How endo, breast lumps, and HPV can impact your insurance cover
If you're a woman in Australia and you've ever had period pain, PCOS, or a family history of breast cancer, there’s something you should know: it could affect your personal insurance. Yep, the stuff that’s already annoying and hard to manage might also come back to bite when you apply for cover.
Azaria Bell, adviser at Skye, sat down with Phil to dive deep into the link between women’s health and insurance and discussed what actually happens when you apply for trauma insurance or income protection with things like endo or breast lumps in your history.
Endometriosis: You can still get covered, but...
Endo is more common than you think. One in nine Aussie women has it (SOURCE: Jean Hailes). But when it comes to insurance, it gets complicated.
If you’ve got symptoms and a diagnosis, chances are you’ll get an exclusion. That means if anything happens in future related to your endo, you’re not covered for it. But you are covered for everything else.
In some cases, insurers might charge you more (this is called a loading) instead of excluding it entirely.
“You can be a very healthy person and still unfortunately have some insurances declined.”
Good news? If you’re managing it well or had successful treatment, the exclusion can be reviewed and removed later.
Breast cancer and family history: The fine print
You don’t need to have cancer for it to impact your policy. Just having a family history of breast cancer can lead to exclusions, especially if your mum or sister was diagnosed before 50.
Even something as benign as a breast lump (like a fibroadenoma) can trigger exclusions—even when your doctor says it’s nothing to worry about.
“Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in Australia and accounts for approximately 28 per cent of all new cancers in Australian women. ”
Azaria shared that in a recent pre-assessment with five different insurers, outcomes ranged significantly:
✅ Some were willing to offer standard rates
⚠️ Others applied a loading
⛔ A few added exclusions
This is exactly why working with an adviser matters. One application doesn’t mean one outcome—and comparing options behind the scenes can change everything.
Can you claim income protection for period pain?
Period pain and other cyclical symptoms are rarely part of an income protection claim, mainly because of how most policies are structured. These types of policies usually have a waiting period (often 30 days) before any benefits kick in. And if your symptoms don’t stop you from working for that long in a row, it’s unlikely a claim would be successful.
So while period pain isn’t excluded by default, most people just don’t reach the point where they’d qualify for a claim. You’re more likely to rely on sick leave or annual leave to manage those days.
“Technically, there’s no mechanism for insurers to say, we are not covering you for period pain... What you’d probably find though, is you probably wouldn’t get to the point of claiming.”
That said, if you’re living with something like severe endo or chronic pelvic pain, and it significantly impacts your ability to work long-term, that’s when the conversation shifts. It becomes less about sick days—and more about how your condition affects your livelihood.
And like with any health history, it’s worth checking with an adviser to see how your personal situation might be treated.
HPV, cervical cancer, and how it impacts your cover
Cervical cancer affects around 900 women in Australia each year, and while screening programs help detect early changes, the impact of a diagnosis—or even an abnormal result—can extend beyond health and into your insurance (SOURCE: Cancer Australia).
From an insurance perspective? A positive HPV test can trigger an exclusion—especially on trauma insurance. That means if you were later diagnosed with cervical cancer, and HPV had been flagged during underwriting, you might not be covered.
“If you do have HPV… insurers are likely to place an exclusion for cervical cancer on your trauma insurance.”
This isn’t permanent, though.
If you’ve had an abnormal test and return in 12 months with an all-clear result—and go back to your regular five-year screening schedule—your adviser can request the insurer to remove the exclusion.
However, if the doctor recommends another follow-up in another 12 months just to keep an eye on things (common in older women), the exclusion may remain until you're truly back on the 5-year path.
“They want to wait until you’re back to the five year [interval].”
Once your cover is in place and underwritten, though? You don’t need to report future changes to your health—unless you’re making a claim.
“Once you’ve got your insurance in place… you don’t need to tell the insurance company anything about your health unless you’re making a claim.”
So the key takeaway? Get your insurance in place early, while you’re in the clear—because once something’s flagged on your record, it has to be disclosed.
What to do if you have a diagnosis (or even just symptoms)
Your best move? Ask your adviser about doing a pre-assessment.
“Before we apply for any cover, I would send an anonymous note off to all of our insurers that we work with and say, here’s the situation, what are you going to offer us?”
Why it matters:
You’ll know upfront if an insurer will offer standard cover, apply a loading, or add an exclusion
You can compare offers before committing
You won’t risk getting declined and having it on your record
And if your health changes after you’ve already got cover in place? You actually don’t have to tell the insurer anything until you claim.
Which means:
You don’t need to update the insurer every time you have a new scan, test, or diagnosis
Your policy is based on the health info you shared when you applied—not after
If something changes later, the insurer has to honour the terms you locked in
Why this matters
Here’s the thing: insurers aren’t evil. They’re just conservative. They assess risk based on data. So if something in your health history statistically leads to more claims, they manage that with exclusions or higher premiums.
But that doesn’t mean you should avoid insurance. In fact, it’s the opposite. The earlier you get it—before symptoms, diagnoses, or scans—the more likely you are to get better cover. Get insurance before the test, not after. Because once it’s on your record, it has to be disclosed.” If you’re young, healthy(ish), and want to future-proof your finances, now is the time to act. Not when you’re already dealing with a diagnosis.
“Get insurance when you’re young, healthy and [have] no issues.”
The system’s catching up—but you don’t have to wait
Whether it’s painful periods, family history, or navigating recovery, women’s health deserves more clarity when it comes to insurance.
And that change starts with information.
The more you know, the better you can protect yourself—and your future. So ask the questions, bring up the awkward stuff, and get advice that actually understands your lived experience.
Because insurance isn’t just paperwork. It’s a plan that puts you first.
📚 Resources
Jean Hailes for Women’s Health – Endometriosis stats
Health Direct - Endometriosis
Breast Cancer Network Australia – Breast cancer risk in families
Cancer Australia – Cervical cancer and HPV info