Life Insurance With Warts Or Verrucas
Most people have had a wart or a verruca, and most never saw a doctor about it.
They are included here because they were on the list of conditions people ask about, and the honest answer is that there is very little to say. They are viral, they are common, and they generally go.
What follows is what we would need if an application asks, and the one circumstance where there is slightly more to it.
The short answer
Warts and verrucas are caused by a common virus, usually clear without treatment given time, and are among the least consequential entries on a medical history. The only reason to think about them at all is if treatment involved something more than a pharmacy product, or if they have been unusually widespread or persistent.
What it is
Warts are small rough growths caused by human papillomavirus infecting the top layer of skin. A verruca is the same thing on the sole of the foot, flattened by the pressure of walking.
They spread by contact, including indirectly through shared floors in changing rooms and pools. Most clear up without treatment, though it can take months or longer. Treatments include salicylic acid preparations, freezing, and occasionally minor procedures for stubborn ones.
Why it comes up on an application
- They are a local skin infection rather than a systemic condition, and they resolve, so they are usually a past event with no ongoing relevance.
- Treatment is normally something bought in a pharmacy, which is not a prescription history. Freezing or a minor procedure is worth mentioning if you had it, simply because it involved a clinician.
- Warts that are very widespread, very persistent or keep returning are occasionally a reason to look at the immune system, and if that has happened to you then the investigation is the part with substance in it.
- Genital warts are the same virus family but a different conversation, usually involving a sexual health clinic, and that is worth declaring on its own terms if an application asks.
What we would ask you
- Roughly when you had them and whether they have gone
- Whether they were treated by a clinician, for example frozen or removed
- Whether they have been unusually widespread or kept returning
- Whether you have ever been investigated for anything in connection with them
- Have you ever had cancer, a heart condition (including heart attack), stroke or brain injury, MS or a neurological condition, or Type 1 or 2 diabetes?
- Do you have any other medical conditions? (please state condition and any treatment taken)
- Are you waiting any medical tests, appointments or treatment?
- Date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY)
- Do you smoke?
There Genuinely Is Not Much Here
It would be easy to write several hundred words implying this is more complicated than it is, and that would not be honest.
A wart or a verruca is a common viral skin infection that resolves. It is not a chronic illness, it does not involve ongoing medication for most people, and it is not the sort of thing an application is built to find.
If you are asked about skin conditions and you have one, say so. That is the whole of it, and the answer takes a line.
The One Version With More To It
Persistence is the exception, and it is worth knowing why.
Because warts are controlled by the immune system, warts that are unusually numerous, unusually stubborn or keep coming back after treatment are occasionally a prompt to look at immune function. That investigation, if it happened, is the meaningful entry in your history rather than the warts.
The same applies to anything managed at a sexual health clinic, which is a separate conversation with its own questions. In both cases, declare the thing that was looked into rather than the skin lesion that prompted it.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point, and this is seldom a factor in it. What is available depends on your whole health picture.
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. A verruca occasionally makes a job on your feet uncomfortable; it does not usually stop it.
Common questions
Do I have to declare warts or verrucas?+
Answer the questions you are asked. If an application asks about skin conditions and you have them, say so. For most people it is a single line and not the part of the application that takes any thought.
Will warts affect my life insurance?+
What any insurer decides depends on your whole health picture rather than one entry, so we will not predict it. A common viral skin infection that resolves is rarely the interesting part of an application.
I had one frozen off. Does that count as treatment?+
It is worth mentioning, because a clinician was involved. Pharmacy products are a different matter and are not a prescription history. Neither is likely to be the difficult part of your application.
What if I keep getting them?+
That is the version worth mentioning properly, along with anything you were investigated for. Because warts are controlled by the immune system, persistent or widespread warts occasionally prompt a look at immune function, and that investigation is the substantial entry.
Are genital warts the same question?+
Same virus family, different conversation, usually involving a sexual health clinic. If an application asks, declare it on its own terms rather than folding it into a general answer about skin.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.