Take out occupational disability insurance despite osteoarthritis: this is how it works!

Osteoarthritis and other joint conditions can be a reason for occupational disability. Especially in the advanced stages, swelling, pain and restrictions due to reduced mobility and lack of strength can mean that occupational activities can only be performed to a reduced extent or not at all.

Many people with osteoarthritis disease and a concluded occupational disability insurance are in the situation that the occupational disability should be recognized in the next step, because the "benefit case" has occurred.

However, this article is intended to help from a different perspective.

And that's if you don't have disability insurance yet and you suffer from osteoarthritis:

What to do if arthritis has already been diagnosed? What are the opportunities for BU coverage?

We answer the questions in this article:

• Is it possible to take out occupational disability insurance despite osteoarthritis??
• Must surcharges or exclusions be expected?
• What solutions can be obtained in practice?

So this post is all about what you can do if a condition like osteoarthritis has occurred and you don't have disability insurance yet.

Beware of "self-experimentation": We provide detailed information on our website to educate our customers in the best possible way. Please do not let this tempt you to settle your insurance issues without consulting an expert. Our years of experience have taught us: It often comes down to the little things.
Our tip: Let us advise you as experts and secure a free consultation appointment – online or offline. Also a conclusion has no additional costs for you!
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Basic information on BU and osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis refers to a degenerative joint disease or. Joint wear and tear. It is often referred to as "joint wear and tear that exceeds the normal age" and can have serious consequences.

Terms associated with osteoarthritis are: Spondylosis, spondyloarthritis, osteoarthritis, arthritis, arthrosis, rhizarthrosis, ankle arthritis, gonarthrosis, coxarthrosis, omarthrosis.

The following joints are often affected: knees, hands / fingers, feet / toes, elbows, hips, shoulders, spine and ankle joints.

… and so arthrosis – depending on the severity of the disease and depending on the occupation – can definitely trigger occupational disability.

Occupational disability insurance makes sense for osteoarthritis

The fact that it makes sense to take out occupational disability insurance before arthritis is diagnosed is probably undisputed.

So those who took care to take out disability insurance at an early stage can look to the future with greater peace of mind after being diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

Even if osteoarthritis isn't causing severe limitations yet but has already been diagnosed, having disability insurance in place beforehand provides peace of mind.

If, on the other hand, you suffer from osteoarthritis and have not yet taken out occupational disability insurance, the following sections may be of interest to you.

Because osteoarthritis can result in long periods of absence or even permanent incapacity for work – and we would like to insure against this risk.

Practical examples: Occupational disability in case of osteoarthritis

a) Example of occupational disability due to osteoarthritis in the fingers

As an example of restriction in one's profession, one can mention first and foremost activities in which precise and delicate tasks have to be performed (veterinarian, mechanic, watchmaker). But also activities involving work on the computer (secretary: typing on the PC) can be severely hampered.

b) Example of occupational disability due to spondylarthrosis (spine)

As an example in this degenerative disease of the spine, activities that require lifting heavy weights can be cited. For example, physical work in production or in the warehouse.

Before we show you practical solutions for taking out disability insurance despite osteoarthritis, we would like to show you which pre-existing conditions often lead to rejections, exclusions or risk surcharges … and whether osteoarthritis is one of them.

What pre-existing conditions cause problems when taking out disability insurance?

The following table shows illnesses, due to which the conclusion of an occupational disability insurance is often (but not always) either a) rejected, b) is accepted with benefit exclusion or c) is accepted with premium surcharge.

Whether it really comes to the refusal or acceptance under certain conditions, again depends heavily on the individual case and the severity of the disease. In addition, the profession practiced must always be related to the disease.

The following table can therefore only provide a clue regarding pre-existing conditions:

As you can see from this list, there are not generally difficulties in concluding an occupational disability insurance policy in the case of osteoarthritis – i.e. neither in the sense of rejections nor in the sense of assumptions with special conditions.

The situation is different, for example, with rheumatism. The reason for this is that rheumatism (= autoimmune reaction of the body) and osteoarthritis have fundamentally different causes. Even if both diseases show similar symptoms.

If in doubt, always ask us and describe your individual situation. Based on our practical experience, we also know approaches to solutions that you probably do not think of immediately.

Which solutions can be obtained despite arthrosis?

Is it possible to have disability insurance despite osteoarthritis? And if so, how?

As a general rule, premium surcharges or refusals are to be expected in the case of pre-existing conditions – how high these risk surcharges are or whether a refusal is made depends on the individual case.

This is because the risk of becoming disabled is higher with known pre-existing conditions than without known pre-existing conditions.

Therefore, ask yourself:

• How serious is your condition?
• How much does your illness limit you in terms of your occupational activity??
• What are the complicating factors? Which factors have a positive effect?

The more serious the illness and the greater the restrictions, the more expensive or difficult it is for you to take out occupational disability insurance. Exclusion of arthritis or rejection of the application cannot be ruled out in severe cases.

In the same way, however, good progress and other positive factors can have a very good effect on the premiums and the conclusion of disability insurance.

Note: By the way, there is no obligation for insurers to insure you: That's because occupational disability insurance is a voluntary policy. So there is no obligation to assure you "somehow". In the case of voluntary insurance, insurers are "free to decide" which risks they wish to insure and which risks they do not wish to insure.

What you should therefore do?

In principle, the following always applies: ask an independent expert and under no circumstances make a non-anonymous inquiry to insurers on your own initiative!

A non-anonymous request could result in an entry about you, which in the worst case could affect not only a single insurer, but several insurance companies.

In addition, the insurer's response may also depend on how the condition is presented – as a layperson, you may unknowingly choose wording that will almost always result in an exclusion or rejection. Even if you were actually well insurable.

In addition, insurability can vary greatly from case to case.

With our years of experience as independent insurance brokers we are happy to assist you!

We work with anonymous risk pre-inquiries to protect our customers from the consequences of a rejection and a listing.

This is how we as insurance brokers proceed

After you contact us, we will take care of your matter:

• Together we discuss the severity of the disease and your wishes for coverage.
• We will then jointly complete a questionnaire or. Fill out an anonymous risk request form.
• We send this anonymous preliminary risk inquiry to various insurers.
• We then receive feedback from the individual insurers: these can be a) assumptions, b) assumptions with risk surcharges or exclusions, and c) rejections.
• From this feedback, we will assess your situation and together we will choose the best solution for you.

This approach protects you because the insurer has no way of identifying you. It also gives us meaningful feedback from insurers on whether insurability is available and under what conditions.

How promising the offers are depends on the severity of the condition on the one hand and on our joint approach on the other hand.

To implement your insurance coverage, the final decision is yours: Which provider makes you the best offer? Are there surcharges or even exclusions or rejections? What solution can you imagine?

We would like to identify and implement these solutions by talking to you and based on your personal situation.