Insurance and financial woes
Hi everyone,
I know that this is a very quiet com but I’d like to get some advice in regards to financial matters as affected by mental health. I should probably state for the record that I’m Australian so there may be certain things that I am/am not eligible for as opposed to the many Americans here, but I’d still like advice; I may be able to find some equivalent, you never know.
Some years ago I took out a car loan. I also took out insurance covering the loan itself in case of illness, disability and such. And I made certain to keep six to nine months ahead on payments at all times.
Early last year I had a sudden decline in mental health. I’d had cyclic problems since I was a child in single digits, but for reasons I won’t go into these were never addressed. While I’d previously attempted to seek treatment as an adult it’d never worked, and I’d never been actually diagnosed with anything. The closest I came to treatment was my GP writing me a script for anti depressants (and weren’t the side effects fun!) which I quickly stopped taking, and me finally being diagnosed with NLD a few years back. However, this latest bout was the worst I’d had in fifteen years and it hit just as I took a new job. I was unable to fulfil my contract and became unemployed. On the upside I finally was diagnosed as Bipolar/Major Depressive Disorder, so after all these years I was finally able to get some treatment. I still have about three months missing from my memory about that time and the side effects from the meds are still giving me trouble, but I finally felt I was able to return to work in November.
Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons, finding employment is proving difficult and in the meantime my finances are screwing me up against a wall. I am on Newstart payments with a sickness component. The sickness component runs out in two weeks time when I’ll be referred to a consultant who can maybe help me in finding suitable work. I’m very much looking forward to it. However, this does not help my current financial position. I have finally come to the end of my prepaid amounts on my car loan and my bank manager is saying “GIMMIE!” The financial pressure I’m under is pretty huge. Family and credit cards are helping me a lot, but both of them are reaching limits.
I went in to speak to my local bank branch, and found them very helpful. As I said, I’d taken out insurance with the loan and I was told that my circumstances would probably enable me to claim it. I was given the relevant forms and went to my psych. While she filled them in she made a number of points, which basically come down to this: if I put down ‘mental illness’ on any official documents, this will follow me for life. It will affect my ability to get private health insurance. It will affect my ability to get home loans. It will affect any number of things down the track. It’s unfair, it’s prejudice, it’s often illegal, it’s the way the wretched world goes.
So basically I have two options:
A: Claim the insurance against the car loan. It’ll take a very large chunk out of what I owe and will relieve a lot of immediate pressure on me.
B: Not claim and avoid long term stigma that will affect some important future goals.
It’s really a matter of time; either I get screwed short term, or I get screwed long term. Both of these are very difficult positions. Can anyone familiar with these issues offer some advice, suggestions, or even just share their story?
(btw, cross-posting this to the nldadult discussion group; apologies to those who get this twice)
I know that this is a very quiet com but I’d like to get some advice in regards to financial matters as affected by mental health. I should probably state for the record that I’m Australian so there may be certain things that I am/am not eligible for as opposed to the many Americans here, but I’d still like advice; I may be able to find some equivalent, you never know.
Some years ago I took out a car loan. I also took out insurance covering the loan itself in case of illness, disability and such. And I made certain to keep six to nine months ahead on payments at all times.
Early last year I had a sudden decline in mental health. I’d had cyclic problems since I was a child in single digits, but for reasons I won’t go into these were never addressed. While I’d previously attempted to seek treatment as an adult it’d never worked, and I’d never been actually diagnosed with anything. The closest I came to treatment was my GP writing me a script for anti depressants (and weren’t the side effects fun!) which I quickly stopped taking, and me finally being diagnosed with NLD a few years back. However, this latest bout was the worst I’d had in fifteen years and it hit just as I took a new job. I was unable to fulfil my contract and became unemployed. On the upside I finally was diagnosed as Bipolar/Major Depressive Disorder, so after all these years I was finally able to get some treatment. I still have about three months missing from my memory about that time and the side effects from the meds are still giving me trouble, but I finally felt I was able to return to work in November.
Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons, finding employment is proving difficult and in the meantime my finances are screwing me up against a wall. I am on Newstart payments with a sickness component. The sickness component runs out in two weeks time when I’ll be referred to a consultant who can maybe help me in finding suitable work. I’m very much looking forward to it. However, this does not help my current financial position. I have finally come to the end of my prepaid amounts on my car loan and my bank manager is saying “GIMMIE!” The financial pressure I’m under is pretty huge. Family and credit cards are helping me a lot, but both of them are reaching limits.
I went in to speak to my local bank branch, and found them very helpful. As I said, I’d taken out insurance with the loan and I was told that my circumstances would probably enable me to claim it. I was given the relevant forms and went to my psych. While she filled them in she made a number of points, which basically come down to this: if I put down ‘mental illness’ on any official documents, this will follow me for life. It will affect my ability to get private health insurance. It will affect my ability to get home loans. It will affect any number of things down the track. It’s unfair, it’s prejudice, it’s often illegal, it’s the way the wretched world goes.
So basically I have two options:
A: Claim the insurance against the car loan. It’ll take a very large chunk out of what I owe and will relieve a lot of immediate pressure on me.
B: Not claim and avoid long term stigma that will affect some important future goals.
It’s really a matter of time; either I get screwed short term, or I get screwed long term. Both of these are very difficult positions. Can anyone familiar with these issues offer some advice, suggestions, or even just share their story?
(btw, cross-posting this to the nldadult discussion group; apologies to those who get this twice)