Applicants who have had mild depression and have fully recovered for at least 1-2 years can expect to pay standard premium rates.
A loading may apply for serious or ongoing cases of depression.
It is still possible to take out life insurance in Australia if you suffer from depression. However, you will be required to provide details of their condition. This can include:
Have depression symptoms affected your relationships with family or friends or reduced your ability to socialise, eat, sleep or engage in physical activities?
How many episodes of depression do you experience and how long do they typically last?
Have you received treatment for this condition? If so, what type of treatment was given including counseling, medication or hospitalisation. What is the dosage of any medications taken for depression?
If applicable, what is the name of the doctor, therapist or psychologist you have visited. Provide contact information.
Are you still receiving treatment, and if not, what was the last date of treatment?
Have you been hospitalised as a result of depression or depression symptoms?
Have you contemplated or attempted suicide?
Is there a history of depression in your family?
Discrimination against depression
There are cases of discrimination among insurance providers, reasoning that depression is easy to fake or not easily treatable. As such they often exclude it from their cover.
Depression, a complex mental issue, is often generalised and put in the same category as schizophrenia, with no distinction made for level of severity or previous treatment, leaving hopeful applicants ineligible. Worse, those who have life insurance often find the claim process impossible as they learn too late that it is excluded from their cover. A recent survey made by Mental Health Council of Australia showed that out of 500 respondents suffering from depression, 45% were denied income protection and 35% denied life insurance cover.
The Health Council together with other medical organisations made a Memorandum of Understanding to improve the underwriting and claim process for depression and anxiety. This includes provisions concerning the close monitoring of complaints concerning this sort of discrimination.
How is depression assessed by insurance companies?
Because of the vigilance of organisations like the Mental Health Council of Australia, a lot of progress has been made and people suffering from depression and anxiety can now find life insurance cover despite their illness. Underwriters, wanting to lessen the risk as much as possible, will give you a standard-plus or preferred rating based on the following underwriting standard or basis for those with mental illness.
Taking out insurance if you have a history of depression requires:
Control – If you are suffering from or diagnosed with depression, insurance providers want to have as much information how you are being treated and monitored by your physician. It includes the medication you are taking and in what stage of treatment you are in at the moment of application. They would also want to know whether you are following your doctor’s prescription to keep the depression under control.
Compliance – Insurance providers are also concerned if you are complying with your doctor’s schedule for follow-through, how much dosage you are taking and how often you are taking the medication. Therefore, if you are thinking of getting life insurance and you have depression, follow your doctor’s orders.
Complete medical record – Whether or not you are suffering from depression or another illness, your insurance provider will still request your medical records for reference - and it’s important that you disclose anything that might impact your insurance policy. Failure to disclose such details might lead to your ineligibility during claim time. On the other hand, giving as much necessary information as possible gives the impression that your depression is under control.
Should you be eligible for cover, insurance providers will generally draw up different life insurance terms for you based on their company policy. Possible terms you may be offered include a shorter contract term, higher premiums, or additional exclusions.
You have the right to ask for an explanation of the decision or seek cover from another company if you are unhappy with their rating. As regulations improve, it is becoming easier to find providers more than willing to provide cover for you, however, some requirements will still apply. As more and more insurance providers join in the industry, competition grows so does your opportunity to find cover despite your history of depression.
Australian Counselling Services for People Suffering from Mental Illness/Depression
Maurice Thach is a publisher at Finder who covers anything that sounds hard to compare. This includes life insurance policies, side hustle ideas and energy plans. Maurice has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales, a Tier 2 General Insurance certification and a Tier 1 Life Insurance certification. Outside of work, you'll probably find Maurice hitting up the nearest basketball court. See full bio
You can get life insurance if you have a pacemaker. We explain how it works in this guide.
Feedback
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.