BUYING life insurance even for something as seemingly straight forward as mortgage protection is no simple task, as Mr R from Dublin found out to his detriment.

A young professional, still living at home with his parents, Mr R decided it was time to purchase his own house. He applied, successfully, for a £56,000 mortgage over 25 years, with Irish Permanent.

When it came time to arrange the mortgage protection insurance, the Irish Permanent manager informed him the company had its own life assurance company, Irish Progressive, and would Mr R be interested in some quotations?

(Borrowers are free to shop around for mortgage protection insurance, and while Mr R understood this, he opted to let Irish Progressive provide his quotations.)

The different protection products were put before Mr R and he chose the middle range one - a popular combination of life and critical illness insurance which for £25 a month would pay out in the event of death or critical illness. The policy includes a wide range of illnesses and conditions.

A standard feature of life assurance application forms, but especially of critical illness ones, is the seeking of permission to contact your private doctor and ask questions about your medical history and that of immediate relatives, parents and siblings.

Typically, they ask if anyone close to you has ever suffered or died from heart disease, stroke, cancer, kidney disease, etc.

If you reply that you or a relative have a history of any of these conditions, you may be required to have a medical examination. You may find your premium is then loaded" to reflect this extra risk, or is denied altogether.

"It might have even been a bit cheaper with another insurer. Now he has been rated", which means this medical information is in the insurance system, and if he was to seek life or critical illness cover from any other insurance company it will be able to see that he has been rated and may also load his life premiums."

A spokesman for Irish Progressive told Family Money that our reader can still ask for the cheaper, standalone, mortgage protection policy.

Without seeing this case before me, I can't say whether we sought the medical examination because of his father's medical history or for some other aspect to do with his own health," said the spokesman.

"But generally speaking, you may be loaded for a critical illness but not automatically for life assurance. I would advise your reader to come in and speak to us."

Sometimes, a medical reference or examination is required automatically if the cover being sought is in excess of £100,000.

In Mr R's case, though he is only in his early 30s and a non smoker, he is overweight. It was also revealed that his father had had a mild stroke a few years ago when he was in his late 50s but has made an excellent recovery. Though Irish Permanent declined to tell Mr R why they sought information both from his GP and then to require him to undertake a medical examination from their own doctor, he suspects it was because of his father's stroke.

Unfortunately, the outcome of the medical reports was that the £25 a month that Irish Permanent quoted originally for Mr R's mortgage protection/ critical illness policy was upped to £37 a month, an amount Mr R thinks is unfair.

"Had your reader sought straightforward mortgage protection insurance on a £56,000 loan he would have been charged £10.37 a month for the 25 years by Irish Progressive and probably would not have required any medical examination," says John Gilmartin, of the Dublin brokers Gunn Robinson O'Higgins.

"It might have even been a bit cheaper with another insurer. Now he has been `rated', which means this medical information is in the insurance system, and if he was to seek life or critical illness cover from any other insurance company it will be able to see that he has been rated and may also load his life premiums.

A spokesman for Irish Progressive told Family Money that our reader can still ask for the cheaper, standalone, mortgage protection policy.

"Without seeing this case before me, I can't say whether we sought the medical examination because of his father's medical history or for some other aspect to do with his own health," said the spokesman. "But generally speaking, you may he loaded for a critical illness but not automatically for life assurance. I would advise your reader to come in and speak to us."

The lesson from this case is to always shop around Tar life insurance and to seek independent advice if you are required to reveal anything about your own or your immediate family's medical history.