Unum’s medical underwriting
Medical underwriting is the process when we consider a person’s medical history and lifestyle before deciding on insurance cover. If you require underwriting, you will need to answer some questions about your health and lifestyle. This information can be provided to us via application form or tele-underwriting interview.
Application formAnswer our underwriting questions online
What questions will I be asked?
We’ll ask you a variety of questions about your:
- Physical and mental health
- Family history
- Lifestyle/hobbies
- Business travel
What you'll need to submit your online application
To submit your application you’ll need to provide us with some key pieces of information that are listed below. You can also upload additional documentation (eg: test results or medical letters) to your application as an attachment, but please make sure they are not password protected before doing so.
Password
For security purposes, you’ll need a password to submit your application. The password will be the Unum policy number requiring underwriting, which you can get from your employer or their adviser. If we have asked for underwriting for more than one policy, you can use any of these policy numbers as the password.
Email address
We’ll use your email address to confirm your identity via a confirmation email. Please ensure you have access to this email account, as you’ll need to reply to this email to submit your application form.
Medical test results
As we’ll be asking you some questions about your health and lifestyle, you may find it useful to have a copy of your most recent medical or other recent test results with you (from the last 3 years – if you have them), though this isn’t essential.
How do I submit my online application?
The online application is submitted in 3 steps. Once you have answered the application questions, you’ll be asked to:
- 1
Sign the application
Use your mouse or track pad to complete the digital signature.
- 2
Provide your email address
We will send you an email to validate your digital signature. Without a valid email address the form cannot be fully completed so please take extra care.
- 3
Respond to the confirmation email
Once you have replied to the confirmation email, your completed application will be sent directly to the Medical Underwriting team at Unum. We’ll confirm receipt via email and include a copy of your completed application.
Online application
Please note that it's not possible to save the online application so we suggest completing it in one go. If you would prefer to complete the form offline, you can download a blank PDF form here. To submit this version via email, you will need to print, sign and rescan the form. Once complete, your application should be password protected and emailed to: muw@unum.co.uk If you have any questions, please contact us on 0345 601 2177 or muw@unum.co.uk
Telephone interviewsTelephone interviews: a convenient way to get covered
Through our online booking service you can choose the date and time of your appointment, with the option to cancel or reschedule if something comes up.
What questions will I be asked?
We’ll ask a variety of questions about your:
- Physical and mental health
- Family history
- Lifestyle/hobbies
- Business travel
All interviews are carried out by our experienced underwriters in a relaxed, conversational manner. We won’t need any more than 30 minutes and it’s likely to be quicker than that.
The benefits
Using telephone interviews also means we can address any medical conditions or concerns at the time and, in most cases, make a decision immediately after the interview. All calls are strictly confidential and only used to arrange cover.
To book a telephone interview, please visit our online booking service and have your policy number to hand.
Online booking serviceIf you have any questions, please contact us on
0345 601 2177 or muw@unum.co.uk.
We may contact you
We may contact you to obtain additional information and/or clarify what you’ve told us. We may ask your GP for a report based on your medical records. Rarely, we may ask you to attend a medical examination or other tests.
Decision
Once we have reached a decision, this will be communicated to your company (usually via their financial adviser). Don’t be surprised if we don’t contact you directly. It just means that we have all the information we need.
All information submitted via our online application is protected by encryption. Please see the notes towards the end of this form for full details regarding how we process your data.
If you have any questions, please contact us on
0345 601 2177 or muw@unum.co.uk.
Frequently asked questionsFrequently asked questions about medical underwriting
No, we can use the same online application or telephone interview for both policies.
Your cover is an employee benefit, arranged by your employer. The policy documents are provided to whoever manages employee benefits at your company. If you have any questions that we do not answer here, please contact your HR team.
Under our policies, a set amount of cover is provided to eligible employees without us needing to know more about their health and lifestyle. We call this set amount the ‘non-medical limit’.
If your benefit exceeds the non-medical limit, we’ll need to know more about your health and lifestyle before we can accept the excess.
Over time, your benefit may have increased in line with your earnings. This might mean that your benefit now exceeds the non-medical limit for the first time, so we need to ask you some questions about your health and lifestyle.
Sometimes we’ll need to obtain a report from your GP, ask you to attend an examination, or have some simple blood tests. We will arrange everything and pay any doctors fees.
Once we have reached a decision about your cover, we will share this with your employer, usually via their financial advisers.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from us. This just means we are in touch with your employer’s financial advisers. Once the underwriting process is complete, your HR team will be able to tell you what we decided.
If you need help for any reason, please do contact us using the details below, or ask your HR team to contact us for you. We’ll be very happy to support you in any way we can.
One of our experienced underwriters will phone you at the agreed time and ask you questions about your health and lifestyle. The call will be recorded and we’ll use your answers to help us make an underwriting decision.
A telephone interview enables us to gather the information very efficiently and our underwriter can answer any questions you may have.
You may find it helpful to review any medical records you have access to, in preparation for the call, however this is not essential. We only ask you to tell us about the medical information you remember.
There’s no difference. The questions we ask are the same whichever route you choose. We offer three options so you can select the application process that works best for you:
- An online application. You will receive a copy of the application for your records.
- A recorded telephone interview with one of our experienced underwriters, which can be booked at a date and time that works for you.
- A PDF form which you can complete offline, in your own time.
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