If you've searched online for private medical insurance that covers asbestosis then you are probably for looking for established UK based health insurance providers that can cover your asbestosis.
Our advice when shopping around for health insurance that covers asbestosis is to speak to a insurance broker. Health insurance is very complex and if you want absolute certainty that asbestosis is covered you should consult with a medical insurance broker who can explain which providers will cover this medical condition and which will not.
There are many advantages to using a insurance broker but the biggest by far is that you're using their insurance training at no cost. They are paid by the insurer (Aviva or Bupa etc) rather than you so it costs you no extra to use their brokering services.
- Do you live in many different areas? Some will give you a lower policy premium than offers. A insurance broker will be able to advise whats best.
- Do you have a hobby that may invalidate your insurance policy? A broker will know this critical information.
- If you are a couple and one of you has claimed on your policy this year would it be cheaper to separate you both onto two different insurance policies?
- You've lean't you're at risk of developing a certain condition and want to know which insurer offers the largest amount of cover for it. A broker will know this instantly saving you so much time and effort.
You can call around every health insurance provider you can find and ask if they cover asbestosis, however this will be a very time consuming process. Each insurer will ask for your medical history because its not normally a simple yes or not if a medical condition is covered or not.
Its much quicker to speak to one health insurance broker which will know which providers on the market cover asbestosis and under what conditions they do or don't cover it.
Asbestosis Information
Asbestosis is a chronic (long-term) lung condition caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos is a general term for a group of minerals made of microscopic fibres. In the past, it was widely used in construction.
Asbestos can be very dangerous. It does not present a health risk if it is undisturbed, but if material containing asbestos is chipped, drilled, broken or allowed to deteriorate, it can release a fine dust that contains asbestos fibres.
When the dust is breathed in, the asbestos fibres enter the lungs and can gradually damage them over time. For asbestosis to develop, prolonged exposure to relatively high numbers of the fibres is necessary. However, it is not the only factor, as many people avoid getting asbestosis, despite heavy exposure.
Read more about the causes of asbestosis.
Breathing in asbestos fibres may eventually scar the lungs of some people, which can lead to a number of symptoms, including:
Nowadays, most people who are diagnosed with asbestosis were exposed many years ago, before there were effective controls on exposure to asbestos fibres in the workplace.
See your GP if you have the above symptoms and you think you may have been exposed to asbestos in the past.
Read more about diagnosing asbestosis.
There is no cure for asbestosis once it has developed, because it is not possible to reverse the damage to the lungs.
One of the most important things someone with the condition can do is to stop smoking, if they smoke. This is because the symptoms are more likely to get worse in people who smoke, and smoking also increases the risk of lung cancer in people with asbestosis.
If necessary, treatments such as oxygen therapy can improve the quality of life of someone with asbestosis.
Read more about treating asbestosis.
The outlook for asbestosis can vary significantly, depending on the extent of damage to the lungs and whether any other conditions are present.
Asbestosis can get worse over time and severe cases can place a significant strain on a person's health and shorten their life expectancy, but in many cases the condition progresses very slowly or not at all.