Life Insurance Through Menopause And Perimenopause
This is the one entry in the group that is not a condition at all.
Every woman who lives long enough goes through it, and an application is not trying to find out whether you have.
What it is interested in is the prescription, and anything that was investigated along the way.
The short answer
Menopause is a normal life stage, not a disease, and declaring it is not declaring an illness. Two things are genuinely relevant on an application: hormone replacement therapy, which is a long-term prescription and belongs in a medication answer; and the fact that symptoms overlapping with menopause, palpitations, low mood, joint pain and heavy bleeding among them, are sometimes investigated and sometimes attributed.
What it is
Menopause is the point at which periods have stopped for twelve months, on average around 51 in the UK. Perimenopause is the transition before it, which can last several years, with fluctuating hormones and irregular cycles.
Common symptoms include hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbance, low mood, anxiety, brain fog, joint aches, vaginal dryness and changes to bleeding. Management can include hormone replacement therapy in various forms, vaginal oestrogen, non-hormonal medication for flushes and cognitive behavioural approaches.
Why it comes up on an application
- It is a life stage, so there is no diagnosis date in the way other entries have one, and no severity to report.
- HRT is a continuing prescription and belongs in a medication answer. The form it takes, tablets, patches, gel or a coil for the progestogen part, is worth stating.
- Early menopause, before 45, and premature ovarian insufficiency, before 40, are different and more significant entries with their own implications, so say if yours was early.
- Surgical menopause after removal of the ovaries is a different route again and the surgery is the entry.
- Symptoms that were investigated rather than attributed are real entries: palpitations leading to heart tests, heavy bleeding leading to a scan, low mood leading to antidepressants.
- Bone density is sometimes checked, particularly after early menopause, and that scan is an investigation with a result.
What we would ask you
- Whether you are perimenopausal or postmenopausal, and roughly when it started
- Whether it was early or followed surgery
- Whether you take HRT, in what form, and for how long
- Whether any symptoms were investigated, such as palpitations, bleeding or low mood
- Whether you have had a bone density scan
- 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
Attributed Is Not The Same As Investigated
This is the most useful idea on the page and it cuts both ways.
Menopausal symptoms overlap with the symptoms of several other things. Palpitations, breathlessness, low mood, joint pain, fatigue and heavy bleeding can all be menopause and can all be something else. Sometimes they are investigated and nothing is found; sometimes they are attributed to menopause without investigation.
For an application, what matters is which happened to you. If you had an ECG, blood tests, a scan or a referral, those are entries whatever they showed, and a normal result is good information. If your symptoms were put down to menopause without tests, that is a complete answer too. Just do not describe an investigated symptom as merely menopause, because the test is in your record.
Early Menopause Is A Different Entry
Worth separating clearly, because the word is the same and the significance is not.
Menopause around the average age is ordinary. Menopause before 45 is early, and ovarian insufficiency before 40 is a recognised condition with its own investigation, often including hormone blood tests and sometimes a search for a cause. It also has longer-term implications that lead to bone and cardiovascular monitoring.
Surgical menopause, following removal of the ovaries, is a third route, and there the operation and its reason are the substantive entries. If any of these apply to you, say which, because "menopause" on its own would understate it.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point, and this is a life stage rather than a factor in its own right. HRT and anything investigated sit in the picture.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and menopause is not one. This is also the age at which the conditions it does cover become more likely, which is worth bearing in mind.
Relevant where symptoms have affected work, which for some women they genuinely have. Sleep disruption and brain fog are not trivial for a demanding job.
Common questions
Is menopause a medical condition I have to declare?+
It is a normal life stage rather than an illness, and an application is not trying to establish whether you have been through it. What is relevant is HRT as a prescription, whether it was early, and anything that was investigated along the way.
Do I need to declare HRT?+
Yes, as medication. A question about what you take is asking about it, and the form matters: tablets, patches, gel, or a coil for the progestogen part. It takes a line and makes your answer complete.
My symptoms were put down to menopause without any tests. What do I say?+
Say exactly that. It is a complete answer. What you should not do is describe a symptom as menopause when it was actually investigated, because the ECG, blood test or scan is in your record regardless of the conclusion.
I had an early menopause. Is that different?+
Yes, meaningfully. Menopause before 45 is early and before 40 is premature ovarian insufficiency, a recognised condition usually with hormone tests behind it and longer-term bone and cardiovascular monitoring. Say which applies rather than just menopause.
Mine followed surgery. How do I describe that?+
Lead with the operation and its reason, with roughly when. Surgical menopause after removal of the ovaries is a different route, and the surgery is the substantive entry.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.