involving an ulcer.
I had H. pylori treatment. What do I say?+
Describe the shape of it: when you were tested, that you had eradication treatment, and whether a follow-up test confirmed it had cleared. That is a complete history with a beginning and an end, which is more useful than the word gastritis.
Mine was caused by ibuprofen. Does that change the answer?+
It makes the reason you were taking ibuprofen the more important entry, usually a back or joint problem. Lead with that. An answer mentioning only the gastritis leaves out the condition underneath it.
Do I declare an endoscopy if it was years ago?+
Yes, if you are asked about tests or investigations. A question about tests asks whether they happened. A normal or long-past result is still a complete and useful answer.
What if I had a stomach ulcer as well?+
Say so specifically rather than describing it all as gastritis. An ulcer, and particularly any bleeding, is a materially different history and deserves its own line on the form.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.