Burial insurance after a stroke

Nothing here is medical advice and nothing here should change how anyone manages a health condition or a course of treatment. Underwriting rules differ from one insurance company to the next and change without notice. The outcome of any application is decided by the carrier on the individual case, not by a website.

The short answer

A single stroke, two or more years in the past, with a good recovery and no help needed around the house, is written at level benefit by a number of companies. That means the full amount is paid from the first day for any cause, with no waiting period.

A recent stroke, more than one stroke, or a stroke that left lasting difficulty moves the case toward a graded policy or a guaranteed issue policy. Because stroke questions are dated, the position often improves with nothing more than another twelve months passing, which makes reapplying worthwhile in a way it is not for a progressive condition.

Where a stroke history lands

General market patterns rather than a promise about any company. Every application is underwritten on its own facts.

Mini strokes are asked about too

People frequently answer no to the stroke question because what they had was a mini stroke, or a transient ischaemic attack, and it resolved within a day. That is an understandable reading and it is not what the form is asking. Almost every application names both in the same question, usually as stroke or transient ischaemic attack, sometimes adding the words mini stroke in brackets.

The distinction that does matter is how many. A single event with no lasting effect, outside the look back, is a mild answer for most companies. Repeated events read as a pattern rather than as an incident, and the market treats a pattern much more seriously even where each individual episode was brief.

What the underwriter actually asks

• The month and year of each stroke or mini stroke, listed separately.
• How many there have been in total, which is asked directly on most forms.
• Whether it was a clot or a bleed, and if a bleed, whether an aneurysm was found and whether it was repaired.
• Whether any weakness, numbness, speech difficulty or vision change remains, and whether rehabilitation was completed.
• Whether help is needed with activities of daily living, which means washing, dressing, eating, moving about and using the lavatory.
• Whether a walking frame or a wheelchair is used, and whether it is for a chronic condition.
• Whether home health care or hospice care is received.
• Whether atrial fibrillation, carotid artery disease, diabetes or heart failure is present. A stroke alongside any of those is read as one picture rather than as separate answers.
• Whether a blood thinner is taken, and whether treatment has changed recently.
• Whether tobacco or nicotine is used in any form.
• Whether any test, procedure, surgery or specialist referral has been advised and not yet carried out, and whether any result is outstanding.

The look back periods that matter

Because most of these are dated windows, the practical advice is simple. Find the exact month and year of the last event before applying. Someone turned down at twenty two months can be a straightforward level benefit case at twenty five months with nothing in between, and applying twice is far better than applying once at the wrong moment.

What the stroke left behind matters more than the stroke

This is the part that surprises people. The questions about daily living sit near the top of every application, they carry no time limit, and they apply whatever the underlying cause. Somebody who needs help washing or dressing is a guaranteed issue case on those questions alone, even if the stroke that caused it happened eight years ago and would otherwise have aged out completely.

The reverse is also true and it is the more common situation. Somebody who had a significant stroke, completed rehabilitation, and now manages independently with perhaps a slight weakness on one side is answering no to the daily living questions, and the stroke itself becomes a dated event like any other. Describe the recovery accurately rather than modestly, because the form is asking what help is needed and not how the stroke felt.

Where a stroke sits alongside a cardiac history or diabetes, expect the file to be read as one picture. Those combinations are asked about specifically on many forms.

What makes an application better or worse

Better. One event, well outside the look back, with the exact month and year to hand. A completed rehabilitation and a return to normal activity. No help needed at home. Stable medication. No tobacco. Blood pressure treated and settled. No second serious condition alongside it.

Worse. More than one event. An event inside the last year. Lasting weakness or speech difficulty. Any help needed with daily living. An untreated aneurysm. Current tobacco use. A stroke combined with atrial fibrillation, heart failure or kidney failure. Anything a doctor has advised that has not been carried out.

How much cover to buy

Buy to the bill rather than to a round number. A burial once the cemetery has billed commonly totals about $15,395. Funeral home charges alone for a service with viewing and a metal casket run about $8,300. A cremation with a service is nearer $6,280, and a direct cremation nearer $2,202. The calculator gives your own state figure in a few seconds.