10-Second Summary: If you have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, life insurance is not available. If a parent had Alzheimer’s, the age they were diagnosed and which insurer you approach are what determine the outcome. Choosing the right insurer first matters.
Editor’s note: Originally published in 2019. Updated in 2026 to reflect current Irish insurer approaches to family history of Alzheimer’s disease.
If You Have Been Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease
If someone has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, life insurance and mortgage protection are not available.
All insurers take the same position on this.
There isn’t a way around it.
If a Parent Had Alzheimer’s
This is where things are different.
Having a parent with Alzheimer’s does not mean you will be declined.
What matters most is how old they were when they were diagnosed.
A diagnosis in someone’s fifties is treated very differently from a diagnosis in their late seventies or eighties.
Why the Insurer Often Matters More Than the Condition
Insurers do not all ask the same questions.
Some will ask about a parent’s Alzheimer’s if they were diagnosed before age 60.
Others only ask if it happened before age 65.
That difference alone can change the result.
If your parent was diagnosed at 62, one insurer may take it into account and increase your premium. Another may not treat it as an issue at all.
That is why the insurer often matters more than the condition itself.
Will Your Premium Go Up?
If an insurer does take family history into account, they may increase the premium. In some cases, this can be around 50 per cent.
Where the diagnosis happened later in life, there is usually a better chance of normal pricing.
The things that influence the outcome include:
- The age your parent was diagnosed
- Whether more than one close family member was affected
- Whether it was described as early onset
The Risk of Applying to the Wrong Insurer
If you apply to an insurer that takes a stricter view, and they increase your premium, that decision has to be mentioned on future applications.
Once a decision is on record, it does not simply disappear.
This is why it is important to approach the right insurer first.
The wrong first application can create a problem that did not need to exist.
What About Dementia After an Injury?
If a parent developed dementia after a serious injury rather than from Alzheimer’s disease, it is often looked at differently.
Some insurers are more relaxed about this, especially where there is no ongoing degenerative condition.
Again, it depends on who you approach.
What To Do Before You Apply
If Alzheimer’s runs in your family, do not assume the outcome.
Before submitting an application, it helps to be clear about:
- How old your parent was at diagnosis
- Whether it was confirmed as Alzheimer’s disease
- Whether more than one close relative was affected
Once that is clear, the correct insurer can be chosen.
If you would like me to review your situation before any application is submitted, complete the short medical questionnaire below.
Review My Family History Safely
Written by Nick McGowan, QFA RPA APA
Nick is a qualified financial advisor and founder of Lion.ie, a Irish life insurance and income protection brokerage based in Tullamore.
He’s been helping people get fair, transparent cover for over 15 years and was named Protection Broker of the Year 2022.
If you would like straight answers without the sales pitch, learn more about Nick here.