Partnership has revealed that Diabetics are one group that often under-declare in their medical questionnaire when applying for an enhanced annuity. Sufferers of kidney disease and arthritis are also often found under-declaring about their condition.
The research about non-disclosure and under-declaring was carried out by Partnership’s actuaries and Partnership is urging people to declare everything. The enhanced annuity provider believes that some individuals don’t always declare their medical condition for a number of reasons, embarrassment, fears that it could negatively impact on their pension and through oversight or because they assume that by declaring their medication they have already ‘declared’ their condition.
The research went on to reveal that differences in disclosure not only depended on the type of condition that the client has, but also on the following:
1. Impairment level:
• Clients who are close to being “healthy” may be ignoring the effect any low impact conditions will have on their annuity. People suffering from mild conditions may not consider themselves to be unhealthy but should still fully disclose as they may receive a higher annuity than they might expect.
2. 1st/ 2nd life:
• Levels of under-disclosure and non-disclosure are higher on the second life. In other words clients may be losing value because they are not disclosing fully on behalf of their partner in a joint-life policy.
Andrew Megson, Managing Director of Retirement at Partnership, said; “Enhanced annuities can make a dramatic difference to someone’s retirement income, so we are urging individuals – no matter what their condition – to declare as much of their medical condition as possible. Many of our clients, Diabetics and kidney disease sufferers, for example, could be missing out on very real benefits from their enhanced annuity.”
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