24/08/2021
Easing your anxiety with Mental Health Protection Provision
What are the primary causes of mental health challenges in 2021? Does your own Income Protection provision cover you for this?
The mainstream media has blamed Covid and lockdown for causing a surge in new cases of mental health conditions among the population. And to many this would be an inevitable and logical conclusion to draw. But let us consider an alternative.
If click-bait news is parked to one side for just a moment and the statistics of the Income Protection industry considered in its place, a different narrative emerges, challenging popular conception of how the nationโs mental health is currently shaping up.
Steve Berry of Protection Guru, an insurance analysis publication, has produced a comprehensive overview, incorporating at-a-glance tables of which Income Protection providers cover which elements of mental health treatments, and the range of conditions being claimed for.
https://protectionguru.co.uk/blue-monday-how-providers-mental-health-support-compares/
What leaps off the page is that relatively few new anxiety-based claims list Covid as the cause. This clearly demonstrates that the other commonly recognized causes of anxiety, such as bereavement, work-stress, relationship breakdown have not been replaced with Covid-related mental illness. True, lockdown may have exacerbated existing conditions. But the reality check, and potential unexpected news, is that Covid per se has not been the cause, contrary to popular schools of thought.
Another thought-provoking concern is that not all Income Protection providers are created equal in the arena of mental health provision. Surprisingly, for these enlightened times, some companies are shockingly behind the curve, while others are leading the industry. This is the 21st century and the evidence is documented: stress and anxiety require a level of cover akin to that of the dread diseases. Those companies who have fallen behind the curve are being challenged but profess reluctance to add mental health issues to the list of conditions they cover, despite the potential loss in market share.
Early intervention can prove the key to future mental illness cover
The main differential between mental illness claims and those of other diseases is how the providers deal with the claims. They look at how the condition has been treated up to the point of claiming. Has the applicant sought help? When did they do this? Were they prescribed medication? Therapy? Addressing mental illness before applying for cover increases the likelihood of it being granted. Better to reach out for the help you need than bury your head, ignore it and worsen the situation, both health and finance-wise.
The long-term effects of Covid on our mental health are for future conversation. It is inevitable that even the hardiest of people will have been impacted by this surreal time. But these statistics do not exist yet. And the focus of the here and now is that the cause is not the critical debate. Instead, it is the willingness of the Protection providers to acknowledge mental health within their remit which must, in some cases, improve. Those falling short need to adapt their products to better cater for this growing market.
Does this alternative perspective ring true with you? If so, please get in touch with us.
At HB Partners Mortgages and Protection, you will be greeted by a team of professional consultants who, to put it mildly, love talking to their clients about these types of situations. We recognise that everyone is unique and welcome your call and for you to tell us about your own set of circumstances. Nothing would give us greater satisfaction than to work with you to find you the protection you need.
the importance of mental health protection provision. To get expert advice, please call us on 0203 926 6001 or visit https://hbpartners.org.uk/life-insurance/income-protection.
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