Mortgage protection- declined due to medical reasons reversed after appeal

Sonrisa

I’ve often looked up helpful posts here about this topic so wanted to share my recent experiences in the hopes that they help someone else in the future! I applied for mortgage protection before Christmas- I was expecting a bit of hassle and probably a loading due to a few medical issues- a cancer diagnosis over 5 years ago that has been fully treated thankfully, and hasn’t given me any issues since then, and a few other minor things.

I went through a popular online broker, got my GP report and to my absolute shock I was declined. The reasons weren’t clear at all and the broker was completely useless- essentially said sorry about that, best of luck, maybe ask the bank for a waiver although from what we hear they don’t give them out very often. I got the email in work and was in tears in the bathroom thinking any chance of buying a house was gone out the window.

I put a data protection request in to the insurance company and it was clear that they had barely glanced at my application. I got a letter from my consultant and wrote a long appeal/complaint to the company, threatening to take them to the WRC under the equality act- discrimination based on disability under this act is very broad and would cover cancer and other diagnoses. While insurance companies can discriminate against you based on medical history, they have to show that this was only done based on reasonable actuarial or statistical data. You take this up with them by filling out an ES1 form within 2 months and sending it to them.

After a few more medical letters, the company offered me insurance yesterday, for only an extra 7 euro per month, and even apologized for the first decision!

So if you run into this hurdle- don’t give up hope and don’t back down! Talk to your doctors, get the extra letters and definitely take it up with the company.

Donny123456

Hello!

I’m in a very similar situation. Just a couple of questions!

do you mean a data subject request?

how was it clear they had barely glanced at your application?

did you engage with a solicitor?

thanks for this post…., giving me hope and I’d love to have the right approach!

RoboRat

I put a data protection request in to the insurance company and it was clear that they had barely glanced at my application.

How so? Surely you would just get the data they have on file. Unless they made notations on said data, I cannot see how you would know that they barely glanced at the application.

threatening to take them to the WRC under the equality act- discrimination based on disability under this act is very broad and would cover cancer and other diagnoses.

How could you take them to the WRC? Did you work for them?

I thought the WRC only dealt with matters arising from work-related issues between employer and employee. I would have thought the insurance ombudsman would have been the best course of action.

You were right to fight it, and I'm glad you got sorted but some of the details seem off.

dennyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121887565#Comment_121887565

The WRC actually does handle complaints under the Equal Status Acts, even those unrelated to employment. Bit of an odd thing, but I suppose it makes more sense than having two separate bodies handling such complaints.