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10-second summary: If your platelet count is stable and your consultant reports are reassuring, you can usually get life insurance and mortgage protection at a fair price in Ireland. Severe or unstable cases may face a temporary postponement or higher premium.
Editor’s note: First published September 2018 | Refreshed May 2026 with updated Irish underwriting guidance and insurer examples.
Thrombocytopenia is just the medical term for a low platelet count.
Platelets help your blood clot properly, so when levels are low, you may bruise more easily or bleed for longer after cuts or injuries.
Most people who contact us already know their platelet counts better than their own phone number!
All they want to know is can they still get life insurance or mortgage protection?
Usually, yes.
The bigger issue is making sure you approach the right insurer first.
Different insurers assess thrombocytopenia differently depending on:
That’s why the order you apply in matters.
Being accepted by one insurer doesn’t automatically mean you got the best decision, and applying to the wrong insurer first can sometimes create unnecessary delays or higher premiums later on.
In most mild or stable cases, yes.
If your platelet counts are steady and you haven’t had major bleeding episodes, many insurers will still offer cover at normal rates.
Where counts fluctuate heavily or there’s ongoing consultant investigation, insurers may postpone the application until things stabilise.
That’s especially important if you’re buying a home because mortgage protection delays can hold up your drawdown.
Going directly through a bank can sometimes create weeks of unnecessary back-and-forth while they “check with their insurer”.
We normally avoid that by discussing cases with insurers first and only applying where there’s a realistic chance of approval.
When underwriting thrombocytopenia, insurers usually focus on:
The more stable and well-understood the condition is, the easier underwriting usually becomes.
If consultants are happy and your bloods have behaved themselves for a while, that’s reassuring to insurers too.
Most people fall somewhere in the middle rather than the extreme end.
That’s important because many applicants assume “blood disorder” automatically means a decline, when in reality insurers are usually just trying to understand the level of risk properly.
This is the most common type we see.
ITP happens when the immune system attacks platelets. Many people live completely normal lives with it once counts are stable.
TTP is rarer and more serious because it involves clotting problems as well as low platelets.
Insurers generally take a more cautious approach here.
HUS is uncommon and often linked to kidney complications, so underwriting usually depends on long-term stability and kidney function.
Essential Thrombocythaemia (ET) is actually the opposite problem because the body produces too many platelets instead of too few.
From an underwriting point of view, insurers mainly focus on clotting risk, medication, and consultant follow-up.
Stable cases can still get cover, although premiums are sometimes increased slightly depending on treatment and medical history.
One client came to us after her bank postponed her mortgage protection application because her platelet count was around 54,000.
Once we reviewed the consultant report properly, the outcomes between insurers were wildly different.
Some insurers wanted huge loadings.
Others were far more reasonable.
The difference over the lifetime of the mortgage worked out at thousands of euro for essentially the same cover.
That’s why the order you apply in matters.
Being accepted is only part of the story.
Getting accepted on sensible terms matters just as much.
That depends mainly on:
Mild and stable cases may get standard rates.
More severe or unpredictable cases may see:
Different insurers assess the exact same case differently, which is why choosing the right insurer first matters so much.
If you’ve got thrombocytopenia and want proper advice before applying, complete our blood conditions questionnaire and I’ll tell you:
Complete the blood conditions questionnaire here.
Or if you’d rather chat first, you can book a quick call with me here.
Anything you tell me stays confidential and we anonymise medical details before speaking to insurers.
If you have another blood condition, these guides may help:
You can also visit our life insurance with medical conditions hub for more underwriting guides.
Thanks for reading,
Nick
Written by Nick McGowan, QFA RPA APA
Nick is a qualified financial advisor and founder of Lion.ie, a multi-agency Irish life insurance and income protection brokerage based in Tullamore.
He’s been helping people secure fair, transparent cover for over 15 years and was named Protection Broker of the Year 2022.
If you’d like straight answers without the sales pitch, learn more about Nick here.
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