Life Insurance With A Hiatus Hernia
This gets confused with the hernias people know about, the ones in the groin or abdominal wall that get repaired, and it is a different thing in a different place.
Most hiatus hernias are found on a camera test done for heartburn. Many cause no symptoms of their own and need no treatment at all.
This page is about declaring it accurately. The hernia page covers the other kind.
The short answer
A hiatus hernia is part of the stomach sitting above the diaphragm, and it is usually discovered incidentally during an endoscopy done for reflux rather than because anybody was looking for it. That makes it different from the hernias people have operations for, and the useful information is usually the investigation it was found during and whatever reflux is being treated alongside it.
What it is
The oesophagus passes through an opening in the diaphragm called the hiatus. A hiatus hernia is when part of the stomach pushes up through that opening into the chest.
The common type slides up and down and is often associated with reflux. A less common type sits alongside the oesophagus and is occasionally repaired surgically. Many are found incidentally and are left alone, with treatment aimed at reflux symptoms rather than at the hernia itself.
Why it comes up on an application
- It is nearly always an endoscopy finding, so there is an investigation in your history whether or not the hernia needs anything doing.
- It usually travels with reflux, and the reflux medication is often the more continuous part of the picture.
- Surgical repair is uncommon but is a clear and significant entry if it applies to you, and it should be stated as an operation rather than as a hernia.
- This is a structural finding rather than a progressive disease, so there is no severity scale to report. Whether it causes symptoms, and what you take for them, is the useful detail.
What we would ask you
- When and how it was found, and what you were being investigated for at the time
- Whether it causes symptoms and what you take for them
- Whether it has ever been repaired surgically
- What else the endoscopy showed, if anything
- 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
It Is Not The Hernia People Mean
Worth separating clearly, because the word does a lot of work and the two are not comparable.
An inguinal or abdominal hernia is a bulge through the muscle wall, usually visible or palpable, and frequently repaired with an operation and mesh. A hiatus hernia is internal, is found on a camera test, and in most cases is simply noted.
So if an application asks about hernias, say which one you have. Our page on hernia repair covers the other kind, and answering about the wrong one is a muddle that is easy to avoid.
The Finding Came With An Investigation
This is the practical consequence of being an incidental finding, and it is what people forget.
Nobody discovers a hiatus hernia by accident in the street. It is found because a camera was passed into your stomach, which means there is an endoscopy in your record, and there was a reason for that endoscopy, usually persistent reflux or pain.
A question about tests and specialists is asking about all of that. Giving the date, the reason and anything else the endoscopy showed is a complete answer and takes two lines.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point. An incidental finding with no symptoms is a different picture from one with long-term reflux treatment behind it.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and this is not one. Worth having for the risks it does cover.
Replaces earnings if illness or injury stops you working. Relevant mainly around a surgical repair and the recovery from it.
Common questions
Is a hiatus hernia the same as a normal hernia?+
No. An inguinal or abdominal hernia is a bulge through the muscle wall, often repaired surgically. A hiatus hernia is part of the stomach sitting above the diaphragm, usually found on an endoscopy and frequently left alone. If an application asks about hernias, say which you have.
Do I declare it if it causes no symptoms?+
If you are asked about diagnosed conditions or investigations, yes. It was found during an endoscopy, so there is a test in your record regardless of whether the hernia needs anything doing, and having no symptoms is a useful answer in itself.
Will it affect my life insurance?+
That is the insurer's decision and rests on your whole picture, so we will not guess. An incidental finding with no treatment reads differently from one alongside years of reflux medication, which is why the detail is worth giving.
Mine was repaired. What do I say?+
State it as an operation, with roughly when, rather than describing it as a hernia. Surgical repair of a hiatus hernia is uncommon and is a clear and significant entry in a medical history.
What else should I mention from the endoscopy?+
Anything else it found. Oesophagitis, an ulcer or Barrett's oesophagus each have their own name and their own follow-up, and if any were mentioned to you they are separate entries rather than part of a general answer.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.