When applying for insurance, it is important to declare all material information – those you know and ought to know. If in doubt, just declare it. You cannot go wrong “over declaring” it but you can go very wrong if you do not declare it. In the event that you did not declare a material information, your insurer can avoid the entire contract and thus render the contract null and void. This will result in you having no coverage even for those illnesses that is unrelated to the non-declaration. 

Non-declaration of material information is known as the breach of goodfaith. This can be so serious that if you think you have something important to disclose – you should disclose it even if you are not asked in the questionnaire. It is not sufficient to declare to the financial adviser. You must declare it in the proposal form. If you have an information which you considered material and the financial adviser discourages you from declarating, you must not deal with the financial adviser. You should lodge a complain to the financial adviser’s firm that you have been ill advised not to declare an information you considered material. The reason why the financial adviser would discourage you from declaring is because if the insurance application is rejected, the adviser will not get a commission.

 

It is better for you to have an insurance rejected from the onset than to waste paying premium for an insurance contract which is null and void due to non-declaration of material information.