There are many, many factors affecting premiums for life cover, and certainly your diabetes will be taken into account when assessing the company's risk of paying out. That's what it's all about. As a diabetic, we all understand there is a statistically higher chance of certain things cropping up, down the line.
I don't know when you were diagnosed, but a short track record doesn't give the Life House much to go on, to assess your personal risk factors, whereas someone diagnosed longer may have more of a track record, but not great control. It's all a sliding scale of intangibles and predictions.
Secondly, well done on the great HbA1c. You are right to believe it returns a score under the diabetic thresholds. From extensive discussions with my GP (mainly about my lipids, but that's a whole different story!), it is clear there are no current definitions for those who have achieved what we have. My HbA1cs since diagnosis have been as follows:
October 13: 73 or 8.8% (How did that happen?)
February 14: 37 or 5.5%
May 14: 34 or 5.3%
August 14: 32 or 5.1%
November 14: 33 or 5.1%
There are no guidelines currently for another classification of diabetic state, or formal recognition of any reversal/remission or non-diabetic control. So, how your GP expresses your condition is up to him or her.
If you are still researching, please ensure you are talking to an advisor who can approach more than one company, as not all underwriters will view any given risk the same. Company guidelines differ, and so on.
For a few years now, it has been illegal to stipulate life cover as a condition of a mortgage offer. It is legal to insist on buildings cover, but not life cover. Depending on your circumstances, it may make absolute sense to have life cover, but if you are single, without dependent a, it may be superfluous to your financial need. You may want it, but you may not reeeaally need it, if you understand what I'm saying.
If you are single, without dependants, then Critical Illness cover can be much more valuable, but that can be somewhat tricky for diabetics, although I would ask about it. The difference is for life cover to pay out, you have to die, within the term of the policy. For critical illness cover to pay out, you must be diagnosed with, but survive for a short period, with a critical illness. The usual examples are cancer, heart attack or stroke, although most policies cover more than that.
Looking forward, and if life cover is appropriate to your needs, you will always have the option to apply for life cover. It would be u nderwritten, based on your health and medical history, at the time of the application, so if either premium rates reduce, or there is positive clarity for diabetics achieving non-diabetic HbA1c for a while, our classification may change. Provided you did not cancel any existing cover until any new application was approved at preferential terms, you would have nothing to lose by trying.
That's a very long post, which may not be completely clear, but if you have any further queries, please ask.
For the avoidance of doubt; I am not a financial advisor, and am not authorised by any regulatory body to give advice, so remarks made are my opinion, based on a number of years working in various companies, including a significant stint working with life underwriters, and leading a change programme for Mortgage regulation.
Good luck with it all. It's a minefield at the best of times, never mind adding diabetes to the mix.
