Hi doctorqwerty,
For any existing insurance policies that you have:
Life Assurance - you don't need to tell them. They assessed the risk that you pose based on your health at the time you took out the policy, the premiums are set at that point and they can never be changed. If you later develop a critical illness then that is the risk they took when they agreed the insurance - their problem not yours!
Travel insurance - this is renewed each year and the insurer's risk is therefore re-assessed each year. Effectively every renewal is like starting a new policy all over again. So you need to advise them when you next renew. Many of the bigger companies have now decided not to insure diabetics - they will quote you for insurance but it provides no cover if you were to be taken ill on holiday with a diabetes related complication. But there are specialist insurance companies that do provide full cover for diabetics, and cheaper than the limited insurance that the bigger companies will offer you.
Car insurance - you need to advise your insurance company that you have been diagnosed as type-2. They generally won't increase your premium (get a different insurer if yours tries this), they generally just note their records and that is all. The danger of not telling them is that if you were to have to make a claim and they subsequently found that you are diabetic and hadn't informed them, then they could invalidate your insurance on the grounds that you have witheld information that could have influenced their decision to insure you. Like most insurers they will look for any and every possible way to get out of paying! Incidentally if you were to have an accident and your insurer cancels your policy, then technically you have been driving whilst uninsured and can be prosecuted - as if being in an accident wasn't bad enough!
DVLA - not an insurer but you do not need to inform them unless you have a PSV or HGV licence or are diagnosed as type-1.
Personal protection insurances (e.g. unemployment, payment protection, critical illness) are re-assessed each year at renewal just like travel insurance, so you will need to divulge any change in your health because this is critical to their decision whether to continue to insure you, and at what cost.
Buildings & contents insurance - your health has no implications for their risk so they are not interested in whether you are diabetic.
For any insurance you may need to take out in the future:
All types of insurance except buildings and contents will need to be told. Someone with diabetes is seen as having a higher mortality risk than a non-diabetic so unfortunately you will find the premiums a lot higher than for a non-diabetic (except for travel insurance where, by shopping around, I found that you can still get good value).
The good news is that if you follow the great advice on this forum in getting your blood sugar under control, and keeping it there, we can help you live forever!!! :lol:
