Imagine you bought a second-hand car that came with a dented bumper. When you go to insure it, your insurer will want to know if there’s any existing damage to the car – because they’re not going to pay to fix anything that happened before your cover started. It’s a similar story with life insurance. When you apply for life insurance, you’re asked to complete a personal statement with a range of questions about your health, pastimes and medical history.

When you make an insurance claim, the claims assessor ensures you’ve met your disclosure obligations and you’re eligible to receive a claim. They may also review your medical records to understand your medical history. If you’ve disclosed everything that’s relevant to the terms of your cover, and your claim meets the definition in your policy, your claim will be accepted.

Just because you don’t disclose something, that doesn’t mean your claim will automatically be declined. If your non-disclosure isn’t related to your claim, and the insurer would have still covered you on the same terms if they knew about your existing medical condition, there may be no impact on the claim at all. However, if the insurer wouldn’t have accepted your cover if they knew that information, your claim may not be paid. Or if your cover would have been offered on reduced terms, you may receive a reduced payment.

There’s a big difference between innocently forgetting to tell your insurer about a medical condition and deliberately leaving something out, you know will be relevant to your cover. When assessing non-disclosure, an insurer will review each case on its merits to establish what is fair and reasonable – taking into account how the non-disclosure came about. Insurers don’t decline claims lightly. They’re there to ensure anything relevant to your cover is known from day one, so your policy is tailored to you and fairly priced.

Once you’ve made the right upfront disclosures and your cover is accepted, your insurer can’t change what you’re covered for, or charge you more if your personal risks change. In other words, you’ve locked in the value of your insurance from day one, and you can be confident there’ll be no surprises if you need to claim.