Insurance & Type 1

Hi Folks

A quick newbie intro from me before introducing the topic:

Male, 40 years old, type 1 since aged 14. Pump user since November 2009, basal-bolus pen user prior to that. Well controlled with HbA1c usually coming in around 6.


Ok, so, onto the story: I've not had my own car insurance policy for a good few years, having just been a named driver on my partner's policy and today I bought a car and called up a broker to see if they could find me a reasonably priced policy of my own. Get to the question about disabilities and I declared my diabetes and told the chap that it comes under "DVLA aware/No restrictions". He then asks me: "How many units of insulin per day do you take"? Well, I was somewhat flummoxed by this and told him that I was unable to answer the question accurately due to the fact that my total daily dosage can vary drastically depending on what I eat, whether I exercise or not, whether I'm stressed with work etc. etc. "Besides", I told him "a diabetic's daily dosage offers zero insight into how well controlled they are." He seemed to think I was being awkward and told me that he was obliged to provide insurance companies with this information and that he'd never had problems getting a response from other diabetics, which lead me to believe that such individuals must still be controlled by a twice-daily injection regime, because anyone on basal-bolus or a pump knows that the whole point of such is that you do have the flexibility to adjust dosages according to your habits and activities.

I came away from the conversation feeling annoyed that there is obviously some belief among insurance companies that large or small dosages are somehow indicative of good or bad control, when we, the sufferers of this condition, know full well that a myriad of factors (not least your age, weight and size!) can be involved in determining dosage and that these factors can change on a daily, if not an hourly basis.

I am reliably informed that insurance companies are forbidden by law to discriminate against customers with diabetes if the DVLA has seen fit to grant them a full licence with no restrictions and yet it would seem that policy adjustment is being made if such questions are still being asked.

Anybody had any similar experiences?

The broker called back this afternoon and quoted me £2000 for a year's insurance....yikes!

Aside from a lack of no claims bonus, there's nothing about my circumstances that would bump a quote up to those heady heights. Indeed, I have been discriminated against.

Well, I'm not sure I'll be pursuing a complaint but I'll certainly be going elsewhere to get my insurance!

Froobes said:

I find this even with my Diabetic Nurse (sorry to go off subject a little). But for every review I have she asks how many units I inject per day and as you said - it greatly depends! I couldn't give an accurate answer to the question as I never eat the same thing every day. Baffling! As per Insurance companies (the Diablo), I have the same car as my friend, a Peugot 106, same year of registration, we are the same age bad 2 months, we passed around the same time 3 years ago - I was a month earlier actually, live in the same village and are both fully comprehensive. I have tried various insurers but I'm always a few hundred pounds per year more expensive than she is. Neither of us have had accidents or have any points on our license. Why should I have to pay more insurance when I'm just as careful of a driver, always check my blood sugars and never leave anything to chance?!

Click to expand...

I hear you Froobes and think your comment about the nurse is entirely relevant. The incident with the broker isn't the first time I've been asked this question - last year I had to have surgery on my right hip and in the pre-op clinic the week prior to op itself, I had both a nurse and my orthopaedic surgeon ask me exactly the same question. I won't even begin to tell you how they handled me, as a pump user, on the day of the op - that's another story altogether and a lengthy one at that.