The Importance of Disclosing Your Diabetes Condition on Life Insurance Applications

Last Updated on April 29, 2026

Let’s say you have diabetes and need to obtain life insurance, or you already have life insurance and were just diagnosed with diabetes. Or what if you are a beneficiary to a life insurance policy and your claim for benefits was denied because the insured died from diabetes-related causes, and did not disclose that he or she had diabetes?

This article will explore the nexus between diabetes and life insurance, for both the insured and his or her beneficiaries. We know many people out there don’t quite understand that it is imperative to be 100% honest when you apply for life insurance with diabetes.

Disclosing Diabetes to the Life Insurance Company

The Life Insurance Application and Medical Questionnaire

If you know you have gestational diabetes,  Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, this must be disclosed on your application for life insurance and medical questionnaire. If you fail to disclose it, your life insurance company will deny your beneficiaries’ death benefit claims due to misrepresentation. Every life insurance company will ask about a history of diabetes on the health question portion of the application.

Why can claims be denied due to misrepresentation on a life insurance application? Simply put, the insurance company would have charged you higher premiums or perhaps not insured you at all had it known of your condition. In the event an insurance company discovers undisclosed health conditions at time of your application, this gives them the right to contest your death claim.  And to possibly not pay it out to the designated beneficiary. 

When you apply for life insurance coverage, life insurance companies will do what is referred to as an underwriting process.  This underwriting process may require a review of :

• Recent medical records 
• A paramedical examination
• Prescription drug review
• Motor Vehicle Report 
• Medical Information Bureau review, 
• Or even a credit check in some situations involving higher amounts of coverage

It will be very tough to hide your condition of any type of diabetes on insurance applications.  However, if you do apply to a company that doesn’t require any of these background reports, there may be a chance that your omission of diabetes will slip by.

Many people are under the assumption that a no medical exam life insurance policy will guarantee you of being approved.  That is not the case.  Life insurance carriers who do not require medical records nor blood/urine testing will do a MIB and prescription drug background check.  If you check NO for diabetes history or treatment, and the company sees you are being prescribed medication for diabetes, you will be declined on the spot.

We cannot stress enough that you always want to be 100% honest on any type of insurance application.  Lying on an application is illegal, and could cause for your death claim to not pay out to your family. Or if an insurance company catches you lying, they can always cancel your policy at a future date.

What if I get Diagnosed with Diabetes After I have a Policy?

For many people, you may have already obtained a life insurance policy at a younger age before you were diagnosed with diabetes.  If this is the case, you do NOT have to notify your agent or your insurance company.

Life insurance companies issue your policy based on your health at time of application.  If your health were to change after you have a policy, your rates will not increase, nor will you be dropped from the policy. Again, any time you have a change in health, there is NO reason to contact your insurance agent, nor insurance carrier.

In the event you would reapply for an additional life insurance policy in the future, the new policy would be ‘priced’ off your current overall health.  Having diabetes will more than likely make your policy more expensive compared to a person who doesn’t have a type of diabetes.  While we feel it’s unfair, it’s the reality of the situation.  Life insurance underwriters always view a person with diabetes as a higher risk compared to a non diabetic.

It would be wise to contact Diabetes 365, share with us your diabetes and health profile, and allow us the opportunity to explore what life insurance options are available to you.  Being specialists in all things diabetes and life insurance related we promise to help you obtain the best life insurance policies possible.

Getting Death Benefits Paid when the Insured Died from Complications Related to Diabetes

If Diabetes was Disclosed, the Death Benefit Should Be Paid

If for some reason your claim for death benefits was denied and the insured’s cause of death was related to diabetes, you need to find out the reason the claim was denied.  Frequently insurance companies will deny death benefit claims when the insured died while abroad, within the 2-year contestability period, or under circumstances which indicate that it might have been murder or suicide.

When a person passes away in the first 24 months of a policy, the life insurance company has the ability to contest the death claim.  They may re-review medical records, foreign travel history, or search for other lifestyle issues that may not have been disclosed previously.  We’ve even heard of investigators reviewing social media platforms for any type of evidence that may show you were not honest about your lifestyle.  In event they find any material misrepresentations on the application, they can deny the death claim.

In these cases, if the cause of death was related to diabetes and the insured disclosed his or her condition to the insurance company, the initial denial can be overturned and the benefit, while delayed, will be paid.  By law, an insurance company must pay the full death benefit to the listed beneficiaries. As you very well know, many people with diabetes may have a complication such as Neuropathy or Retinopathy.

If Diabetes was not Disclosed, the Death Benefit Might Still Be Paid

What if the Insured did not know he or she had diabetes?

If the insured died of diabetes-related causes and did not know he or she had diabetes, the insurance company only has an argument to deny payment of the death benefit if it can show that the insured had to have known about his or her condition and failed to disclose it. It sounds crazy, but sometimes a person may be an undiagnosed diabetic at the time of applying for life insurance.

If there is any evidence at all that the insured knew he or she had diabetes, the insurance company might settle with the beneficiaries for some amount less than the full benefit to take into consideration the higher premiums the insured should have been paying as a diabetic.

Issues like these rarely ever occur.  If a person is seeing a Doctor on a regular basis, they will have updated blood work that is tested for diabetes.  These lab results will show if a person is pre-diabetic, or if they actually fall in the range of having type 1 or type 2 diabetes.  When your Doctor reviews your lab results, A1C results will be included.  Any medical practitioner will be aware of elevated A1C levels and will be able to properly diagnose a diabetes diagnosis.

What if the insured knew but did not update his or her life insurance policy?

Death claim will 100% be paid to the beneficiary.  Again, your health profile and eligibility is determined at the time of application.  If your health changes in the future, and your policy is in force at time of death, the insurance company by law must pay out the full death benefit. We assure you that getting diabetes after your insurance policy is issued will not impact current rates, nor the payout of the death benefit.

Getting Death Benefits Paid When a Diabetic Insured Died from Other Causes

If the insured had diabetes and failed to disclose it, and died within the 2-year contestability period, the insurance company will deny death benefit claims due to misrepresentation.  An experienced life insurance lawyer can help beneficiaries get paid by arguing that the cause of death had nothing to do with undisclosed diabetes.

AD&D Claims When the Insured has Diabetes

“Accidental Death and Dismemberment” policies provide coverage when an insured is injured or dies as a result of an accident. Death from diabetes is not an accident as it is death due to complications from the disease. For this reason, death benefits will likely not be paid if the death was caused by complications related to diabetes.

However, if an insured with diabetes dies or is severely injured accidentally, in some way unrelated to diabetes, the AD&D policy will payout. For example, if the insured is thrown from a horse, or is in a car accident, or falls while skiing, these are all accidents covered under AD&D.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, if you have diabetes and you are applying for  life insurance, you must disclose your condition to the life insurance company if you expect your beneficiaries to be paid. If you do not, you risk denial of your beneficiaries’ claims. Why would you do that when you have been paying premiums all these years?  There is no reason why you would want to jeopardize the payout to your family, or to the designated beneficiary.

Diabetes 365 was created to be an online resource that covers everything that is diabetes related.  Especially life insurance related topics involving a person with diabetes.  We love helping out those who have a type of diabetes obtain the best possible life insurance policy possible.

Diabetes Life Insurance experts at Diabetes 365 are always happy to speak with you, and answer any questions you may have about the life insurance application process.  We only work with the diabetes community, so we understand your concerns and are happy to answer any questions.  Please contact us at 844-281-1503 to speak with a licensed agent.