What it Means & What to Do? lion.ie

10-second summary:
If your mortgage protection application has been postponed, it means the insurer needs more medical clarity before offering cover. It’s not a decline. In many cases, cover is still possible through timing, another insurer, or a lender waiver.

If you’ve landed here, chances are you’ve already done the hard part.

You’ve saved the deposit.

You’ve found the house.

You might even be close to drawdown.

Then the insurer comes back with one word that stops everything in its tracks.

Postponed.

This is usually the bit where people panic, so let’s slow it down for a minute.

A postponement isn’t a no. It’s the insurer saying they need more certainty before they say yes.

From your side, it feels brutal. From the insurer’s side, it’s about unanswered medical questions, not assumptions about your health.

What does “postponed” actually mean in practice?

In plain English, a postponement means the insurer can’t make a final decision yet.

They’re not pricing you higher.

They’re not declining you.

They’re simply pressing pause.

This almost always happens because something in your medical history is still being investigated, followed up, or monitored.

This is the bit people often miss: insurers follow doctors, not common sense.

If your GP or consultant thinks something’s worth checking, even as a precaution, the insurer will wait until that check is finished.

The most common reasons mortgage protection gets postponed

In real life, postponements usually come down to timing rather than severity.

Some of the situations we see every week include:

• You’re awaiting the results of a scan, test, or investigation.
• You’ve been referred to a consultant, even if the appointment is months away.
• You’ve had a recent diagnosis and treatment has just started.
• There’s an old referral sitting on your GP file that was never formally closed.

From the insurer’s point of view, unanswered questions are worse than bad answers.

Once results are in, or a specialist confirms there’s nothing to worry about, many of these cases move quickly.

Why this causes problems with mortgage drawdown

If you’re buying a home in Ireland, you generally need mortgage protection in place before the bank will release funds.

So when an application is postponed, everything can suddenly feel up in the air.

This is the bit that’s hardest to accept.

The insurer isn’t being awkward. They’re deferring to your medical professional.

If your doctor believes a test or referral is necessary, the insurer will agree, even if it later turns out to be nothing.

This is why public waiting lists quietly cause so many mortgage delays. The insurer won’t move until the medical side is finished.

One practical point worth mentioning: if you’re awaiting a test or investigation, some people choose to have it done privately rather than waiting on the public system.

It can cost a few hundred euro depending on what’s involved, but once the investigation is complete, insurers are usually in a position to make a decision. For some buyers, that timing difference is the key thing.

What options do you actually have now?

This depends on why you were postponed and how close you are to drawdown.

In most cases, your options fall into one of four categories.

1. Applying to a different insurer

Different insurers assess risk differently.

One may postpone while another is prepared to proceed. Sometimes that comes with a loading. Sometimes it doesn’t.

This isn’t about shopping blindly. It’s about knowing which insurer is most understanding of your specific situation and how they’ve treated similar cases in the past.

2. Clarifying the medical position

Sometimes a postponement can be resolved with clarification from your GP or consultant.

If a referral’s no longer required, or an investigation has already been completed, that needs to be clearly stated in writing.

GPs don’t sign people off lightly. But when something genuinely isn’t an issue anymore, they sometimes will.

3. A mortgage protection waiver

If cover isn’t possible right now, the lender may consider a mortgage protection waiver.

A waiver means the bank agrees to proceed without mortgage protection once you’ve shown evidence of a postponement or decline.

This is entirely at the lender’s discretion and depends on income, existing cover, and overall affordability.

4. Waiting, even though it’s frustrating

Sometimes, the only realistic option is time.

I know that’s not what you want to hear when a house is on the line. But once investigations are complete, many postponed cases are approved.

Common appointment scenarios we see all the time

A postponement is very likely if you’re awaiting:

• Follow-up smears, colposcopy, or LLETZ results.
• Cardiac investigations such as ECGs, MRIs, or stress tests.
• Breast screening or mammograms.
• Any specialist appointment listed as “awaiting” on your GP file.
• Surgery or a surgical consultation.

Even if the referral is years old, insurers treat it as unfinished business until it’s formally closed.

How we help when someone has been postponed

This is the part most people don’t see.

We don’t just submit applications and hope for the best.

We look at timing, including whether there’s a realistic chance this can be resolved before drawdown, and how each insurer has reacted to similar situations in the past.

That often means identifying the most realistic insurer first, guiding what medical information actually helps, advising honestly when a waiver is the right move, or telling you when waiting is the safest option.

Not every case has a neat solution. Most have a clearer path than people expect.

Final word

If your application has been postponed, it doesn’t mean you won’t get the house.

It means the process needs handling carefully from here.

If you want a straight answer on what’s realistic in your situation, complete our short medical questionnaire and we’ll take a proper look before anything goes further.

Or, if you’d prefer to talk it through first, you can book a call back here.

We deal with postponed and complex cases every day. We’ll tell you the truth, even when it’s not the easy answer.

Thanks for reading

Nick
lion.ie | Protection Broker of the Year 🏆

Editor’s note: First published in 2016. Fully rebuilt in 2026 to reflect current underwriting and lender practice.