Life Insurance With Tendonitis

An Insurer Isn't Worried About Your Elbow Killing You

Tendonitis and tendinopathy are inflammation or wear of a tendon, usually from overuse. Tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, Achilles tendinopathy, rotator cuff problems, De Quervain's at the wrist and patellar tendinopathy at the knee all fall in this family. None of them affect how long you are likely to live, so for life insurance they are normally a formality: declare them and carry on.

The reason they matter at all is income protection. A tendon problem can stop someone working, sometimes for months, and it often comes back. An insurer pricing whether you will be unable to do your job, rather than whether you will die, has to take that seriously.

Underwriters Think About Tendons Body Part By Body Part

Unlike a condition that affects the whole body, a tendon problem is local. That shapes how insurers deal with it. Rather than loading the price or excluding all musculoskeletal conditions, the usual approach is a site-specific exclusion: the left shoulder, the right elbow, both Achilles tendons.

That is a good outcome compared with the alternatives, but the precise wording still matters:

• Does it name one side or both? If only your right elbow was affected, an exclusion for both arms is wider than it needs to be.
• Does it cover only the tendon condition, or any disorder of that joint, including a future fracture or injury?
• Does it extend to the whole limb, such as "any condition of the upper limbs"?
• Is it permanent, or can it be reviewed after a symptom-free period?

Where a problem has affected several sites, or both sides, an insurer may word the exclusion more broadly, because it starts to look like a general tendency rather than a single injury.

Repetitive Work Is Part Of The Risk Being Priced

Tendon problems are often caused or made worse by the work people do. Plasterers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, hairdressers, chefs, cleaners, warehouse pickers and assembly-line workers all repeat the same movements for hours. A rotator cuff problem in a decorator who works overhead all day is not the same as the same problem in someone who works at a desk.

Insurers place every occupation in a class based on how physical it is, and that class affects both the price of income protection and how cautious they are about musculoskeletal history. A manual worker with a tendon problem in the arm they work with is more likely to see an exclusion, and to see it apply for longer, than an office worker with the same history.

Describe your duties accurately. If you are a qualified electrician who now mostly supervises and quotes, say so. If you are on the tools full time, say that too. A job title alone can be classified more harshly, or more generously, than the reality, and either creates problems at claim time.

Rest And Physio, Injections, Or Surgery: What Your Treatment Says

The treatment you have had is the clearest indicator of severity, so expect underwriters to ask about it.

• Rest, a brace or a short course of physio that settled things suggests a self-limiting problem, especially if it was some time ago.
• Steroid injections suggest it was persistent. One that worked is different from repeated injections to keep you working.
• Surgery, such as a tendon repair or rotator cuff surgery, or a tendon rupture, means a longer recovery and a higher chance of future trouble in that area. Insurers are generally more cautious, at least until you have been back at full duties for a while.
• Awaiting a scan, referral or surgery usually means income protection is postponed until the outcome is known. Life cover can normally go ahead in the meantime.

Also expect to be asked how much time you took off and when you last had symptoms.

For The Self-Employed, A Shoulder Exclusion Is Not The Real Risk

Tradespeople with a tendon history sometimes conclude income protection is not worth it, because the thing they think most likely to stop them working has been excluded. That is understandable, but it usually gets the risk the wrong way round.

An exclusion for one shoulder still leaves a policy that pays if you injure your back or your other arm, break a leg, have a heart attack, are diagnosed with cancer, or are signed off with stress or depression. For an employed person, sick pay softens some of those. For a self-employed person, there is nothing at all. Our guide to self-employed income protection covers how to choose a deferred period you can actually live through and how long the policy should pay for.

If you run your business through a limited company, there may be a more tax-efficient way to hold the cover, explained on our executive income protection page.

When Tendon Pain Is Really Something Else

Most tendonitis is mechanical. Occasionally, tendon and joint pain is a feature of an inflammatory condition, such as psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or gout. If you have been given one of those diagnoses, the insurer assesses the condition rather than the tendon, and that can affect critical illness cover and sometimes life cover too. Our arthritis page covers that in more detail.

Hand and wrist symptoms are also worth separating. Numbness and tingling in the fingers is more often carpal tunnel syndrome, a nerve problem, and is declared and underwritten as that.

Declare It Properly, Then Shop The Wording

You have a legal duty to take reasonable care when answering an insurer's questions. Tennis elbow or a sore Achilles feels too minor to mention, but if it is on your GP record and you later claim for that arm or leg, the insurer will look, and an undeclared history can lead to a claim being reduced or refused. Declaring it usually costs nothing on life cover and, at worst, an exclusion for one area on income protection.

Insurers differ on how they word site-specific exclusions, how long ago a problem must have been to be ignored, and whether they offer a later review. That is where a broker earns its keep: comparing the exclusion, not only the price, across several insurers, and checking the likely outcome before you submit a full application.