Decrease your risk for heart disease
Heart disease has been known to mainly affect men and older people but current insurance claim trends show that this is no longer the case.
Although the risk of heart disease is still higher for men, the risk for women is increasing.
Hollard Life claims statistics show that heart disease is also affecting younger people more than ever before.
It’s the second leading cause of insurance claims by men and women across critical illness, life and disability cover.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa says that up to 80% of heart disease can be prevented by making healthy lifestyle choices.
A healthy lifestyle means:
- Good nutrition
Healthy eating is one of the most important things you can do for a healthier life.
- Exercise
Your heart is a muscle and needs exercise to stay fit and healthy.
- Avoiding smoking
Smoking almost triples your risk of heart disease.
- Regular check-ups
High cholesterol and blood pressure are known as the silent killers, without a regular annual check-up, most people only find out they have a problem when it’s too late.
When you’ve already had (or currently have) heart disease, you are more likely to make a critical illness or disability claim and to claim under your life cover sooner than the average person.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t get cover.
Instead of deciding not to offer you cover, an insurer may choose to do the following:
- For life cover, they may apply a ‘loading’ which means that you’ll pay a higher premium than the average person.
The additional amount that you pay is based on how severe the heart disease is or was.
- For critical illness, disability or impairment cover, they may apply an ‘exclusion’.
This means that there will be certain conditions (heart attack or stroke for example) that you won’t be able to claim for.
You’ll know upfront that you’re not covered for these conditions.
If your heath improves, you can ask for a loading or exclusion to be reviewed but there’s no guarantee that an insurer will change their original decision.
This is because you already have permanent damage to your heart and an increased risk of heart disease in the future.
Even mild heart attacks are taken very seriously.
