Life Insurance Companies That Will Accept People With Bipolar Disorder (Compare Rates)

When you live with bipolar disorder, the prospect of getting life insurance might feel intimidating. America has made progress in its attitude towards mental illness, but there is still a great deal of stigma.

People with bipolar disorder are considered higher risk than those without, so it might seem easier to simply skip the insurance and deal without. However, finding life insurance for those with bipolar disorder is not impossible.

Whether or not you can get life insurance quotes when you have bipolar disorder depends on many factors. The primary consideration is the severity of your diagnosis. Many people with bipolar disorder qualify for regular life insurance — even a moderate diagnosis is eligible for standard insurance.

People with a mental illness shouldn’t feel nervous about seeking life insurance to protect their loved ones. Finding life insurance companies that will accept people with bipolar disorder doesn’t have to be a challenge, and we can help. Enter your ZIP code into our free tool to start looking at quotes today.

Life Insurance Companies That Will Accept People With Bipolar Disorder

In the U.S., about 2.3 million people have bipolar disorder. Also known as manic-depression, bipolar disorder causes euphoric highs and deep lows. These mood swings can affect people a few times a year or multiple times a day.

The good news for people with bipolar disorder is that finding life insurance isn’t much different from anyone else. The two defining factors on how bipolar disorder will affect your chances of getting a life insurance policy are the severity of your diagnosis and the effectiveness of your treatment.

This means that most people with bipolar disorder will qualify for a standard life insurance plan of their choice, either term or whole life. However, even if you have severe bipolar disorder that you struggle to control, you can still buy a guaranteed issue policy.

Even with bipolar disorder, most companies will work with you. It might actually be harder to find life insurance companies that don’t accept people with bipolar disorder. However, the following companies are often praised by mental health advocates.

Lincoln Financial Group

Lincoln Financial provides life insurance at affordable rates to people considered high risk. This includes people with a mental health issue and applicants with other health risks, advanced age, and dangerous lifestyle choices, like smoking.

As far as affordable life insurance companies that accept people with bipolar disorder, Lincoln Financial is one of the best. On average, it offers cheap life insurance options and several plans.

Those options include standard term life insurance, permanent life, guaranteed issue, and plans that don’t require exams.

Prudential Financial

Like Lincoln Financial, Prudential offers affordable life insurance options for people with bipolar disorder. They also provide life insurance for people with intellectual disabilities, medical conditions, and high-risk lifestyles.

Prudential is more lenient towards risk factors other companies frown on, including smokers and people with clinical depression. It also has a reputation for being affordable no matter your risk level.

This company offers standard term and whole life policies, but it does not offer no-exam plans.

John Hancock Financial

Aside from offering fantastic life insurance coverage, Hancock is well-known for its superior customer service. If positive interactions with your life insurance staff are important to you, Hancock is worth checking out. It also consistently ranks well with rating companies like A.M. Best.

One of the more exciting features of John Hancock life insurance is its vitality program. Essentially, the more healthy habits you engage in, the better your rates will be. A healthy habit for people with bipolar disorder includes consistently taking your medication and following your treatment plan.

John Hancock offers term, whole, and guaranteed issue life insurance policies.

AIG

While AIG suffers from a high number of customer complaints because they have longer wait times than the average life insurance company, they offer unique plans and are willing to work with mental health issues.

AIG has two term life policies, one of which includes the Select-a-Term plan. With this plan, you get to choose exactly how long your life insurance will last.

AIG also offers whole life and guaranteed issue whole life.

Banner Life Insurance Company

Banner averages fewer customer complaints, but the minimum coverage it offers may be higher than some customers want. Regardless, Banner is an excellent choice for people with bipolar disorder.

Banner offers term life policies in terms between 10 and 40 years, with minimum coverage of $100,000. Banner doesn’t offer whole life, but you can get a universal plan that covers you for life and has a guaranteed cash value.

Enter your ZIP code into our free tool to start looking at quotes today.

How do you get life insurance when you have bipolar disorder?

The steps you need to take to get life insurance when you have bipolar disorder are very similar to those anyone else has to take.

If you want a standard whole or term life insurance policy, you’ll need a physical examination. Life insurance companies use your exam results to determine how much coverage they’ll offer you, how much you’ll have to pay for it, and if they are even able to insure you in the first place.

What if you leave out your bipolar disorder on your application? While omission might be tempting, doing so is considered fraud and will negate your application and leave you marked as uninsurable. Companies use more than your application and medical exam to evaluate if they want to insure you — they also consider your medical and prescription history.

Therefore, it’s best to be upfront about your diagnosis. You should also be as helpful as you can since many mental healthcare professionals are often hesitant to share patient information. If you alert your doctor about your life insurance policy, the application process will go much smoother.

When you have bipolar disorder, you’ll be asked a series of questions about your experience. These can include:

• What treatment plan are you following?
• Do you have any other health conditions, mental or physical?
• Is your treatment plan effective at controlling your symptoms?
• Are you maintaining your treatment plan?
• Have you needed hospitalization within the past year?
• What is the frequency of your symptoms?
• How has bipolar disorder affected your daily tasks?

Insurance companies are also unlikely to create a policy for you if you’ve recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The company wants to see a history of treatment before they’ll agree to a policy. It also wants to know how you react to your treatment.

Another factor that affects your rates from life insurance companies that accept people with bipolar disorder is what medications you take. For example, life insurance companies might be hesitant to insure you if you take lithium or Divalproex.

What type of insurance should you get for bipolar disorder?

There are three main types of insurance to consider when looking for rates from life insurance companies that accept people with bipolar disorder. Those are term life, whole life, and guaranteed issue life. Most people with bipolar disorder will probably qualify for term or whole, but the guaranteed issue will cover even the most severe cases.

Term Life Insurance

A term life policy covers you for a certain amount of time, known as the policy term. While every company has its own plans, the most common terms start at ten years. You’re only covered for the duration of the policy — once the term is up, your beneficiaries won’t receive a payout for your death,

Term life is appealing as a cheaper option than whole life, and it is a fantastic option for parents with young kids. It’s also perfect for people who know their beneficiaries won’t need coverage past the term.

Whole Life Insurance

This type of insurance covers you for your whole life, as its name suggests. You’ll pay more for whole life, but you’ll never have to worry about your insurance expiring.

Even though whole life costs more, it comes with more benefits than term life. Whole life policies usually have a cash value associated with them, and you can often borrow against your policy.

Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

Guaranteed life insurance policies are great options for people that find themselves unable to get standard policies. People denied life insurance due to depression, serious illnesses, or any other reason can almost always get a guaranteed issue life insurance policy.

This type of policy doesn’t require a medical exam — some don’t even ask questions. If you’ve been denied standard life insurance, a guaranteed issue policy can protect your loved ones financially. You won’t find coverage as large as you can with term or whole, but it’s better than nothing.

Find Quotes From Life Insurance Companies That Will Accept People With Bipolar Disorder

A bipolar diagnosis doesn’t have to mean that you can’t get life insurance. There are plenty of options available for you to get the coverage you need to protect your loved ones in the case of your passing.

As with all types of coverage, you should always start your search for life insurance companies that accept people with bipolar disorder by looking at quotes. If you’re ready to see what quotes might look like for you, enter your ZIP code into our free tool today.